Can someone break down かのじょ and かれ for me?


I would like to understand these words more clearly as I do with おとこのこ and
おんなのこ

Being that おとこのこ basically translates into "male of youth" and that おんなのこ
basically translates into "female of youth"

So breaking them down to their literal meaning would be of great help. Thanks!




The kanji for かれ is 彼（れ）. かれ is an old form of あれ, meaning "that one" (as you
probably know). 彼 can also be used in [彼]{あ}の (again, "that one [specific
thing]"). Somehow -- and I'm not sure how etymologically -- 彼れ became 彼, which
became shorthand for 彼の男: that man

The kanji for 彼女 is then basically [彼]{あ}の[女]{おんな}: that woman (again, with
the かの being an old form of あの and the の being omitted). See more about this
explanation here: [What does かの日
mean?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/13052/78)

These words also became shorthand when talking about relationships
(boyfriend/girlfriend), but I don't know about the etymology of this either.

