仔

Phono-semantic compound:

人 (사람 인, “person”) — semantic, suggesting a being or creature.

子 (아들 자, “child, son”) — phonetic, providing the sound 자 (zǐ) and associating with the meaning “child.”

The character originally depicted a small human or young offspring, extending metaphorically to tender, minute, or detailed things.

자세(仔細) — minute detail, attentiveness

자세하다(仔細하다) — to be detailed, careful, or thorough

While rarely used independently in modern Korean, 仔 survives in Sino-Korean compounds such as 仔細 (자세) and occasionally appears in older texts referring to offspring or small creatures.

In classical Chinese, 仔 often referred to:

- young animals or small beings, e.g., 牛仔 (niúzǎi, “calf”), 羊仔 (yángzǎi, “lamb”).

- careful, detailed attitude, particularly in idioms describing thought or observation (e.g., 仔察 “careful inspection”).

《史記》: 「仔細察之，可見端倪。」

“By observing carefully, one can perceive the clues.”

In Japanese, 仔 was historically used as a prefix meaning “young” (こ-), as in 仔猫 (こねこ, “kitten”) or 仔牛 (こうし, “calf”), but this usage is now largely replaced by 子 or 小 due to script simplification and standardization.

In Modern Chinese, the character carries several meanings depending on pronunciation:

zǐ — young animal, offspring (as in 仔牛 zǐniú, “calf”).

zǎi — colloquial for “young man,” “guy” (e.g., 小仔 xiǎozǎi, “kid,” “boy”).

zī — obsolete reading, formerly used in literary Chinese meaning “attentive, detailed.”