<p>It is at best a coincidence. nǚ and niŋä are not even that close. There is only one common phoneme between the two words. If you count this as close, there will be thousands of words that are as close.</p>
<p>Also, today's pronunciations can't be used to compare, because pronunciations change over time. You can read the basics at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Chinese" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Chinese</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Tibetan_languages" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Tibetan_languages</a>. Basically most scholars agree that Chinese is related with languages like Tibetan and Burmese. There are also a very few scholars who support hypotheses like the &quot;Sino-Caucasian&quot; hypothesis, but these are viewed as doubtful and not widely accepted.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-13T12:16:47.793Z
2021-02-13T12:16:47.793Z
Betty
<p>is this what you want?</p>
<p><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E4%B8%8A%E5%8F%A4%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E4%B8%8A%E5%8F%A4%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD</a></p>
<p>it's a major in a Master of Chinese Literature</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-14T10:34:12.583Z
2021-01-14T10:34:12.583Z
Tyr
<p>There are many Chinese etymology dictionaries available in English which focus on the origin of the characters.  I haven't been able to locate one on-line which provides information on the etymology of the word as spoken.  I.e., the origin of &quot;nǚ&quot; rather than the etymology of 女.   Thank you.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-08T18:31:47.547Z
http://qiyuan.chaziwang.com/etymology-4353.html
ytlu
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-09T08:10:03.953Z
Probably, nobody has studied this, so you won't find much information. PIE protagonists seem only to think from India and to the West. I don't think there is a Sino-PIE incorporating etymology. That said, Chinese for water is shuǐ and Turkish for water is su. Do you think they may be related via an ancient tongue?
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-12T07:05:14.857Z
Perhaps or, perhaps, via a borrowing that took place when center of Turkic languages/culture was further east than today.   In any case, your question is related to my interest in locating a source for Chinese etymology (not necessarily PIE-related).
Dionysios Bouzos
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-14T13:58:50.233Z
Similarities are not necessarily correlations. Correlations are not necessarily causalities.
River
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-17T01:27:14.403Z
@Pedroski There exist some studies of Proto-Sino-Tibetan.
Victor
<etymology>
What is the etymology of the word nǚ (woman) and is it related to Proto-Uralic *niŋä (woman)?
# What is the etymology of the word nǚ (woman) and is it related to Proto-Uralic *niŋä (woman)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-01-07)

There are many Chinese etymology dictionaries available in English which focus on the origin of the characters. I haven't been able to locate one on-line which provides information on the etymology of the word as spoken. I.e., the origin of "nǚ" rather than the etymology of 女. Thank you.

**Tags:** etymology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: http://qiyuan.chaziwang.com/etymology-4353.html  
> **username_2**: Probably, nobody has studied this, so you won't find much information. PIE protagonists seem only to think from India and to the West. I don't think there is a Sino-PIE incorporating etymology. That said, Chinese for water is shuǐ and Turkish for water is su. Do you think they may be related via an ancient tongue?  
> **username_0**: Perhaps or, perhaps, via a borrowing that took place when center of Turkic languages/culture was further east than today.   In any case, your question is related to my interest in locating a source for Chinese etymology (not necessarily PIE-related).  
> **username_3**: Similarities are not necessarily correlations. Correlations are not necessarily causalities.  
> **username_4**: @username_2 There exist some studies of Proto-Sino-Tibetan.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2021-02-13. Score: 1

It is at best a coincidence. nǚ and niŋä are not even that close. There is only one common phoneme between the two words. If you count this as close, there will be thousands of words that are as close.

Also, today's pronunciations can't be used to compare, because pronunciations change over time. You can read the basics at <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Chinese> and <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Tibetan_languages>. Basically most scholars agree that Chinese is related with languages like Tibetan and Burmese. There are also a very few scholars who support hypotheses like the "Sino-Caucasian" hypothesis, but these are viewed as doubtful and not widely accepted.


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### Answer by username_6 on 2021-01-14. Score: 0

is this what you want?

<https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E4%B8%8A%E5%8F%A4%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD>

it's a major in a Master of Chinese Literature


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