子女

Chinese

		child; son; (noun suffix) child; son; (noun suffix); small thing; seed; egg; 1st earthly branch; 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight	female; woman; daughter
trad. (子女)		子	女
simp. #(子女)		子	女
anagram		女子

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zǐnǚ

  (Zhuyin): ㄗˇ ㄋㄩˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zi² neoi⁵
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): chṳ́-ńg
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): chú-lú / chír-lír / chú-lí

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zǐnǚ [Phonetic: zínǚ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄗˇ ㄋㄩˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: zǐhnyǔ
    • Wade–Giles: tzŭ³-nü³
    • Yale: dž-nyǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tzyyneu
    • Palladius: цзынюй (czynjuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sz̩²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ny²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zi² neoi⁵
    • Yale: jí néuih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzi² noey⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: ji² nêu⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡siː³⁵ nɵy̯¹³/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chṳ́-ńg
    • Hakka Romanization System: zii` ng`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: zi³ ng³
    • Sinological IPA: /t͡sɨ³¹ ŋ̍³¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Kaohsiung)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chú-lú
    • Tâi-lô: tsú-lú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zwluo
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡su⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ lu⁴¹/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /t͡su⁵³⁻⁴⁴ lu⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chír-lír
    • Tâi-lô: tsír-lír
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sɯ⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ lɯ⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, Taipei)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chú-lí
    • Tâi-lô: tsú-lí
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zwlie
    • IPA (Zhangzhou, Taipei): /t͡su⁵³⁻⁴⁴ li⁵³/

Noun

子女

1. sons and daughters; children

   未成年子女  ―  wèichéngnián zǐnǚ  ―  non-adult children

   子女撫養費／子女抚养费  ―  zǐnǚ fǔyǎngfèi  ―  child support

   子女最佳利益原則 [MSC, trad.]
   子女最佳利益原则 [MSC, simp.]

   zǐnǚ zuìjiā lìyì yuánzé [Pinyin]

   child's best interests

   子女忤逆不孝實在令父母寒心。 [MSC, trad.]
   子女忤逆不孝实在令父母寒心。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zǐnǚ wǔnì bùxiào shízài lìng fùmǔ hánxīn. [Pinyin]

   Wayward children who are unfilial are a disappointment to their parents.

Synonyms

• (literary) 人子 (rénzǐ)

Dialectal synonyms of 兒女 (“sons and daughters; children”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		兒女, 子女, 孩兒, 孩子
Mandarin	Beijing	兒女, 孩子
	Taiwan	兒女, 孩子
	Harbin	子女
	Yantai (Muping)	兒和女
	Jinan	兒女, 子女, 孩子
	Luoyang	兒女, 孩子
	Wanrong	兒女
	Xi'an	兒女, 娃
	Yinchuan	兒女
	Lanzhou	兒女
	Xining	子女, 娃娃們
	Ürümqi	兒女, 子女
	Wuhan	兒女, 兒子姑娘, 伢, 伢們
	Chengdu	兒女, 子女, 娃娃些
	Guiyang	娃娃, 娃兒
	Guilin	崽女
	Liuzhou	崽女
	Xuzhou	子女
	Yangzhou	兒女, 子女, 霞子
	Nanjing	子女, 孩子
	Hefei	兒女
	Nantong	侯啊丫頭
	Malaysia	孩子
	Singapore	孩子
Cantonese	Guangzhou	仔女
	Hong Kong	仔女
	Dongguan	仔女
	Yangjiang	仔女, 仔妹
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	仔女
	Singapore (Guangfu)	仔女
Gan	Nanchang	崽女, 兒女
	Lichuan	崽女
	Pingxiang	崽女
Hakka	Meixian	子女, 細人仔
	Yudu	子女, 小鬼
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	子女, 子兒, 子息
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	子女
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	子女, 子兒, 子息
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	子女, 子兒, 倈妹, 子息
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	子女, 子兒, 子息
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	子兒, 子女
	Hong Kong	細佬哥
Huizhou	Jixi	兒子女
Jin	Taiyuan	兒女, 娃娃
	Pingyao	孩兒, 孩兒們
	Xinzhou	子女, 子弟, 子孫, 子顆 derogatory, 子秧 derogatory
Northern Min	Jian'ou	囝仔, 囝姩
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	囝兒, 男女囝, 囝, 兒囝, 兒囝哥
	Matsu	囝
Southern Min	Xiamen	囝兒
	Quanzhou	囝兒
	Zhangzhou	囝兒
	Taipei	囝兒
	Kaohsiung	囝兒
	Singapore (Hokkien)	囝, 囝兒
	Manila (Hokkien)	囝兒
	Chaozhou	囝兒
	Shantou	囝兒, 兒女, 子女, 孥囝
	Leizhou	囝
	Haikou	囝兒, 囝
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	男女, 崽女
Wu	Shanghai	子女, 大細, 囡大細 dated
	Shanghai (Chongming)	男女
	Suzhou	兒子囡兒, 小人, 大細
	Wuxi	佬小
	Danyang	子女, 兒女
	Hangzhou	兒女
	Ningbo	兒囡, 兒子囡, 子女
	Wenzhou	男女, 男兒女兒, 男兼女, 子女, 細兒
	Jinhua	兒囡
Xiang	Changsha	崽女
	Loudi	崽女
	Shuangfeng	崽女, 崽

Derived terms

• 繼子女／继子女 (jìzǐnǚ)
• 非婚生子女 (fēihūnshēng zǐnǚ)

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (子女):

• → Japanese: 子女(しじょ) (shijo)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
子	女
し Grade: 1	じょ Grade: 1
on’yomi

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) し​じょ [shíꜜjò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ɕiʑo̞]

Noun

子(し)女(じょ) • (shijo) ^{←しぢよ (sidyo)?}

1. sons and daughters; children
2. Synonym of 女子 (joshi, “girl”)

See also

• 子(こ) (ko, “child; boy; male; girl”)
• 女(め) (me, “female”)
• 息(むす)子(こ) (musuko, “son”)
• 娘(むすめ) (musume, “daughter”)
• 娘(こ) (ko, “girl”)