子

See also: 孑, 孓, 孒, 了, 千, 干, and 于
子 U+5B50, 子
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5B50
← 孏
[U+5B4F] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 孑 →
[U+5B51]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

子 (radical 39, 子+0, 3 strokes, cangjie input 弓木 (ND), four-corner 17407, composition ⿻了一)

  1. Kangxi radical #39, ⼦.

Derived characters

  • Index:Chinese radical/子
  • 孝

References

  • KangXi: page 277, character 1
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 6930
  • Dae Jaweon: page 543, character 15
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 1006, character 6
  • Unihan data for U+5B50

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 子

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 子
Shang Western Zhou Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Bronze inscriptions Chu Slip and silk script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
Characters in the same phonetic series (子) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
孜 *ʔslɯ
仔 *ʔslɯ, *ʔslɯʔ
孖 *ʔslɯ, *zlɯs
子 *ʔslɯʔ
虸 *ʔslɯʔ
耔 *ʔslɯʔ
秄 *ʔslɯʔ
杍 *ʔslɯʔ
籽 *ʔslɯʔ
字 *zlɯs
茡 *zlɯs
芓 *zlɯs
牸 *zlɯs
李 *rɯʔ

Pictogram (象形) – an image of a baby, with a large head and spread arms. The legs are wrapped in a blanket. Compare with 了, where the arms are wrapped.

The big seal script form is much more elaborate, showing a baby with hair on a head (囟) and arms on the two sides of the body, sitting on a stool (几).

Etymology 1

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tsa ~ za (“child, offspring, relatives; to come forth (as child at birth); to love; loving”).

Cognate with 字 (OC *zlɯs, “character; letter”), 慈 (OC *zɯ, “loving; kind”), 滋 (OC *ʔsɯ, “to grow, to breed, to propagate, to bring about, to increase”), 孳 (OC *ʔsɯ, *zɯs, “to breed, to propagate”).

Pronunciation 1

Note:
  • chú/chír - literary;
  • chí - colloquial (“seed; egg”).
Note:
  • ze2 - literary;
  • zi2 - colloquial.
Rime
Character 子
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 精 (13)
Final (韻) 之 (19)
Tone (調) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 即里切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /t͡sɨX/
Pan
Wuyun		 /t͡sɨX/
Shao
Rongfen		 /t͡sieX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /t͡sɨX/
Li
Rong		 /t͡siəX/
Wang
Li		 /t͡sĭəX/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /t͡siX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 zǐ
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 子 子
Reading # 1/2 2/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 zǐ zǐ
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ tsiX › ‹ tsiX ›
Old
Chinese		 /*[ts]əʔ/ /*tsəʔ/
English 1st earthly branch child; gentleman, master

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 子
Reading # 1/1
No. 17857
Phonetic
component		 子
Rime
group		 之
Rime
subdivision		 0
Corresponding
MC rime		 子
Old
Chinese		 /*ʔslɯʔ/
Definitions

