児

Yesterday, inspired by my visit to the Intyatyambo orphanage in South Africa, I introduced the word 孤児院 meaning orphange and looked at the first kanji 孤. Today let's take a look at 児.

児　－　JI / NI - ko - child or infant

Not so difficult to remember this one. Small children have very large heads in proportion with the rest of their body so just imagine this kanji as representing one large head with a hungry mouth in it balanced precariously on a pair of tottering legs.

Here are some kanji compounds with 児：

幼児　- youji - an infant, a little child
園児　- enji - a kindergarten child
児童　- jidou - children, pupils
小児科 - shounika - pediatrics
小児語 - shounigo - baby talk
胎児 - taiji - embryo
風雲児 - fuunji - a bold opportunist in troubled times (!)
稚児 - chigo (special reading) - a child in a festival procession