孩提 (hái dī) — infant; young child (literary) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literary word for infancy / very early childhood — only used in formal writing or nostalgic contexts (e.g. 孩提时代). For everyday 'child' use 小孩 or 孩子 instead.

noun

infantyoung child (literary)

Measure word · 个

Examples

孩提。
Tā huí yì qǐ hái dī shí dài de qù shì.
He recalled interesting events from his infancy.
孩提。
hái dī Shí qī de jì yì wǎng wǎng hěn mó hu.
Memories from infancy are often vague.
孩提。
Zhè běn shū miáo xiě le yí gè hái dī de chéng zhǎng jīng lì.
This book describes an infant's growth experience.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

孩 “child” + 提 “carry”: a child still carried in arms.

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.

子亥孩

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

亥

亥hài孩hái

Same sound today

In 孩, the left part 子 shows a child, while the right part 亥 supplies the sound.

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

扌是提

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

是

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

提 shows 扌 (hand) beside 是, which gives the pronunciation.

Appears in

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