# son/daughter - boy/girl/child



## ger4

Hello, just a very simple question: How do you say 'son' and 'daughter' in the languages you're familiar with? Is there any similarity with either 'boy/girl' or 'child'?

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In French (if I'm not mistaken...):
_fils_ = son = boy
_fille_ = daughter = girl

No similarities in German:
_Sohn_ = son (_Junge_ = boy)
_Tochter_ = daughter (_Mädchen_ = girl)

Estonian:
_poeg_ = son (_poiss_ = boy)
_tütar_ = daughter (_tüdruk_ = girl)

Mari --> Mari-English Dictionary
_эрге (erge)_ = son = boy
_ӱдыр (üdyr)_ = daughter = girl

Latvian:
_dēls_ = son (_zēns_, _puisis_ = boy)
_meita_ = daughter (_meitene_ = girl)

Turkish (pls correct me if I'm wrong):
_oğul_, _erkek evlat _ = son (_erkek_ = man, _evlat _= child)
_kız evlat_ = daughter (_kız_ = girl, _ evlat_ = child)

(Northern) Kurdish / Kurmanji / Kurmancî:
source
_kur_ = son = boy
_keç _= daughter = girl 

---
Thanks in advance!


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## ThomasK

Nothing special in Dutch: *zoon/dochter, jongen/meisje* (little maid)/ *kind... *


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## Dymn

Neither in Catalan:

_fill _= son (_noi _= boy)
_filla _= daughter (_noia _= girl)

Nor in Spanish:

_hijo _= son (_chico _= boy)
_hija _= daugther (_chica _= girl)

However it is possible that, as a vocative and specially from elders towards younger people, you hear _fill(a) / hijo(a) _as an affectionate expression even though the addresser isn't his or her parent.


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## apmoy70

Greek:

Son: *«Υιός»* [iˈos] (masc.), vernacular *«γιός»* [ʝos] (masc.) < Classical *«υἱός» huiós* (masc.) --> _son_ (PIE *suH-i(e)u- _son_ cf Skt. ToA se, ToB soy).
Boy: *«Αγόρι»* [aˈɣoɾi] (neut.) < Byz.Gr. *«ἀγώριν» agṓrin*, neut. diminutive of adj. *«ἄγωρος» ágōros* < Classical nominal *«ἄωρος» ắōrŏs* --> _untimely, unseasonable, young person dying untimeley/unmarried, (fruit) out of time_ < compound; privative prefix *«ἀ-» a-* (PIE *n̥- (in Gr. we have the vocalisation of the nasal) cf Skt. अन्- (an-), Lat. in-, Arm. ան- ‎(an-), Proto-Germanic *un-) + Classical fem. noun *«ὥρᾱ» hṓrā* --> _season, year, time of day, hour, right time, florescence, time of ripening_ (PIE *Hieh₁-r- and o-grade *Hioh₁-r- _year_ cf Proto-Germanic *jērą > Ger. Jahr, Eng. year, Dt. jaar, Isl. ár, D./Nor./Swe. år; Proto-Slavic *jarъ, _Spring_ > Cz. jaro, Slv./Svk. jar, BCS jar/jap).
Ancient Greeks preferred *«παῖς» paîs* (masc.) --> _child, boy, son, slave, servant_ (PIE *peh₂-u- _few, little_ cf Skt. पुत्र (putrá), _son_, Lat. paucus, Proto-Germanic *fawaz > Eng. few, D./Nor./Swe. få), *«νεανίας» nĕāníās* (masc.) --> _youth_, enlargement of *«νέος» néŏs* (masc.) --> _young, youthful, new_ (PIE *neuo- _new_ cf Skt. नव (nava), _young, new_, Hitt. neu̯a-, Lat. novus), and (archaic and poetic) *«κοῦρος» koûrŏs*, the masculine innovative form of fem. *«κόρη» kórē* (see below).
Daughter:
(A) *«Κόρη»* [ˈkoɾi] (fem.) < Classical fem. noun *«κόρη» kórē* --> _young girl, daughter_ (PIE *ḱerh₃- _to grow_ cf Lith. šerti, _feeding_, Arm. սեռգ (seṙg), _gender_).
(B) *«Θυγατέρα»* [θiɣaˈteɾa] (fem.) < Classical 3rd declension fem. noun *«θυγάτηρ» tʰŭgắtēr* (nom. sing.), *«θυγατρός» tʰŭgătrós* (gen. sing.) --> _daughter_ (PIE *dʰugh₂-ter- _daughter_, old word preserved in most IE languages: Skt. दुहितृ (duhitṛ), Av. dugədar-, Arm. դուստր (dustr), Proto-Germanic *duhtēr).
(A) prevails in every-day use, (B) is rarer yet still used.
Girl: *«κορίτσι»* [koˈɾit͡si] (neut.) < Late Byz.Gr. neut. *«κορίτσιν» korít͡sin* < Byz.Gr. *«κοράσιν» korásin* (neut.) < Koine fem. noun *«κορασίς» kŏrasís* --> _little girl_, diminutive of *«κόρη» kórē* (see above).
If I lived in pre-Classical Greece I'd use *«κοῦρος»* for boy & *«κόρη»* for girl.


