Stroke order

仔 (Kangxi radical 9,人+3, 5 strokes,cangjie input人弓木 (OND),four-corner2724₇,composition⿰亻子)

• 𫇱,𫁻,𥁙

• Kangxi Dictionary:page 92, character 6
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 367
• Dae Jaweon: page 195, character 9
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 115, character 5
• Unihan data for U+4ED4

Wikipedia has an article on:

• 仔(Cantonese)

Historical forms of the character仔
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled inHan)
Small seal script
Bronze inscriptions b12370 b12371 Small seal script s05820
References: Mostly from Richard Sears'Chinese Etymology site (authorisation), which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including: Shuowen Jiezi (small seal), Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions), Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声,OC*ʔslɯ, *ʔslɯʔ): semantic 人(“person”) + phonetic 子(OC*ʔslɯʔ)

Cognate with子 (OC*ʔslɯʔ) and崽 (OC*ʔslɯːʔ, *srɯː, *srɯː).(Canthis⁽⁺⁾ etymology besourced?)

仔

1. (domesticated animals or fowls)young

   仔雞／仔鸡  ― zǐjī  ―  chick

   alt. forms:子

2. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese)meticulous;fine

   仔細／仔细  ― zǐxì  ―  careful; meticulous

3. (Taiwan)alternative form of籽(zǐ,“seed”)

   菜仔油  ― càizǐ yóu  ―  rapeseed oil

仔

1. (Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Shehua)son(Classifier:個／个c; 粒c)

   你個仔真係好乖。[Cantonese,trad.]
   你个仔真系好乖。[Cantonese,simp.]

   nei⁵ go³zai² zan¹ hai⁶ hou² gwaai¹.[Jyutping]

   Yourson is very well-behaved.

2. (Cantonese)child

   生仔[Cantonese]  ― saang¹zai²[Jyutping]  ―  to give birth (to achild)

3. (Cantonese, slang)boyfriend(Classifier:條／条c)

   你條仔嚟咗。[Cantonese,trad.]
   你条仔嚟咗。[Cantonese,simp.]

   nei⁵ tiu⁴zai² lai⁴ zo².[Jyutping]

   Yourboyfriend came.

4. (Cantonese, informal)little boy;young man(Classifier:條／条c; 隻／只c)

   我係仔嚟㗎喎。[Cantonese,trad.]
   我系仔嚟㗎㖞。[Cantonese,simp.]

   ngo⁵ hai⁶zai² lai⁴ gaa³ wo³.[Jyutping]

   I'm aguy, though.

5. (Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Northern Min)Diminutive suffix.
   1. Denotes a young male of a particular trait.

      肥仔[Cantonese]  ― fei⁴zai²[Jyutping]  ― fatty

      後生仔／后生仔[Cantonese]  ― hau⁶ saang¹zai²[Jyutping]  ―  young man

   2. Denotes a young male of a particular occupation or background, often demeaningly.

      打工仔[Cantonese]  ― daa² gung¹zai²[Jyutping]  ―  young worker

      拔萃仔[Cantonese]  ― bat⁶ seoi⁶zai²[Jyutping]  ― DBS kid

      日本仔[Cantonese]  ― jat⁶ bun²zai²[Jyutping]  ―  Japanese guy

   3. Used to call somebody affectionately. (For names, it is only used for males.)

      明仔[Cantonese]  ― ming⁴zai²[Jyutping]  ― Little Ming

      強仔／强仔[Cantonese]  ― koeng⁴zai²[Jyutping]  ― Little Keung

      老婆仔[Cantonese]  ― lou⁵ po⁴zai²[Jyutping]  ―  wifey

   4. Demeaningly denotes somebody of a particular occupation or position.

      秘書仔／秘书仔[Cantonese]  ― bei³ syu¹zai²[Jyutping]  ―  amere secretary

   5. Denotes a young animal.

      狗仔[Cantonese]  ― gau²zai²[Jyutping]  ―  puppy

      羊仔[Cantonese]  ― joeng⁴zai²[Jyutping]  ―  lamb

   6. Denotes something that is small in size.

      凳仔[Cantonese]  ― dang³zai²[Jyutping]  ― small stool

      雀仔[Cantonese]  ― zoek³zai²[Jyutping]  ―  birdie

      眼仔睩睩[Cantonese]  ― ngaan⁵zai² luk¹ luk¹[Jyutping]  ― little eyes rolling

      公園仔／公园仔[Cantonese]  ― gung¹ jyun^4-2zai²[Jyutping]  ― small park

      超市仔[Cantonese]  ― ciu¹ si⁵zai²[Jyutping]  ―  grocery store (literally, “small supermarket”)

   7. Denotes the younger sibling of one's spouse.

      叔仔[Cantonese]  ― suk¹zai²[Jyutping]  ―  brother-in-law (husband's younger brother)

      姨仔[Cantonese]  ― ji^4-1zai²[Jyutping]  ―  sister-in-law (wife's younger sister)

   8. Used with single-syllable nouns without denoting a specific meaning.

      耳仔[Cantonese]  ― ji⁵zai²[Jyutping]  ―  ears

6. (Cantonese)Used after a classifier to indicate that something is small in size and/or quantity.

   一殼仔飯／一壳仔饭[Cantonese]  ― jat¹ hok³zai² faan⁶[Jyutping]  ―  asmall scoop of rice

   得嗰廿蚊仔，邊夠錢買嘢食呀？[Cantonese,trad.]
   得嗰廿蚊仔，边够钱买嘢食呀？[Cantonese,simp.]

   dak¹ go² jaa⁶ man¹zai², bin¹ gau³ cin² maai⁵ je⁵ sik⁶ aa³?[Jyutping]

   With just a mere twenty bucks, how do we have enough to buy food?

