子

Translingual

Stroke order

Etymology

Pictogram (象形) – an image of a baby, with a large head and spread arms. Compare 呆, of same origin.

Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Large seal script	Small seal script

Han character

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

1. offspring, child, son, daughter, being
2. fruit, seed of
3. first of twelve earth branches (十二支): rat or mouse (鼠) of Chinese zodiac
4. master, e.g. Kongzi and Laozi meaning "Master Kong" and "Master Lao"
5. a suffix indicating that the term to which it is attached is a noun

Derived characters

• Index:Chinese radical/子
• 孝

Related characters

• 呆
• 仔

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

---

Cantonese

Hanzi

子 (jyutping zi2, Yale ji2)

---

Hakka

Hanzi

子 (POJ tsṳ́, Guangdong tsii³ [Meixian, Hailu, Kwangtung]; tsu³, Hagfa Pinyim zi3)

References

• CCDICT (Chineselanguage.org)
• Academia Sinica - Hakka-English Dictionary
• Lau, Chun-fat. Hakka Pinyin Dictionary (Chinese). Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1997 (Chinese IME supplement) ISBN 962-201-750-9.

---

Hmong

Hanzi

子

1. a suffix indicating that the term to which it is attached is a noun

---

Japanese

Kanji

子 (grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• On: し (shi), す (su)
• Kun: こ (ko), ね (ne)
• Nanori: こ (ko)

Compounds

Some compounds using 子

綿菓子 (わたがし, watagashi) cotton candy 子ども or 子供 (こども, kodomo) a child お子さん (おこさん, okosan) your/someone's child 子犬 (こいぬ, koinu): a puppy 子会社 (こがいしゃ, kogaisha): a subsidiary

子守歌 (こもりうた, komori uta): a lullaby 電子 (でんし, denshi): an electron 帽子 (ぼうし, bōshi): hat 椅子 (いす, isu): a chair 卓子 (たくし, takushi / たくす, takusu): (rare) a table

Noun

子 (hiragana こ, romaji ko)

1. A child.
   • 男の子
     おとこのこ
     otoko no ko
     a male child; a boy
2. A smaller or younger version of a bigger object.
   • きのこ
     kinoko
     literally, a "little tree": a mushroom
   • 竹の子
     たけのこ
     takenoko
     a bamboo shoot

Prefix

子 (hiragana こ, romaji 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

Suffix

子 (hiragana こ, romaji ko)

Used only in kun'yomi compounds.

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

子 (hiragana し, romaji shi)

子 (hiragana す, romaji su)

Used only in on'yomi compounds.

1. An object, generally small, having a particular state or property.
   • 中性子
     ちゅうせいし
     chūseishi
     literally, a neutral small thing: a neutron
   • 椅子
     いす
     isu
     literally, a chair small thing: a chair

Usage notes

In some kanji compounds, 子 is part of the word but does not carry much meaning, as in 椅子. Possibly because of this erosion of meaning, 子 used in some compounds has become optional, as in 椰子/椰 (yashi, “a palm tree”) and 柚子/柚 (yuzu, “yuzu, an aromatic citron”). Also note that the shi or su reading will become voiced in some compounds as ji or zu due to rendaku (連濁).

---

Korean

Hanja

子
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 자 (revised: ja, McCune-Reischauer: cha)

• Name (hangeul): 아들()

---

Mandarin

simpl. and trad.
子

Hanzi

子 (pinyin zǐ (zi3), zi (zi), Wade-Giles tzu3, tzu)

Pronunciation

• IPA: [ tsɨ˨˩˦ ]

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

子 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin zǐ)

1. (literary) son; child
2. (literary) person
3. (astrology) rat
4. (literary) master

   孔子

   Master Kong (Confucius)

Prefix

子 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin zǐ)

1. young; tender; small
2. sub-

   trad. 子目錄, simpl. 子目录

   subdirectory

Suffix

子 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin zi)

1. (Intermediate Mandarin) a suffix for small objects
2. (Intermediate Mandarin) a suffix for single-syllable nouns

Suffix

子 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin zǐ)

1. seed
2. egg

Pronoun

子 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin zǐ)

1. (literary) you

Compounds

• 椰子
• 子彈
• 繩子, 绳子 (shéngzi)
• 覆盆子
• 杜松子
• 山楂子
• 使君子
• 附子
• 香附子
• 五倍子
• 大风子
• 车前子
• 枸杞子
• 蛇床子
• 蛇麻子
• 菟丝子
• 葛缕子
• 众香子
• 没食子
• 白芥子
• 蓖麻子
• 女贞子
• 伪君子

References

• "子" (in Mandarin/English), Pleco Dictionary. URL accessed on 2011-01-29.
• "子" (in Mandarin), Guoyu Cidian On-line Mandarin Dictionary (國語辭典). URL accessed on 2011-01-29.
• "子" (in Mandarin/English), Dr. eye. URL accessed on 2011-01-29.

---

Middle Chinese

Han character

子 (*tziə̌)

---

Vietnamese

Han character

子 (tử, tí, tở)