<p>It does. 少 means young. See <a href="http://www.zdic.net/c/1/3c/92426.htm" rel="noreferrer">少不更事</a></p>

<p>There are also 幼 for children and 老 for old( you already know).
孟子 said: <a href="http://www.zdic.net/c/1/15f/358872.htm" rel="noreferrer">老吾老以及人之老,幼吾幼以及人之幼</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-24T22:57:09.963Z
thanks for the answer!  青年 is not the right way to say "young"?
Crashalot
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2017-07-25T04:53:57.110Z
Of course it is! 青年 is more widely used nowadays while 少 as a single character form of young were used in the past. Nowadays 少 is more seen as part of 少年 which also means young. But to be more precise 少年 is a little younger than 青年.
Archeosudoerus
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2017-07-25T05:34:12.360Z
thanks for the clarification. any clues why the language evolved toward 青年 and away from 少?
Crashalot
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2017-07-25T07:56:19.810Z
Actually, 青年refers to teenagers and young people.
hsiaoyang
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-25T15:59:11.437Z
@Crashalot you are asking an interesting question, it's actually related to how Chinese language evolves from monosyllabic to disyllabic over time. As a native speaker who loves ancient classic literature
 , I'm also interested in this topic, there is a great answer here at stackexchange already, please refer to this one: https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/3820/reasons-for-chinese-changing-from-monosyllabic-to-disyllabic
Archeosudoerus
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2017-07-26T21:21:23.510Z
少壯 vs. 老弱. It is very clear
Tang Ho
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2017-07-24T22:03:23.830Z
2017-07-24T22:15:44.497Z
2017-07-24T22:15:44.497Z
Archeosudoerus
<p>There are one-character words for "old", "love," "book," and many more important concepts. Why is 青年 the way to say "young" and not a one-word character?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-24T20:28:05.907Z
distinguish between attributive and predicative use, but even in the predicative case "young" can correspond to single character word: 很老了 be very old, 还很小 be still very young, see jukuu for "old,young" in many different situations
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-24T22:29:12.163Z
Someone has already pointed out that this isn't true. However, even if it were the case, why would it matter?
Stumpy Joe Pete
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2017-07-24T22:54:52.750Z
@StumpyJoePete is curiosity not the foundation for learning?
Crashalot
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-24T22:56:12.953Z
@user6065 so 小 is the right way to say "young" not 青年?
Crashalot
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-24T23:21:31.477Z
青年 means "(a) youth". 年轻 means "young". 小 or 少 can also mean "young", but if you want to be unambiguous and use the word on its own, then use 年轻. In terms of "curiosity", I'm asking why one would care about how many morphemes are in a particular word. Knowing the answer will not reveal any deep truths about Chinese culture or thought, if that's what you're looking for.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-25T00:33:14.267Z
answering c#5,
it depends 还很小 is of restricted use, applying to living organisms at an early stage of development (animals incl. humans, plants), anyhow C has different ways of expressing young or advanced age from E, look for instructional material on this issue at C lang sites (often involving 岁数、年纪、年龄（age) which can be （还，不）小（了），大，轻、轻轻、people can be 上了岁，younger/older than 比。。。小／大，
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-25T05:37:11.677Z
@StumpyJoePete  青年 means "young" according to the comments in the accepted answer and this dictionary: http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/7061/. also google translate: https://translate.google.com/#zh-CN/en/%E5%B9%B4%E9%9D%92. which reference for 青年 are you using?
Crashalot
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-25T05:54:37.617Z
[Here's an example](http://www.zdic.net/c/2/fd/268614.htm). Maybe you can use it as an adjective, but I've only ever seen it as a noun. Any textbook for learning mandarin will give 年轻 as the adjective "young".
Stumpy Joe Pete
<history>
Why doesn't the Chinese language have a one character word for "young"?
# Why doesn't the Chinese language have a one character word for "young"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-07-24)

There are one-character words for "old", "love," "book," and many more important concepts. Why is 青年 the way to say "young" and not a one-word character?

**Tags:** history

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: distinguish between attributive and predicative use, but even in the predicative case "young" can correspond to single character word: 很老了 be very old, 还很小 be still very young, see jukuu for "old,young" in many different situations  
> **username_2**: Someone has already pointed out that this isn't true. However, even if it were the case, why would it matter?  
> **username_0**: @StumpyJoePete is curiosity not the foundation for learning?  
> **username_0**: @username_1 so 小 is the right way to say "young" not 青年?  
> **username_2**: 青年 means "(a) youth". 年轻 means "young". 小 or 少 can also mean "young", but if you want to be unambiguous and use the word on its own, then use 年轻. In terms of "curiosity", I'm asking why one would care about how many morphemes are in a particular word. Knowing the answer will not reveal any deep truths about Chinese culture or thought, if that's what you're looking for.  
> **username_1**: answering c#5, it depends 还很小 is of restricted use, applying to living organisms at an early stage of development (animals incl. humans, plants), anyhow C has different ways of expressing young or advanced age from E, look for instructional material on this issue at C lang sites (often involving 岁数、年纪、年龄（age) which can be （还，不）小（了），大，轻、轻轻、people can be 上了岁，younger/older than 比。。。小／大，  
> **username_0**: @StumpyJoePete  青年 means "young" according to the comments in the accepted answer and this dictionary: http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/7061/. also google translate: https://translate.google.com/#zh-CN/en/%E5%B9%B4%E9%9D%92. which reference for 青年 are you using?  
> **username_2**: [Here's an example](http://www.zdic.net/c/2/fd/268614.htm). Maybe you can use it as an adjective, but I've only ever seen it as a noun. Any textbook for learning mandarin will give 年轻 as the adjective "young".  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-07-24. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

It does. 少 means young. See [少不更事](http://www.zdic.net/c/1/3c/92426.htm)

There are also 幼 for children and 老 for old( you already know).
孟子 said: [老吾老以及人之老,幼吾幼以及人之幼](http://www.zdic.net/c/1/15f/358872.htm)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: thanks for the answer!  青年 is not the right way to say "young"?  
> **username_3**: Of course it is! 青年 is more widely used nowadays while 少 as a single character form of young were used in the past. Nowadays 少 is more seen as part of 少年 which also means young. But to be more precise 少年 is a little younger than 青年.  
> **username_0**: thanks for the clarification. any clues why the language evolved toward 青年 and away from 少?  
> **username_4**: Actually, 青年refers to teenagers and young people.  
> **username_3**: @username_0 you are asking an interesting question, it's actually related to how Chinese language evolves from monosyllabic to disyllabic over time. As a native speaker who loves ancient classic literature  , I'm also interested in this topic, there is a great answer here at stackexchange already, please refer to this one: https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/3820/reasons-for-chinese-changing-from-monosyllabic-to-disyllabic  
> **username_5**: 少壯 vs. 老弱. It is very clear  

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