BOY  男孩子

INTENSELY YOUNG MALE HUMAN.
LADSCHOOLBOYMALE CHILDYOUTHYOUNG MANLADDIESTRIPLING
Antonym
  • GIRLFEMALE YOUNG HUMAN.
    Hypernym
    • HUMANANIMAL which HAS TWO LEGS AND LACKS FEATHERS.
    See also
    • CHILDYOUNG DESCENDENT.
      • GIRLFEMALE YOUNG HUMAN.
        Old Chinese Criteria
        1. Tóng zǐ 童子 is the standard neutral word for a boy below the age of 15, but the strong connotation is that of ignorance and immaturity.

        2. Shù zǐ 豎子 refers to a boy as opposed to an infant, but very often often with strong pejorative force.

        3. Tóng 童 by itself is an archaic word referring to a boy, but the term enters freely into non-archaic binomes.

        4. Rú zǐ 孺子 can refer to a child of any sex, and certainly often refers to young girls, but like rú 孺 alone the word does sometimes refer specifically to boys regarded as catamites.

        5. Nán 男 refers generally to males, and only by extension to boys. Note incidentally that apparently even in Tang times a nán ér 男兒 tends to be a young man rather than a boy.

        6. Zǐ 子 refers generally to children, but it is often hard to distinguish the meaning from that of boy, when the reference obviously is to males. See CHILD.

        7. Ruò zǐ 弱子 refers to a (probably male) child as an object of maternal love, and there is pervasive doubt whether this term refers to a boy or a girl, although given traditional preoccupations with boys, one suspects the typical reference is taken to little boys needful of motherly care. See CHILD.

        Modern Chinese Criteria
        男孩子

        男

        小子

        男孩

        男孩子

        豎子

        童子

        小廝

        小子

        小小子

        豎子

        孺子

        稚子

        稚齒

        童蒙

        童孺

        童豎

        童齔

        幼

        童

        孩

        小

        孺

        小朋友

        小把戲

        小不點兒

        少年兒童

        童男童女

        黃口小兒

        乳臭小兒

        rough draft to BEGIN TO identify synonym group members for analysis, based on CL etc. 18.11.2003. CH ／

        • A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages ( BUCK 1988) p. 2.25

        • 論衡同義詞研究 ( LUNHENG TONGYI 2004) p. 87

        • Handbook of Greek Synonymes, from the French of M. Alex. Pillon, Librarian of the Bibliothèque Royale , at Paris, and one of the editors of the new edition of Plaché's Dictionnaire Grec-Français, edited, with notes, by the Rev. Thomas Kerchever Arnold, M.A. Rector of Lyndon, and late fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge ( PILLON 1850) p. no.348

        Words

        童子  tóng zǐ OC: dooŋ sklɯʔ MC: duŋ tsɨ 34 AttributionsWD

        Tóng zǐ 童子 is the standard neutral word for a boy below the age of 15, but the strong connotation is that of ignorance and immaturity.

          Word relations
        • Epithet: 愚/STUPID The dominant word is yú 愚 (ant. zhì 智 "clever; wise"), and the word refers to intellectual obtuseness as well as practical ineptitude.
        • Contrast: 幼子/CHILD

          Syntactic words
        • NPmere (uncapped) adolescent, little brat; boy; (but note that the word can also refer to a girl)
        • NPadNminor, uncapped
        • NPadVas a child; as a young boy
        孺子  rú zǐ OC: njos sklɯʔ MC: ȵi̯o tsɨ 18 AttributionsWD

        Rú zǐ 孺子 can refer to a child of any sex, and certainly often refers to young girls, but like rú 孺 alone the word does sometimes refer specifically to boys regarded as catamites.

          Syntactic words
        • NPadVlike a small child
        • NPmale?small child, infant;  child
        童  tóng OC: dooŋ MC: duŋ 9 AttributionsWD

        Tóng 童 by itself is an archaic word referring to a boy, but the term enters freely into non-archaic binomes.

          Word relations
        • Epithet: 謠/SONG Yáo 謠 refers to a folksong, mostly in ancient texts to a children's ditty, with a more or less fixed melody, but the focus seems to be on the text and there is no accompanying music involved.
        • Assoc: 蒙/STUPID Bì 蔽 and měng 蒙 (all ant. cōng 聰 "clever") , refer to an appearance of stupidity due to limited access to information. a state of stupidity that is typically construed as remediable.

          Syntactic words
        • nadolescent, youth from the age fifteen to about the age of twenty 十五成童
        • nadVas a child
        弱子  ruò zǐ OC: njewɡ sklɯʔ MC: ȵi̯ɐk tsɨ 8 AttributionsWD

        Ruò zǐ 弱子 refers to a (probably male) child as an object of maternal love.

          Syntactic words
        • NP{vadN}little boy; little child
        男  nán OC: noom MC: nəm 7 AttributionsWD

        Nán 男 refers generally to males, and only by extension to boys. Note incidentally that apparently even in Tang times a nán ér 男兒 tends to be a young man rather than a boy.

          Syntactic words
        • nboy
        • n{PRED}be a boy; will be a boy
        豎子  shù zǐ OC: djoʔ sklɯʔ MC: dʑi̯o tsɨ 7 AttributionsWD

        Shù zǐ 豎子 refers to a boy as opposed to an infant, but very often often with strong pejorative force.

          Syntactic words
        • NPboy 五尺之豎子; 二豎子 miserable little boy; little wretch; servant boy
        子  zǐ OC: sklɯʔ MC: tsɨ 1 AttributionWD

        Zǐ 子 refers generally to children, but it is often hard to distinguish the meaning from that of boy, when the reference obviously is to males. See CHILD.

          Word relations
        • Ant: 女/GIRL Nu� 女 can refer to a girl.

          Syntactic words
        • nboy 子女 "boys and girls"
        孺  rú OC: njos MC: ȵi̯o 1 AttributionWD

        boy; sometimes as sexual object: catamite

          Syntactic words
        • nboy; sometimes as sexual object: catamite
        僮  tóng OC: dooŋ MC: duŋ
        童  tóng OC: dooŋ MC: duŋ 0 AttributionsWD
          Syntactic words
        • nboy; child

        Existing SW for

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