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, seed, small object
こへん kohen · side form of 子 こ ko
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
“Protect the future! This radical represents the innocence, vibrant energy, and infinite potential of a young child. When it sits on the left side of a kanji, think of family relationships, the nurturing of new life, and the tiny "seeds" from which larger things grow. It brings a sense of renewal, smallness, and familial love to any character it joins, reminding us of the foundations of a lineage.”
Where it sits in a kanji
Indicates family relationships (children, grandchildren), youth and infancy, small or delicate objects, and the starting point or seed 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