How do you say "Baby" in Japanese??

It's not easy to retain vocabulary and expressions when you're studying a language, and it's especially difficult to get words out on the spot when you're having conversations. I hope these weekly posts could be good practice for your Japanese studies!!

The question for today is: How do you say "Baby" in Japanese??


The answer is...












赤ちゃん [Akachan]

or 

赤ん坊 [Akannbou] 


赤 [Aka] is red in Japanese, and it is said that this name was given because babies often come out red when they are born. ちゃん and 赤ん坊 mean the same thing, a baby in casual Japanese. The only difference is that 赤ちゃん is said with a bit more endearment than the other. It isn't very common to refer to another person's baby as 赤ん坊, but you can use 赤ん坊 for your baby. With that being said, it may be a safer bet to simply say 赤ちゃん when referring to babies. 



Writer's note: another way would be 乳児 [Nyuuji] - Which means infant. A bit more formal and rather scientific classification of a baby. You wouldn't really say, "hey, your Nyuuji is really cute." Unless you're kind of weird. 

Keep in mind that you can't take away the "Chan" from Akachan, and call a baby Aka. Because that's weird too. But I don't hate weird people so don't let me stop you from being weird.