子
Child
| on’yomi | kun’yomi | Radicals |
|---|---|---|
| し | こ | 子 |
Meaning: Child
The child radical and the child kanji are exactly the same.
So, if you know your radicals, you know your kanji as well! This won’t last forever (where radicals are exactly the same as the kanji) so enjoy it while the kanji are still small and simple!
Reading: し
To remember the sound し we use the word Charlie “Sheen.” – There’s a child. He’s walking around, having a good time. Then, all of a sudden out of nowhere, Charlie Sheen (し) jumps out and grabs the child, then runs away with him.
You give chase after him – make sure you zero in on the child, thinking about how you need to save said child. The child is what’s important here, because that’s the kanji you’re learning. Oh, and Charlie Sheen as well, since you have to remember the reading, too.
Vocabulary
a 子（こ）＝ Kid / Child
- Meaning: This is the same as the kanji (you’ll notice that when a vocab word consists of a single kanji, usually the meaning is the same!).
- Reading: The reading is the kun’yomi because it’s a vocab consisting of a kanji that’s all alone with nothing attached.
a 女の子（おんなのこ）＝ Girl
- Combo: 女 (woman) + 子 (child)
- Meaning: Child of Woman is the literal translation. That makes this pretty easy, because a child of woman is a girl.
- Reading: This is like two words put together, with the particle の (which you may or may not know yet). That means you treat each part of the word (the 女 and the 子) as separate words, meaning you use both of their kun’yomi readings (you’ll be learning 子 next).
a 女子（じょし）＝ Girl
- Combo: 女 (woman) + 子 (child)
- Meaning: You’ll notice this has the same meaning as 女の子. This version is going to be a fancier way of saying “girl,” though, because it uses the Chinese (on’yomi) readings.
- Reading: The reading consists of the two kanji combined into one word (unlike 女の子 which is separated by a particle). This means you will probably use the on’yomi readings of each kanji. If you know both kanji’s readings, you should be able to figure out the reading of this vocab just fine, too. P.S. Congratulations, it’s a 女子!