少年

Chinese

		young; few; little young; few; little; lack	year
simp. and trad. (少年)		少	年
anagram		年少

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): shàonián

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄠˋ ㄋㄧㄢˊ

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): шонян (šoni͡an, III-I)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): siu³ nin⁴
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): seu-ngièn / seu-ngiàn
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): siàu-liân

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shàonián
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄠˋ ㄋㄧㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shàonián
    • Wade–Giles: shao⁴-nien²
    • Yale: shàu-nyán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shawnian
    • Palladius: шаонянь (šaonjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɑʊ̯⁵¹ ni̯ɛn³⁵/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: шонян (šoni͡an, III-I)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɔ⁴⁴ niæ̃²⁴/

    (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: siu³ nin⁴
    • Yale: siu nìhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: siu³ nin⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: xiu³ nin⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːu̯³³ niːn²¹/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: seu-ngièn
    • Hakka Romanization System: seu ngien^ˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: seu⁴ ngian²
    • Sinological IPA: /seu̯⁵⁵ ŋi̯en¹¹/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: seu-ngiàn
    • Hakka Romanization System: seu ngian^ˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: seu⁴ ngian²
    • Sinological IPA: /seu̯⁵⁵ ŋi̯an¹¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siàu-liân
    • Tâi-lô: siàu-liân
    • Phofsit Daibuun: siaolieen
    • IPA (Xiamen): /siau²¹⁻⁵³ liɛn²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /siau⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ liɛn²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /siau²¹⁻⁵³ liɛn¹³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /siau¹¹⁻⁵³ liɛn²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /siau²¹⁻⁴¹ liɛn²³/

Noun

(deprecated template usage) 少年

1. early youth (from ten to sixteen years old)

   少年時代／少年时代  ―  shàonián shídài  ―  early youth

2. juvenile; youngster
3. young man; boy

Synonyms

• (slang) 騷年／骚年 (sāonián)
• (boy) 男孩 (nánhái), 男孩子 (nánháizi), 童子 (tóngzǐ); (Cantonese) 男仔; (Hakka) 細倈仔／细俫仔; (Min Nan) 查埔囡仔; (Wu) 猴子 (hóuzi)

Adjective

(deprecated template usage) 少年

1. (chiefly Southern Min) young

Related terms

• 少年人 (siàu-liân-lâng)

See also

• (Mandarin) 年輕／年轻 (niánqīng)

Further reading

• “Entry #906”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2024.

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

少年 (shōnen): a boy.

Kanji in this term
少	年
しょう Grade: 2	ねん Grade: 1
on'yomi

Etymology

/seunen/ → /ɕeunen/ → /ɕoːnen/

Borrowing from Middle Chinese 少年 (syew^H nen, literally “young + years”). Compare modern Cantonese 少年 (siu³ nin⁴), Mandarin 少年 (shàonián), Korean 소년 (sonyeon), Vietnamese thiếu niên.

Originally referred to young people of either gender. The meaning has narrowed in modern usage to more commonly refer to boys of elementary school or middle school age.

Noun

少(しょう)年(ねん) • (shōnen) ^{←せうねん (seunen)?}

1. a boy, a young man

   少(しょう)年(ねん)時(じ)代(だい)

   shōnen jidai

   childhood, boyhood

   少(しょう)年(ねん)はこの漫(まん)画(が)が大(だい)好(す)きで、もう売(う)り切(き)れになっています。

   Shōnen wa kono manga ga daisuki de, mō urikire ni natte imasu.

   Boys really like this manga, and it's already sold out.

   • 2011 February 9, Hideaki Sorachi, “第(だい)三百三十四訓(くん)　銭(せん)湯(とう)では身(み)も心(こころ)も丸(まる)裸(はだか)”, in 銀(ぎん)魂(たま), volume 38 (fiction), Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN:

     バーさん　俺(おれ)は心(こころ)は少(しょう)年(ねん)だから二(ふた)人(り)で200円(えん)で頼(たの)むわ

     Bā-san ore wa kokoro wa shōnen da kara futari de nihyaku-en de tanomu wa

     Granny, I’m still a boy at heart, so make it 200 yen for two.

   • 2017 April 15, “星(せい)杯(はい)に選(えら)ばれし者(もの)”, in CODE OF THE DUELIST(コード・オブ・ザ・デュエリスト), Konami:

     機(き)怪(かい)の残(ざん)骸(がい)で武(ぶ)装(そう)する、真(ま)っ直(す)ぐな心(こころ)の少(しょう)年(ねん)。

     Kikai no zangai de busō suru, massugu na kokoro no shōnen.

     An upright boy armed with the remains of Mechstrosities.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 少(しょう)年(ねん)愛(あい) (shōnen'ai, “pederasty, love of boys”)
• 少(しょう)年(ねん)院(いん) (shōnen'in, “reform school, juvenile reformatory, juvie”)
• 少(しょう)年(ねん)会(かい) (shōnenkai, “youth conference”)
• 少(しょう)年(ねん)感(かん)化(か)院(いん) (shōnen kankain, “reform school, juvenile reformatory, juvie”)
• 少(しょう)年(ねん)鑑(かん)別(べつ)所(しょ) (shōnen kanbetsusho, “juvenile hall, Juvenile Classification Office”)
• 少(しょう)年(ねん)少(しょう)女(じょ) (shōnen shōjo, “boys and girls”)
• 少(しょう)年(ねん)裁(さい)判(ばん)所(しょ) (shōnen saibansho, “juvenile court”)
• 少(しょう)年(ねん)団(だん) (shōnendan, “youth association, youth group”)
• 少(しょう)年(ねん)犯(はん)罪(ざい) (shōnen hanzai, “juvenile crime (by a male)”)
• 少(しょう)年(ねん)犯(はん)罪(ざい)者(しゃ) (shōnen hanzaisha, “juvenile delinquent, juvenile offender (male)”)

See also

See also

• 少女(しょうじょ) (shōjo): young girl
• 女性(じょせい) (josei): woman
• 青年(せいねん) (seinen): young man
• 子供(こども) (kodomo): child

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Korean

Hanja in this term
少	年

Noun

少年 • (sonyeon) (hangeul 소년)

1. hanja form^? of 소년 (“boy, young person”)

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Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
少	年

Noun

少年

1. chữ Hán form of thiếu niên (“related to adolescence”).