Abstract: Through linguistic, ethnological and comparative study on the term rōng, or sister, of the Wa language in Bankao and Nansa, Cangyuan County, this paper holds that rōng (a term for “elder sister” in the Wa language) is derived from the rōng originally meaning “trunk of a tree”. As a figurative expression connoting an essential bread-earning and authoritative member in a family used to refer to elder sister, rōng is a matriarchal sign of the ancient Wa society.

Key words: Wa language, kinship term, sister, matriarchal society