田鸡 (tián jī) — frog (especially edible frog)

Definition

田鸡 specifically refers to the large edible frog (often the rice-paddy frog, 虎纹蛙), and is almost always used in the context of food. The everyday word for 'frog' in general is 青蛙.

noun
frog (especially edible frog)
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • 田鸡。
    Wǒ men jīn wǎn qù nà jiā cān guǎn chī tián jī ba.
    Let's go to that restaurant tonight to eat frog.
  • 田鸡。
    tián jī Shì yì zhǒng shēng huó zài dào tián lǐ de liǎng qī dòng wù.
    The frog is a kind of amphibian that lives in rice paddies.
  • 田鸡，。
    Hěn duō rén dōu xǐ huan chī tián jī, yīn wèi tā de ròu hěn nèn.
    Many people like to eat frog because its meat is very tender.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

田tiánfield
鸡jīchicken

Field and chicken form a name for a frog, suggesting its habitat and meaty use.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

田 looks like a field divided into four sections.

Open 田 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 雞; 鸡 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
隹隹zhuīshort-tailed bird
Sound part声符shēngfú
奚
奚xī雞jī
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 雞 pairs 奚, which gives the sound, with 隹, a short-tailed bird. The simplified 鸡 is a later shorthand, and its right side is not the historical 奚.

Open 鸡 →

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