娃儿 (wá ér) — (dialectal, colloquial) child; kid; baby

Definition

A casual, often northern-dialect word for 'child / kid' (can pluralize as 娃儿们). More colloquial than 小孩儿 and warmer/folksier than 孩子.

noun

(dialectal, colloquial) childkidbaby

Measure word · 个

娃儿。
Nǐ jiā de wá ér zhēn kě ài.
Your child is really cute.
娃儿。
Nà ge wá ér zài jiē shàng pǎo dé fēi kuài.
That kid ran super fast on the street.
娃儿。
wá ér Men dōu zài yuàn zi lǐ wán shuǎ.
The children are all playing in the yard.

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

儿érfamiliar ending

娃 denotes a child, and 儿 gives a familiar, colloquial tone.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

女圭娃

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

圭

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

娃 combines 女 (woman) on the left with 圭 on the right; 女 is the meaning part, and 圭 is the sound part.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.