<p>你 and 祢 are pronounced nǐ. Just like 他 她 祂 ,which are pronounced tā.祢and祂 are formal callings for gods. These two words can also be changed by 他 你 in some informal occasions. Frankly speaking, these formal words are not used very frequently.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-27T15:20:23.843Z
2017-10-27T15:20:23.843Z
Veritas Julius
<p>There are some personal pronouns in traditional Chinese:<br/>
我: I, me.<br/>
你: you, for male. 妳: you, for female. 祢: you, for god, nymph, etc.<br/>
他: he, him, for male. 她: she, her, for female. 祂: he or she, for god, nymph, etc.<br/>它: it, for lifeless, 牠: it, for any animals, except human.</p><p>
They changed to English style in simplified Chinese:<br/>
我: I, me.<br/>
你: you.<br/>
他: he, him. 她: she, her.<br/>
它: it.<br/></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-31T14:13:58.823Z
2017-10-31T14:13:58.823Z
xenophōn
<p>新华字典 only gives mí, meaning the temple of one's deceased father, an ancient word.</p>

<p>Also in some Christian texts, 祢 is used as a variant of 你 to address the god, I'm not sure but I think it's because the character 祢 happens to be 神 and 你 combined. In this case, of course, it's pronounced same as 你.</p>

<p>Neither meaning is widely used today. In fact, the most possible place where you may still see this charactor is 祢衡, name of a Chinese historical figure.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-27T14:32:23.593Z
I think 他 & 你 are probably etymologically correct.  The forms for female and deity are probably coinings later by people who thought that they needed their own "words."
伟思礼
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-28T03:48:29.630Z
她 was created in about 1920, less than 100 years ago, under the influence of western "she". Before that, 他 was used for both genders.
Jason Swift
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-27T14:11:24.057Z
2017-10-27T14:11:24.057Z
Jason Swift
<p><strong>祢</strong></p>

<p>Google says it means "you" and is pronounced "mí"</p>

<p>Wiktionary says it is "you" but only for deity and pronounced “nǐ”</p>

<p>My pinyin input method offers it for "mi" or "ni"</p>

<p>CEDICT makes it a "memorial tablet in a temple commemorating a deceased father"（or a surname) and pronounced "mǐ"</p>

<p>I'm guessing all three meanings are correct, but that would mean at least one of the pronunciations is wrong (since Google and Wiktionary give it the same meaning with different sounds).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-27T13:34:37.937Z
Wiktionary puts definitions on the page for the traditional character, where available. So the definition of "memorial tablet" is on the page for the traditional character 禰. 祢 when meaning "you" does not have a traditional variant, so that's why the page for 祢 only says "you".
mic
<meaning><pronunciation>
Meaning/pronuncation of 祢
# Meaning/pronuncation of 祢

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-10-27)

**祢**

Google says it means "you" and is pronounced "mí"

Wiktionary says it is "you" but only for deity and pronounced “nǐ”

My pinyin input method offers it for "mi" or "ni"

CEDICT makes it a "memorial tablet in a temple commemorating a deceased father"（or a surname) and pronounced "mǐ"

I'm guessing all three meanings are correct, but that would mean at least one of the pronunciations is wrong (since Google and Wiktionary give it the same meaning with different sounds).

**Tags:** meaning, pronunciation

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Wiktionary puts definitions on the page for the traditional character, where available. So the definition of "memorial tablet" is on the page for the traditional character 禰. 祢 when meaning "you" does not have a traditional variant, so that's why the page for 祢 only says "you".  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-10-27. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

新华字典 only gives mí, meaning the temple of one's deceased father, an ancient word.

Also in some Christian texts, 祢 is used as a variant of 你 to address the god, I'm not sure but I think it's because the character 祢 happens to be 神 and 你 combined. In this case, of course, it's pronounced same as 你.

Neither meaning is widely used today. In fact, the most possible place where you may still see this charactor is 祢衡, name of a Chinese historical figure.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I think 他 & 你 are probably etymologically correct.  The forms for female and deity are probably coinings later by people who thought that they needed their own "words."  
> **username_4**: 她 was created in about 1920, less than 100 years ago, under the influence of western "she". Before that, 他 was used for both genders.  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2017-10-27. Score: 1

你 and 祢 are pronounced nǐ. Just like 他 她 祂 ,which are pronounced tā.祢and祂 are formal callings for gods. These two words can also be changed by 他 你 in some informal occasions. Frankly speaking, these formal words are not used very frequently.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2017-10-31. Score: 0

There are some personal pronouns in traditional Chinese:  
我: I, me.  
你: you, for male. 妳: you, for female. 祢: you, for god, nymph, etc.  
他: he, him, for male. 她: she, her, for female. 祂: he or she, for god, nymph, etc.  
它: it, for lifeless, 牠: it, for any animals, except human.

They changed to English style in simplified Chinese:  
我: I, me.  
你: you.  
他: he, him. 她: she, her.  
它: it.


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