童子鸡 (tóng zǐ jī) — young chicken, spring chicken (about 500-750g, very tender)

Definition

noun
young chickenspring chicken (about 500-750g, very tender)
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • 童子鸡，。
    Zhè dào cài shì yòng tóng zǐ jī zuò de, ròu tè bié nèn.
    This dish is made with spring chicken; the meat is especially tender.
  • 童子鸡。
    Mā ma mǎi le yì zhī tóng zǐ jī zhǔn bèi dùn tāng.
    Mom bought a young chicken and plans to stew soup.
  • 童子鸡。
    tóng zǐ jī Bǐ lǎo mǔ jī gèng róng yì shú.
    Spring chicken is easier to cook than old hen.

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.

童子child
童tóngchild子zǐchild
联合Side by side
鸡jīchicken

童子, meaning child or young, combines with 鸡 to denote a young chicken.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 䇂䇂䇂chisel
  • 見見jiànkneeling person with a huge eye

The form 童 comes from a pairing of 䇂 (a chisel) with 見 (a kneeling person with a huge eye), depicting a person having an eye gouged out.

Open 童 →

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →

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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