Translingual

Han character

仔 (radical 9 人+3, 5 strokes, cangjie input 人弓木 (OND), four-corner 2724₇, composition ⿰亻子)

1. small thing, child
2. young animal

References

• KangXi: page 92, character 6
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 367
• Dae Jaweon: page 195, character 9
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 115, character 5
• Unihan data for U+4ED4

Chinese

Etymology 1

Cognate with 子 (OC *ʔslɯʔ) and 崽 (OC *ʔslɯːʔ, *srɯː, *srɯː). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation 1

Definitions

仔

1. (domesticated animals or fowls) young

   仔雞 / 仔鸡  ―  zǐjī  ―  chick

2. careful, meticulous
3. (Taiwan) Alternative form of 籽 (zǐ, “seed”).

   菜仔油  ―  càizǐ yóu  ―  rapeseed oil

Compounds

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

仔 (regional, chiefly Cantonese)

1. son   (Classifier: 個／个; 粒 c)

   你個仔真係好乖。 [Cantonese, trad.]

   你个仔真系好乖。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   Nei⁵ go³zai² zan¹ hai⁶ hou² gwaai¹. [Jyutping]

   Your son is very well-behaved.

2. child

   男仔 [Cantonese]  ―  naam⁴zai² [Jyutping]  ―  boy

   女仔 [Cantonese]  ―  neoi⁵zai² [Jyutping]  ―  girl

3. young animal
4. young person of a particular trait or occupation   (Classifier: 個／个)

   肥仔 [Cantonese]  ―  fei⁴zai² [Jyutping]  ―  fatty

   打工仔 [Cantonese]  ―  daa² gung¹zai² [Jyutping]  ―  young worker

5. (slang) boyfriend   (Classifier: 條／条 c)
6. a diminutive suffix

   凳仔 [Cantonese]  ―  dang³zai² [Jyutping]  ―  small stool

   叔仔 [Cantonese]  ―  suk¹zai² [Jyutping]  ―  brother-in-law (husband's younger brother)

7. a suffix for single-syllable nouns

   雀仔 [Cantonese]  ―  zoek³zai² [Jyutping]  ―  a birdie

Compounds

Etymology 2

Weak form of 囝 (kiáⁿ, káⁿ). (Mandarin and Cantonese pronunciations in words borrowed from Min Nan are from etymology 1.)

Pronunciation

Definitions

仔 (chiefly Min Nan)

1. a diminutive suffix for nouns, adjectives or quantities

   囡仔 [Min Nan]  ―  gín-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  child

   小叔仔 [Min Nan]  ―  sió-chek-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  brother-in-law (husband's younger brother)

   勻勻仔 / 匀匀仔 [Min Nan]  ―  ûn-ûn-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  slowly

   小可仔 [Min Nan]  ―  sió-khóa-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  a little bit

   歌仔戲 / 歌仔戏  ―  gēzǐxì  ―  Taiwanese opera

2. a suffix that converts a verb or adjective into a noun

   抿仔 [Min Nan]  ―  bín-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  brush

   矮仔 [Min Nan]  ―  é-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  shorty

3. a suffix placed after a name or title, used endearingly, humorously or pejoratively

Synonyms

Compounds

• 草仔粿 (chháu-á-kóe, chháu-á-ké)
• 芋仔冰 (ō͘-á-peng)

Etymology 3

Weak form of 佮 (kah, kap, “and”).

Pronunciation

Definitions

仔

1. (Min Nan) An interfix placed between two nouns to show the relationship between the two objects.

   翁仔某 [Min Nan]  ―  ang-á-bó͘ [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  husband and wife

Etymology 4

Weak form of 百 (pah, “hundred”).

Pronunciation

Definitions

仔

1. (Min Nan) An interfix placed between two numbers to denote the value of 100, i.e. x 仔 y = 100x + 10y.

   三仔五 [Min Nan]  ―  saⁿ-á-gō͘ [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  three hundred fifty

Etymology 5

Weak form of 旦 (tòaⁿ, “dawn”).

Pronunciation

Definitions

仔

1. (Min Nan) An interfix used limitedly in certain temporal location adverbs.

   今仔日 [Min Nan]  ―  kin-á-ji̍t [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  today

   明仔早 [Min Nan]  ―  bîn-á-chài [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  tomorrow

Etymology 6

Pronunciation

Definitions

仔 (Hakka)

1. a suffix used after nouns

   樹仔 / 树仔 [Hakka]  ―  su-é [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]  ―  tree

2. a suffix that makes a derogatory slur

   阿山仔 [Hakka]  ―  â-sân-é [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]  ―  Mainlander

Synonyms

Etymology 7

Cognate with 載 (OC *ʔslɯːʔ, *ʔslɯːs, *zlɯːs, “to load; to carry”).

Pronunciation

Definitions

仔

1. Only used in 仔肩.

References

• CantoDict
• Chinese Linguipedia (中華語文知識庫): zǐ, zǎi, zī
• Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Hakka (臺灣客家語常用詞辭典): é, chṳ́
• Min Nan Lexicon (閩南語字彙)
• Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary (重編國語辭典修定本): zī, zǐ, zǎi
• (Min Nan) “Entry #1310”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (in Chinese and Min Nan), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2011.
• (Min Nan) Zhou, Changji (周长楫) (ed.). Minnan Fangyan Da Cidian (闽南方言大词典) (Chinese). Fuzhou: Fujian People's Publishing House, 2006. ISBN 7-211-03896-9.
• (Min Nan) “臺灣閩南語按呢寫 (Tâi-oân Bân-lâm-gí Án-ne Siá) #267”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan], Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2011.
• (Min Nan) “臺灣閩南語按呢寫 (Tâi-oân Bân-lâm-gí Án-ne Siá) #317”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan], Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2011.

Japanese

Kanji

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

1. offspring (animal)
2. detailed, fine

Readings

• On: し (shi), さい (sai)
• Kun: たえる (taeru), こ (ko)

Korean

Hanja

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

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Vietnamese

Han character

仔 (tử, tể)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

References

• Nom Foundation