<p><a href="http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/91/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">子</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>[國] zi5 - Mandarin only</p>
<p><strong>noun suffix</strong> added to certain nouns and measure words, e.g. 桌子, 胖子, 亂子, 一下子, etc</p>
</blockquote>
<p>子 is a suffix that:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>emphasize a noun.</p>
</li>
<li><p>add one more syllable to a single syllable word to make it more easy to hear</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>The actual meaning of 子 itself doesn't matter in this role</p>
<p><em>Similarly, 了 itself means 'finished/ end/ complete', but as a [final particle]( that indicating change of situation) those definitions do not matter</em></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-05T20:01:27.247Z
2018-09-05T20:01:27.247Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Tang Ho
<p>adjective word that describe people +"子”，means this kind of person, only used in informal situation:
书呆子 bookworm
呆子  idiot
傻子  idiot
疯子  crazy people
高子(高个子) tall people
矮子 short people
瘦子 thin people
but there is no "帅子""丑子""聪子"(maybe they can be the nickname)
And it's not a common phenomenon!
words below don't exist:
酷子 可怜子 美子 美丽子 快乐子 强子 弱子 壮子 活泼子 内向子 干净子 开放子 善良子 聪明子 仔细子 
They don't exist at all. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-07T06:51:00.107Z
2020-05-07T06:51:00.107Z
HelpMePlease
<p>「子」originally meant <em>child</em>. By extension, through the following sequence, it was further used:</p>

<ol>
<li>To emphasise the smallness of an object.</li>
<li>As a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminutive" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>diminutive suffix</em></a>, conveying a sense of intimacy/endearment.</li>
<li>As a nominal suffix, doubling as a way of <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/3820/reasons-for-chinese-changing-from-monosyllabic-to-disyllabic">transforming a monosyllabic noun to disyllabic</a>.</li>
</ol>

<p>In the diminutive aspect (Chinese: 指小詞, Korean: 指小辭・지소사), its function is very similar to the examples in the answer given by the question posted <a href="https://korean.stackexchange.com/questions/1907/are-there-any-ways-to-make-diminutive-forms-of-nouns-in-korean">here</a>.</p>

<p>In 菓子 and 帽子,「子」may play any one or a combination of the three uses above; the answer is not entirely clear, as the uses are related to one-another. In 獅子,  which is obviously not small,「子」is used in sense 3 above and should be seen as the same as —이 in Korean <strong>虎狼이</strong>.</p>

<hr>

<p>Note, non-Mandarin Chinese languages also use diminutives; Cantonese「仔」is cognate to Mandarin「子」.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-06T03:52:06.060Z
This is spot on. Diminutive doesn't mean small.
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-28T15:27:22.750Z
By extension, there are also other suffixes and prefixes that does not convey much meaning in modern Chinese, like 老- in 老師/老虎/老鼠, or -頭 in 石頭/木頭/芋頭.
Daniel Cheung
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-06T02:43:28.447Z
2020-01-28T05:29:03.413Z
2020-01-28T05:29:03.413Z
dROOOze
<p>I'm learning Sino-Korean vocabulary at the moment and have noticed that many words seem to end in a '子' that doesn't seem to add much semantically to the other character in the word.</p>

<p>What should I take '子' to signify in this case?</p>

<p><a href="http://www.archchinese.com/chinese_english_dictionary.html?find=%E5%AD%90" rel="noreferrer">http://www.archchinese.com/chinese_english_dictionary.html?find=子</a> suggests that it can mean 'small thing', but a  獅子 is not a very small thing.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-05T21:33:55.210Z
If you were able to read in Chinese, you could refer to this similar [question](https://www.zhihu.com/question/32262527) in 知乎。
zyy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-05T21:48:33.283Z
@zyy thanks... but I think it will take me a whole lifetime to learn Korean :)
Нет войне
<meaning><characters>
What is the meaning of 子 in words like 菓子(과자), 帽子(모자), or 獅子(사자)?
# What is the meaning of 子 in words like 菓子(과자), 帽子(모자), or 獅子(사자)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-09-05)

I'm learning Sino-Korean vocabulary at the moment and have noticed that many words seem to end in a '子' that doesn't seem to add much semantically to the other character in the word.

What should I take '子' to signify in this case?

[http://www.archchinese.com/chinese\_english\_dictionary.html?find=子](http://www.archchinese.com/chinese_english_dictionary.html?find=%E5%AD%90) suggests that it can mean 'small thing', but a 獅子 is not a very small thing.

**Tags:** meaning, characters

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: If you were able to read in Chinese, you could refer to this similar [question](https://www.zhihu.com/question/32262527) in 知乎。  
> **username_0**: @username_1 thanks... but I think it will take me a whole lifetime to learn Korean :)  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-09-06. Score: 11 | Accepted answer

「子」originally meant *child*. By extension, through the following sequence, it was further used:

1. To emphasise the smallness of an object.
2. As a [*diminutive suffix*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminutive), conveying a sense of intimacy/endearment.
3. As a nominal suffix, doubling as a way of [transforming a monosyllabic noun to disyllabic](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/3820/reasons-for-chinese-changing-from-monosyllabic-to-disyllabic).

In the diminutive aspect (Chinese: 指小詞, Korean: 指小辭・지소사), its function is very similar to the examples in the answer given by the question posted [here](https://korean.stackexchange.com/questions/1907/are-there-any-ways-to-make-diminutive-forms-of-nouns-in-korean).

In 菓子 and 帽子,「子」may play any one or a combination of the three uses above; the answer is not entirely clear, as the uses are related to one-another. In 獅子, which is obviously not small,「子」is used in sense 3 above and should be seen as the same as —이 in Korean **虎狼이**.

---

Note, non-Mandarin Chinese languages also use diminutives; Cantonese「仔」is cognate to Mandarin「子」.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: This is spot on. Diminutive doesn't mean small.  
> **username_6**: By extension, there are also other suffixes and prefixes that does not convey much meaning in modern Chinese, like 老- in 老師/老虎/老鼠, or -頭 in 石頭/木頭/芋頭.  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-09-05. Score: 3

[子](http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/91/)

> [國] zi5 - Mandarin only
>
> **noun suffix** added to certain nouns and measure words, e.g. 桌子, 胖子, 亂子, 一下子, etc

子 is a suffix that:

1. emphasize a noun.
2. add one more syllable to a single syllable word to make it more easy to hear

The actual meaning of 子 itself doesn't matter in this role

*Similarly, 了 itself means 'finished/ end/ complete', but as a [final particle]( that indicating change of situation) those definitions do not matter*


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-05-07. Score: 0

adjective word that describe people +"子”，means this kind of person, only used in informal situation:
书呆子 bookworm
呆子 idiot
傻子 idiot
疯子 crazy people
高子(高个子) tall people
矮子 short people
瘦子 thin people
but there is no "帅子""丑子""聪子"(maybe they can be the nickname)
And it's not a common phenomenon!
words below don't exist:
酷子 可怜子 美子 美丽子 快乐子 强子 弱子 壮子 活泼子 内向子 干净子 开放子 善良子 聪明子 仔细子
They don't exist at all.


---

