Altough, “jung” means “young” the word “Jungchen” can´t be translated into “the young one”. That’s because, there are three articles in German (der, die, das = male, female, neuter) and by altering them the meaning of a word might change and that´s why “der Junge” (the boy) or “das Junge” (the hatchling) have different meanings. In German diminutives are formed by adding the affix “-chen” or “-lein” to a noun. There are more affixes in the different dialects. “Jungchen” means something like “little [or] young boy”. The expression “Jungchen” can´t be used in order to describe a hatchling or young girl (or female animal) in a diminutive way, it´s only used for males.

Anyway, in my opinion, the translation “kiddo” is the best one, although it doesn´t capture the fact, that a male person is meant by it.

The novel is beautifully translated by Carol Brown Janeway. The only false note is Hanna’s continual use of the word ‘kid’ translated from the German ‘Jungchen’. This is perfectly correct; but lends Hanna’s speech a Humphrey Bogart-ish jauntiness that doesn’t really fit in with her character.

Not to mention it just sounds too American. (Maybe it should have been ‘kiddo’.) Meanwhile, a certain Alex Hamburger doesn’t even agree that kid is ‘perfectly correct’:

“Jungchen” is an outdated term in a way “kid” isn