漢字Kanji · in States & Attributes
幼: infancy, childhood
JLPT N25 strokesGrade 6Your ink: 白 Not met
力 carries the meaning · 幺 carries meaning and sound
5 strokes
Two readings, and the words that use each
ヨウyou · on'yomi · in compounds
- 幼児ようじinfant, baby, child
- 幼女ようじょlittle girl
- 幼虫ようちゅうlarva, chrysalis
- 幼少ようしょうinfancy, childhood, tender age
- 幼年期ようねんきchildhood
- 幼稚園ようちえんkindergarten
- 幼稚なようちなchildish, infantile
おさないosanai · kun'yomi · on its own
- 幼いおさないvery young, childish
- 幼子おさなごinfant, baby, little child
- 幼心おさなごころchild's mind, child's heart
- 幼なじみおさななじみchildhood friend
Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
成り立ち
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Ideogrammic compound (會意)幺 tiny + 力 strength
幺 may also act as a phonetic component.
Source: Wiktionary, 幼 (rev. 92161078), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Tiny thread (幺) + power/strength (力). Describes a person who only has the "tiny" strength of a single thread—the very definition of infancy.”
繋がり
Connections
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
幼 takes the 幺 family's reading, ヨウ (you).
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by side幼 infancy · 力
vs幻 phantasmIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · yòu
Same form: 幼 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 幼 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 幼 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin yòu most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.
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