孩

A child of very young age, emphasizing biological youth, smallness, and dependency.

Noun (baby/child) or modifier (infantine, child-like).

Reading has remained stable from the Tang period (həi) through to modern reconstructions. The glyph appears less frequently in the earliest strata of classical texts, where 子 typically handles all references to children; its presence may signal a later period of composition or a shift toward descriptive imagery.

In contexts describing noise or distress, be alert to a secondary association with infant sounds (babbling, crying, or laughter). The glyph may be highlighting the infantile nature of the sound rather than simply identifying the subject.