崽子 (zǎi zǐ) — (noun) offspring of an animal; cub, pup, whelp;…

Definition

A noun for the young of an animal (pup, cub, whelp) that doubles as a derogatory insult aimed at a child or young person ('brat', 'bastard').

noun

offspring of an animalcubpupwhelp(noun, derogatory) bratbastard (insult for a child or young person)

Measure word · 个

崽子。
Nà zhī mǔ gǒu shēng le sān zhī zǎi zǐ.
That female dog gave birth to three puppies.
。
Nà ge xiǎo zǎi zǐ yòu zài dǎo luàn le.
That little brat is causing trouble again.
崽子。
Láng zǎi zǐ zhǎng dà le jiù huì lí kāi láng qún.
Wolf cubs leave the pack when they grow up.

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.

崽 names a young animal, and 子 makes it a familiar word for a cub or brat.

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.

山思崽

Meaning part形符xíngfú

山山shānmountain

Sound part声符shēngfú

思

思sī崽zǎi

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

崽 pairs 山 (mountain) with 思; 思 gives the sound, and 山 gives the meaning clue.

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Appears in