孙

孫
sūn
noun #9,160

Meanings

  1. 1 grandson; grandchild
  2. 2 descendant

Examples

HSK 3
Yéye yǒu sān gè sūnzi.
Grandpa has three grandsons.
HSK 5
Sūn Wùkōng shì Zhōngguó zuì yǒumíng de shénhuà rénwù.
Sun Wukong is China's most famous mythological character.

Tips

usage
孙子 (sūnzi) = grandson. 孙女 (sūnnǚ) = granddaughter. Also one of the most common surnames in China (Sūn).

Components

radical
子 zǐ
child; son
Left child radical - a swaddled infant with arms reaching up. Indexes 孙 in the kinship family (孩 child, 孕 pregnant, 孤 orphan). The traditional 孫 had 系 thread on the right - child connected to ancestor by a line of descent; the simplified 1956 reform replaced 系 with the simpler 小.
semantic
小 xiǎo
small; little
Right 小 - three small strokes radiating from a central point, the small radical. Replaces 系 from the traditional form 孫; the pedagogy is simpler now: a grandchild is a little child, the small descendant in the family line. Combined with 子 the picture reads 'little kid' = grandchild.

Stroke Order

孙 sūn