子

  1. † child; offspring
  2. † son
  3. † descendant; posterity
  4. † person
    • 女子  ―  nǚzǐ  ―  female; woman
  5. † master; teacher
  6. † A respectful suffix for teachers, usually attached to their surnames.
  7. † you
  8. Alternative form of 籽 (zǐ, “seed”).
    • 葵花子  ―  kuíhuāzǐ  ―  sunflower seed
  9. † egg
  10. young; tender; small
  11. Prefix attached to nouns, denoting "a part of", "belonging to" or "individual". sub-
  12. (astrology) First earthly branch: rat in the Chinese zodiac, 11th solar month, midnight (11:00 pm to 1:00 am)
  13. Viscount, fourth of five ranks of Chinese aristocracy under the Zhou dynasty.
  14. (physics, biology) -on
Synonyms
Dialectal synonyms of 兒子 (“son”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Classical Chinese 子
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 兒子
Mandarin Beijing 兒子、小子
Taiwan 兒子
Tianjin 兒子、小子
Harbin 兒子
Shenyang 兒子
Jinan 兒、兒子、小子
Muping 兒郎、兒
Luoyang 兒子
Jiedian 娃、兒
Xi'an 兒、兒子
Xining 兒子
Xuzhou 兒、兒子
Yinchuan 兒子
Lanzhou 兒子
Ürümqi 兒子
Wuhan 兒子、兒
Chengdu 兒子、兒
Guiyang 兒子、男娃娃、男娃兒
Liuzhou 崽
Kunming 兒子
Yangzhou 兒子
Nanjing 兒子
Hefei 兒子
Nantong 侯
Malaysia 兒子
Singapore 兒子
Cantonese Guangzhou 仔
Hong Kong 仔
Dongguan 仔
Taishan 仔
Yangjiang 仔
Gan Nanchang 崽
Lichuan 崽、子
Pingxiang 崽
Hakka Meixian 倈仔
Xingning 倈哩
Huidong 倈仔
Qujiang 倈子
Xiaosanjiang 阿弟
Changting 倈子
Pingyu 倈子
Wuping 子哩
Ninghua 子
Yudu 子
Ruijin 倈子
Shangyou 崽
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 倈仔
Liudui (S. Sixian) 倈仔
Hsinchu (Hailu) 倈仔
Dongshi (Dabu) 倈
Zhuolan (Raoping) 倈仔
Yunlin (Zhao'an) 後生
Huizhou Jixi 兒子
Jin Taiyuan 兒子、小子
Xinzhou 兒、小子
Min Bei Jian'ou 囝
Min Dong Fuzhou 囝、丈夫囝
Min Nan Xiamen 囝、後生、後的
Quanzhou 囝、後生
Zhangzhou 囝、後生
Taipei 囝、後生
Kaohsiung 囝、後生
Tainan 囝、後生
Taichung 囝、後生、後的
Hsinchu 囝、後生
Lukang 囝、後生
Sanxia 囝、後生
Yilan 囝、後生
Kinmen 囝、後生
Magong 囝、後生
Penang 囝、後生
Philippines (Manila) 囝
Chaozhou 囝、逗囝
Haikou 囝
Pinghua Nanning 崽
Wu Shanghai 兒子
Suzhou 兒子
Hangzhou 兒子
Wenzhou 兒
Chongming 兒子
Danyang 兒子
Jinhua 兒
Ningbo 兒子
Xiang Changsha 崽伢子、崽、伢子
Shuangfeng 崽、伢基
Loudi 崽
Coordinate terms
Compounds

Pronunciation 2

Rime
Character 子
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 精 (13)
Final (韻) 之 (19)
Tone (調) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 即里切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /t͡sɨX/
Pan
Wuyun		 /t͡sɨX/
Shao
Rongfen		 /t͡sieX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /t͡sɨX/
Li
Rong		 /t͡siəX/
Wang
Li		 /t͡sĭəX/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /t͡siX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 zǐ
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 子 子
Reading # 1/2 2/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 zǐ zǐ
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ tsiX › ‹ tsiX ›
Old
Chinese		 /*[ts]əʔ/ /*tsəʔ/
English 1st earthly branch child; gentleman, master

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 子
Reading # 1/1
No. 17857
Phonetic
component		 子
Rime
group		 之
Rime
subdivision		 0
Corresponding
MC rime		 子
Old
Chinese		 /*ʔslɯʔ/
Definitions

子

  1. Suffix for small objects or general diminutive suffix.
    • 瓶子  ―  píngzi  ―  bottle
Synonyms
Dialectal synonyms of 子 (“general diminutive suffix”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 子
Mandarin Beijing 子
Taiwan 子
Cantonese Guangzhou 仔
Hong Kong 仔
Hakka Meixian 仔
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 仔
Liudui (S. Sixian) 仔
Hsinchu (Hailu) 仔
Min Dong Fuzhou 囝
Min Nan Xiamen 仔
Compounds

Pronunciation 3

Note: vernacular.
Definitions

子

(Hokkien)
  1. small, round object
  2. (Xiamen, Quanzhou) Classifier for small objects.
  3. (Zhangzhou, Taiwan) Classifier for bananas.

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 子 – see 籽 (“seed”).
(This character, 子, is the second-round simplified form of 籽.)
Notes:

Japanese

Kanji

子

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

Compounds

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
子
こ
Grade: 1
kun’yomi

From Old Japanese.[1] Seen in the Kojiki and the Man'yōshū, two of the oldest examples of written Japanese. Cognate with 蚕 (ko, “silkworm”). Also possibly cognate with 小 (ko, “little”, diminutive prefix).