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## 810senior

Not in Japanese:

Son:息子_musuko_(生す_musu _to be born+子_ko _a child) 1.a son 2.(vulgar) male genitals
Boy:少年_shounen _lit.young age; 男の子_otoko-no-ko_ lit. a child-of-man 
Daughter:娘_musume_(etymologically same as _musuko_, -me refers to a girl, female as a suffix) 1.a daughter 2.an unmarried woman, virgin; especially in her early twenties)
Girl:少女_shoujo _lit. young girl 女の子_onna-no-ko_ lit. a child-of-woman


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## Encolpius

Holger2014 said:


> Hello, just a very simple question: How do you say 'son' and 'daughter' in the languages you're familiar with? Is there any similarity with either 'boy/girl' or 'child'?
> 
> No similarities in German:
> _Sohn_ = son (_Junge_ = boy)
> _Tochter_ = daughter (_Mädchen_ = girl)
> 
> ---
> Thanks in advance!



And how about "unser Junge" (our boy, ie our son) & "unser Mädchen" (our girl; i.e. our daughter) in Southern dialects... 

*Hungarian *

fiú (boy, son but with different declension, i.e.: my son fiam, my boy (boyfriend) fiúm)
lány (girl, daughter)
gyerek [child; colloquial Hungarian: boy (but not girl)]

*MSA*
walad (boy. son)
bint (girl, daughter)

*Farsi*
doxtar (girl, daughter)
pesar (bpy, son)


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## ger4

Thanks for all the replies!


Encolpius said:


> And how about "unser Junge" (our boy, ie our son) & "unser Mädchen" (our girl; i.e. our daughter) in Southern dialects...


 Of course that's right but it only works in some contexts - normally we wouldn't associate _Junge_ with 'son' and _Mädchen_ with 'daughter'.


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## bibax

Latin:
filius, filia = son, daughter;
puer, puella = boy, girl;

infans = child, baby;
pl. liberi = children (lit. the free);

Czech:
syn = son;
chlapec (dim. of chlap = guy, chap), hoch (< holec, holý = bare, beard-less) = boy;
dcera (dci) = daughter;
dívka, děvče = girl;

dítě = child;


Diamant7 said:


> However it is possible that, as a vocative and specially from elders towards younger people, you hear _fill(a) / hijo(a) _as an affectionate expression even though the addresser isn't his or her parent.


The same in Czech: Synku, ...! Dcerko, ...! (synek, dcerka = dim. of son, daughter);

Our teacher used to say "synku" and "synci (plur.)", especially when he was angry at us.