7. (Cantonese, slang, neologism)Suffix placed after a verb or adjective to sound cute and affectionate.

   聽日就要返學仔喇。[Cantonese,trad.]
   听日就要返学仔喇。[Cantonese,simp.]

   ting¹ jat⁶ zau⁶ jiu³ faan¹ hok⁶zai² laa³.[Jyutping]

   Tomorrow, you've got to go to school.

   我今日好開心仔呀！[Cantonese,trad.]
   我今日好开心仔呀！[Cantonese,simp.]

   ngo⁵ gam¹ jat⁶ hou² hoi¹ sam¹zai² aa³![Jyutping]

   I'm really happy today!

Hokkien仔(á) is historically a weak form of囝(kiáⁿ, kó̤aⁿ), as evidenced in older, less reduced forms such as:

• 仔(giá, giáⁿ), as perDictionario Hispanico Sinicum (1626-1642),《彙音妙悟》(Lūi-im Biāu-ngō͘) (1800), and Van der Loon (1967).
• 仔(iá, iáⁿ), as perDictionario Hispanico Sinicum (1626-1642), Medhurst (1832), and Van der Loon (1967).
• 仔(ngiá/ngiáⁿ, ngá/ngáⁿ), as perDictionario Hispanico Sinicum (1626-1642), Van der Loon (1967), and Douglas (1873).
• 仔(niá/niáⁿ, ná/náⁿ), as perDictionario Hispanico Sinicum (1626-1642) and Douglas (1873).

The latter two in particular withnasalinitials usually occur aftersyllables ending in anasalizedrime (Van der Loon 1967; Douglas 1873) due to possibly being a result of nasalassimilation. Also, inPe̍h-ōe-jī (POJ), syllables with a nasal initialallophonically have a nasalizedvowel or not, as per Van der Loon (1967), though the above are shown with anasalization symbol (i.e.〈ⁿ〉) as used by Douglas (1873) in order to fully portray the recorded historicalantecedents.

See also modernQuanzhou Hokkien囝(káⁿ,IPA: [kã⁵⁵⁴]), which came from the historicalarchaic formQuanzhou Hokkien囝(kó̤aⁿ,IPA: [kɯã⁵⁵⁴]), still used in traditional南管(Lâm-koán) opera, as per 《當代泉州音字彙》(2012).

Mandarin and Cantonese pronunciations in words borrowed from Southern Min are from etymology 1.

仔(chiefly Hokkien)

1. a diminutive suffix for nouns, adjectives or quantities

   囡仔[Hokkien]  ― gín-á[Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  child

   小叔仔[Hokkien]  ― sió-chek-á[Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  brother-in-law (husband's younger brother)

   勻勻仔／匀匀仔[Hokkien]  ― ûn-ûn-á[Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  slowly

   小可仔[Hokkien]  ― sió-khóa-á[Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  a little bit

   歌仔戲／歌仔戏[Hokkien]  ― koa-á-hì[Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ― Taiwanese opera

2. a suffix that converts a verb or adjective into a noun

   抿仔[Hokkien]  ― bín-á[Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  brush

   矮仔[Hokkien]  ― é-á[Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  shorty

3. a suffix placed after a name or title, used endearingly, humorously or pejoratively

EnglishWikipedia has an article on:

rules for tone sandhi before the '仔' (-á) suffix

Wikipedia

Tone sandhi before仔 differ from the normal rules in some dialects of Hokkien. In Taiwanese Hokkien, only the rules for tones 1, 2, 4 (-p/t/k) and 8 (-p/t/k) remain unchanged:

• tone 3 → tone 1 (instead of tone 2):印仔 (ìn-á)
• tone 4 (-h) → tone 1 (instead of tone 2):鴨仔 (ah-á)
• tone 5 → tone 7 (instead of tone 3 in northern Taiwan):蝦仔 (hê-á)
• tone 7 does not change (instead of changing to tone 3):帽仔 (bō-á)
• tone 8 (-h) → tone 7 (instead of tone 3):藥仔 (io̍h-á)

仔

1. alternative form of囝,especially when used as a suffix.

Weak form of佮 (kah, kap, “and”).

仔

1. (Southern Min)An interfix placed between two nouns to show the relationship between the two objects.

   翁仔某[Hokkien]  ― ang-á-bó͘[Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  husbandand wife

Weak form of百 (pah, “hundred”).

仔

1. (Southern Min)An interfix placed between two numbers to denote the value of 100, i.e. x仔 y = 100x + 10y.

   三仔五[Hokkien]  ― saⁿ-á-gō͘[Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  threehundred fifty

Weak form of旦 (tòaⁿ, “dawn”).

仔

1. (Southern Min)An interfix used limitedly in certain temporal location adverbs.

   今仔日[Hokkien]  ― kin-á-ji̍t[Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  today

   明仔載／明仔载[Hokkien]  ― bîn-á-chài[Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  tomorrow

(Thisetymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at theEtymology scriptorium.)

仔(Hakka)

1. a suffix used after nouns

   樹仔／树仔[Sixian Hakka]  ― su-é[Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]  ―  tree

2. a suffix that makes a derogatory slur

   阿山仔[Sixian Hakka]  ― â-sân-é[Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]  ― Mainlander