猴儿 (hóu ér) — monkey; (fig., affectionate) little devil, mischievous kid

Definition

Affectionate, diminutive form of 猴 — literally 'little monkey,' used as a fond term for a mischievous child. The -儿 suffix softens and warms the word, unlike the neutral 猴子 used for the animal.

noun
monkey(fig., affectionate) little devilmischievous kid
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • ，猴儿。
    Kàn, nà zhī hóu ér zài shù shàng chī xiāng jiāo.
    Look, that monkey is eating a banana in the tree.
  • 猴儿，。
    Zhè ge xiǎo hóu ér zhēn tiáo pí, zhěng tiān pǎo lái pǎo qù.
    This little monkey is really mischievous, running around all day.
  • 猴儿。
    Dòng wù yuán lǐ de hóu ér hěn kě ài.
    The monkeys at the zoo are very cute.

Origin

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.

猴hóumonkey
儿érerhua

猴 means monkey; 儿 gives a colloquial, affectionate 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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
犭Written in full as犬quǎn
Sound part声符shēngfú
侯
侯hóu猴hóu(r)
Same sound today

猴 pairs 犭, the animal part, with 侯, which gives the sound.

Open 猴 →

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.

Open 儿 →

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