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## Messquito

In Chinese:
Son: 兒(子) (子 is just a suffix meaning nothing)
Daughter: 女兒 (女=female)
Boy: 男孩 (male child)
Girl: 女孩 (female child)
Child: 小孩(子)


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## SuperXW

In Classic Chinese, the situation can be much more confusing.
Both 兒 and 子 can mean "son".
Both 兒 and 子 can also be the generic term for "child" (since "girls" were not too worthy to mention): 嬰兒, 子嗣, 子弟...
Both 兒 and 子 can broadly mean "young man": 男兒, 男子漢...
子 can also mean "gentleman", "sir": 夫子, 士子...
子 can also mean a human in a certain social position: 妻子(wife)
女(female) itself also usually means "daughter".
In modern Mandarin, we avoid using the characters individually as they create too much trouble, but we still use those combined words. The combination or context is really important for understanding the meaning.


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## Gavril

Armenian:
*որդի* (_vordi_) "son", possibly from the same source as Latin _parere_ "to give birth", past participle _partus_ "offspring"

*դուստր *(_dustr_) "daughter", seemingly from the same source as Eng. _daughter_, Russian _doch', _Greek _thugátēr,_ and other words with the same meaning

The words տղա (_tgha_) "boy" and աղջիկ (_aghdžik_) "girl" are also sometimes used in place of the above.

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Welsh:

_*mab*_ "son" < Celtic *_ma(k)kwo_- > Irish _macc_ "boy, son"
_*merch*_ "girl, daughter"; has cognates in Cornish and Breton, and may also be related to Lithuanian _mergà_ "maid"


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## KalAlbè

Haitian Creole:
Pitit fi = Daughter (Literally: little woman)
Pitit gason = Son (Literally: little guy)


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## 810senior

Messquito said:


> Daughter: 女兒 (女=female)



In Japanese, 女児(兒) means not a daughter but a little girl ranging from pre-schoolers to young primary schoolers(almost 4 to 10).


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## ilocas2

Czech:

son - *syn*
daughter - *dcera*


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## Armas

Finnish:

_poika_ = boy/son
_tytär_ = daughter
_tyttö_ = girl


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## Encolpius

tytär and tyttö sounds simlar. do they have the same etymology?


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## kloie

Persian:
Son,boy-pesar
Girl,daughter -dokhtar

Serbian:
Son-sin
Boy-dechak
Girl-devojka
Daughter-cherka

Italian:
Boy-ragazzo
Girl -ragazza
Son-figlio
Daughter -figlia


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## Radioh

Con trai=boy=son
Con gái=girl=daughter


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## ger4

Thanks for all the replies!
Arabic (MSA) #6
Armenian #11
Catalan #3
Chinese #9
Class. Chinese #10
Czech #8 #14
Dutch #2
Farsi / Persian #6 #17
Finnish #15
Greek #4
Haitian Creole #12
Hungarian #6
Italian #17
Japanese #5 #13
Latin #8
Serbian #17
Vietnamese #18
Welsh #11


Radioh said:


> Con trai=boy=son
> Con gái=girl=daughter


I found _con_ translated as 'child' so would a "literal translation" of _con trai_ be something like "male child" and _con gái_ "female child"?


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## bragpipes

Arabic also has ibin for son (exclusively son, not boy).  Bint is the female form.


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## Radioh

I think you are right, Holger.


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## mataripis

Tagalog has only one word for son and daughter. It is Anak. A boy nickname is tutoy /itoy and for a girl is nene or ineng.


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## TitTornade

Holger2014 said:


> Hello, just a very simple question: How do you say 'son' and 'daughter' in the languages you're familiar with? Is there any similarity with either 'boy/girl' or 'child'?
> 
> ---
> In French (if I'm not mistaken...):
> _fils_ = son = boy
> _fille_ = daughter = girl



Hi,

_Fils _doesn't mean _"boy" _in French 

French
_Fils_ = son, but *garçon = boy*
but, it is true that
_fille_ = daughter = girl


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## ger4

^ Thanks ￼


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