字の旅3,000 years in four forms
Oracle bone · ShangShang · c. 1200 BCE乙6702
Oracle bone: Wikimedia Commons, traced from Academia Sinica, CC0. Bronze: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Small seal: Academia Sinica 小學堂, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
部首Radical · in Human Body & People
子 child
こ ko · as a side part こへん kohen
3 strokesRadical of 9 kanjiPart of 13
Origin · sourced
Pictogram象形
An image of a baby, with a large head and spread arms. The legs are wrapped in a blanket.
Source: Wiktionary, 子 (rev. 94594159), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“See the baby reaching out from the cradle! This character captures the innocence and joy of youth. The top is the head, the arms are open for a hug, and the body is wrapped snugly in blankets. It represents new life, the next generation, and the potential of what is to come.”
Where it sits in a kanji
Relates to children, youth, small things, or the 'offspring' or products of a process
What it grows into
- 学studyガク · まなぶ
子 becomes 学
The earliest oracle bone form consists of 𦥑 (“two hands”) + 六 (“building”); subsequent groups write 爻 (“counting rods”) + 六 or 𦥑 + 爻, and later forms combine all three into 𦥯 (𦥑 + 爻 + 六), with some abbreviated to 爻. Bronze inscriptions add semantic 子 (“child”).
Wiktionary, 學, CC BY-SA 4.0
- 孝filial pietyコウ
耂 + 子
An old man and a child, filial piety between generations.
Ideogrammic compound · Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
- 孫grandchildソン · まご
Every kanji with 子 as its radical
All 9 kanji