Akachan is the Japanese word for ‘baby’, explained

What does “akachan” mean in Japanese?

Native speakers say “akachan” to mean ‘baby’ in Japanese. Very simple, I think. Perhaps, some Japanese learners know this word as it is sometimes used in Japanese movies, manga, and the like. In this blog post, however, I will explain this word in detail based on its components. And also, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners to understand “akachan” more clearly. Then, let’s get started!

Contents

• Definition and meaning of “akachan”
• Breakdown of “akachan”
  • Example #1: how to say “baby” in Japanese
  • Example #2: another usage of “akachan”
• Summary

Definition and meaning of “akachan”

Let me start with the definition and meaning of “akachan”.

• akachan – 赤ちゃん (あかちゃん) : a noun meaning ‘baby’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural. Learn more about Japanese plural.

Native speakers use this noun to refer to a baby or babies in Japanese. It’s also worth mentioning here that they don’t use this noun to refer to a family member, lover, or someone very close to them like English speakers sometimes do.

The definition and meaning are very simple and clear, I think. To understand this noun more clearly, however, let me explain its components in detail, one by one.

Breakdown of “akachan”

Grammatically, “akachan” consists of the following two parts:

• aka – 赤 (あか) : a noum meaning ‘red’ in Japanese.
• chan – ちゃん : a suffix often used after someone’s name to call him/her friendly. This can be considered as the colloquial and casual version of the most famous honorific title, “san”.

From these two components, we can understand that “akachan” is literally a word to call something red friendly. Perhaps, this literal interpretation sounds a bit weird. We can, however, find a red color on the face of a baby as the skin is still very thin. This seems to be the reason Japanese people started to use the word meaning ‘red’ to refer to a baby or babies in the Japanese language.

When we meet new Japanese words, we should check their components in detail to understand their meanings clearly and deeply. In many cases, components tell us a lot about meanings of words they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “akachan” through the detailed check above.

Then, let me explain how to use “akachan” through the example sentences below.

Example #1: how to say “baby” in Japanese

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• kanojo – 彼女 (かのじょ) : a pronoun meaning ‘she’ in Japanese.
• no – の : a case particle used after a noun or pronoun to make its possessive case. In the example, this is used after “kanojo” to make its possessive case, “kanojo no”, which means ‘her’ in Japanese.
• wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works after “kanojo no akachan” to make the subject in the sentence.
• totemo – とても : an adverb of degree meaning ‘very’, ‘much’, or such in Japanese. In the example, this works before “kawaii” to emphasize it with adding the meaning of ‘very’.
• kawaii – 可愛い (かわいい) : an i-adjective meaning ‘cute’ in Japanese.
• desu – です : an auxiliary verb used after a noun or adjective to make it polite. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese desu form. In the example, this is used after “kawaii” to make it sound polite.

This is a typical usage of “akachan”. In the example, it works as a part of the noun phrase, “kanojo no akachan”, which means ‘her baby’ in Japanese. When we want to say “baby” in Japanese, this noun is a very good option.

Example #2: another usage of “akachan”

Below are the new words used in the example sentence.

• inu – 犬 (いぬ) : a noun meaning ‘dog’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural.
• no – の : a case particle used to join two nouns. Normally, the first one can work as a modifier to describe the second. In the example, this is used to join “inu” and “akachan”. The formed phrase literally means ‘dog babies’, but has been translated as ‘puppies’.
• ne – ね : a sentence-ending particle used to ask for agreement softly. As the definition suggests, this is used at the end of the example sentence to ask for agreement. This has been reflected as “aren’t they?” in translation.

This is another typical usage of “akachan”. In this example, it works as a part of the noun phrase, “inu no akachan”, which means ‘puppies’. The Japanese noun can also refer to babies of animals. It’s worth knowing, I think.

Summary

In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition and meaning of “akachan” in detail based on its grammatical components. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.

• akachan – 赤ちゃん (あかちゃん) : a noun meaning ‘baby’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural. This is literally a word to call something red friendly. Perhaps, this literal interpretation sounds a bit weird. We can, however, find a red color on the face of a baby as the skin is still very thin. This seems to be the reason Japanese people started to use the word meaning ‘red’ to refer to a baby or babies in the Japanese language.
• inu no akachan – 犬の赤ちゃん (いぬのあかちゃん) : a phrase meaning ‘puppy’ or ‘puppies’ in Japanese. “Akachan” can also refer to babies of animals.

Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.