The Making of 孩子

A calm ink-and-watercolor scene showing delicate grass roots growing near a small wooden cradle under a willow tree.
The word combines the concept of offspring with the phonetic element of grass roots, symbolizing the budding beginnings of new life.

A person who has not yet reached adulthood, or a direct descendant of a parent, is known in Chinese as 孩子 [háizi]. This term encompasses youngsters, babies, and children.

The word is composed of two characters: 孩 and 子. The character 子 denotes a child, offspring, or descendant.

Within the character 孩, the component 子 serves a semantic function, contributing the meaning of child or youngster. This character also incorporates a phonetic component, 亥, which relates to the sound of the word.

Together, these elements form 孩子, a noun used to refer to a child, kids, or one's own children.

Explore the full etymology graph of 孩子 on etymfun.com.

Based on Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and the sources listed on etymfun.com; written by a local model and fact-checked statement by statement against them. Illustration generated locally.

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