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

  • (child): 児 (less commonly used)
  • (girl): 娘

Noun

子 (counter 人, hiragana こ, rōmaji ko)

  1. a child
    男の子 — おとこのこ — otoko no ko — male child: a boy
    いい子 — いいこ — ii ko — good boy; good girl
    • 2007 October 20, Hiroshi, Izawa; Kotaro, Yamada, “最さい終しゅう話わ　それぞれの道みちへ [Final Chapter: Epilog]”, in ファイアーエムブレム 覇者の剣 [Fire Emblem: Sword of Champions], volume 5 (fiction, in Japanese), Jump Remix edition, Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN, page 355:
      後のちにラグナのセルディアと結むすばれ８人にんの子こを儲もうけた
      Nochi ni Raguna no Serudia to musubare hachi-nin no ko o mōketa
      He later had 8 children with Serdia of Ragna
  2. (figuratively) a girl, especially a dear or desired one (compare use of English baby, babe)
    • c. 759, Man'yōshū (book 7, poem 1266); text here
      大舟乎 荒海尓榜出 八船多氣 吾見之兒等之 目見者知之母
      大船を 荒海に漕ぎ出で や船たけ 我が見し子らが まみはしるしも
      おほぶねを あるみにこぎで やふねたけ わがみしこらが まみはしるしも
      Ōbune o / arumi ni kogi de / ya fune take / waga mishi kora ga / mami wa shirushi mo
      Rowing the big boat into the rough seas, putting our backs into it, the looks of those girls I saw are clear [in my mind]
  3. a smaller or younger version of a bigger object
    きのこ — kinoko — a "tree's child / little one": a mushroom
    竹の子 — たけのこ — takenoko — a "bamboo's child / little one": a bamboo shoot
Derived terms

Prefix

子 (hiragana こ, rōmaji ko-)

  1. an object which has a subservient or derivative role relative to another object
    子会社 こがいしゃ — kogaisha — a subsidiary
    子犬 — こいぬ — koinu — a puppy
Derived terms

Suffix

子 (hiragana こ, rōmaji -ko)

  1. suffix used in female given names, such as 智子 (ともこ, ​Tomoko), 英子 (えいこ, ​Eiko), 秀子 (ひでこ, ​Hideko), 美奈子 (みなこ, ​Minako)
  2. (rare) suffix used in male given names
  3. an object having a particular state or property (sometimes diminutive)
    振子 — ふりこ — furiko — an object that swings: a pendulum
  4. roe (only when preceded by a fish name, or fish-related prefix)
    明太子 — めんたいこ — mentaiko — pollock roe
    飛子 — とびこ — tobiko — flying fish roe
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
子
す
Grade: 1
on’yomi
Kanji in this term
子
し
Grade: 1
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese 子 (tsiX). Compare modern Mandarin 子 (zǐ).

The goon reading of shi is likely the original borrowing. The tōon reading su appears later, and only shows up in certain set terms borrowed from Chinese, where it seems to serve as a kind of nominalizing suffix.

Pronunciation

Affix

子 (hiragana し, rōmaji shi) (alternative reading hiragana す, romaji su)

  1. a child
  2. an object which has a subservient or derivative role relative to another object
  3. an object having a particular state or property (sometimes diminutive)
    中性子 — ちゅうせいし — chūseishi — a neutral small thing: a neutron
    椅子 — いす — isu — literally, a chair small thing: a chair
Usage notes
  • This affix is never used in isolation. It is only used in on'yomi compounds.
  • In some kanji compounds, 子 is part of the word but does not carry much meaning in Japanese, as in 椅子 (isu, “chair”). Possibly because of this erosion of meaning, spelling out 子 in some compounds has become optional, as in 椰子 vs. 椰 (yashi, “a palm tree”), or 柚子 vs. 柚 (yuzu, “an aromatic citron”).
  • In some compounds, the shi or su reading becomes voiced as ji or zu due to rendaku.
Derived terms

Proper noun

子 (hiragana し, rōmaji Shi)

  1. the Rat, the first of the twelve Earthly Branches

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
子
ね
Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Contracted from 鼠 (nezumi, “rat; mouse”)

Pronunciation

Proper noun

子 (hiragana ね, rōmaji Ne)

  1. the Rat, the first of the twelve Earthly Branches

References

  1. ↑ 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 1 2 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. ↑ 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN

Korean

Hanja

子 (eumhun 아들 자 (adeul ja))

  1. son
  2. man
  3. offspring

Compounds

Vietnamese

Han character

子 (tử, tý)

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

References

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