娘

A phono-semantic compound composed of:

女 — semantic component meaning “woman”;

良 — phonetic component indicating the sound (낭 / 娘).

The character originally referred to a young woman or maiden.

낭자 (娘子) — young lady; maiden

고낭 (姑娘) — young woman; girl

낭랑 (娘娘) — empress; noble lady (historical usage)

Pronunciation note:

Although the standard reading is 낭, when 娘 appears at the end of a compound word it is often pronounced 랑, for example:

계랑 (桂娘)

낭랑 (娘娘)

The Standard Korean Dictionary treats 낭 and 랑 as accepted readings of this character.

Related characters

女 — woman

婦 — married woman; wife

妻 — wife

妹 — younger sister