鸡屎 (jī shǐ) — chicken droppings, chicken manure

Definition

noun
chicken droppingschicken manure

Examples

  • 鸡屎，。
    Yuàn zi lǐ dào chù dōu shì jī shǐ, dé gǎn jǐn qīng lǐ.
    There's chicken droppings all over the yard — we need to clean it up quickly.
  • 鸡屎。
    Nóng mín yòng jī shǐ gěi cài dì shī féi.
    Farmers use chicken manure to fertilize the vegetable fields.
  • 鸡屎，。
    Nǐ cǎi dào jī shǐ le, kuài cā gān jìng.
    You stepped in chicken droppings — wipe it off quickly.

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.

鸡jīchicken
屎shǐdroppings

The 屎 of 鸡, i.e. chicken droppings.

Characters in this word

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 →

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

屎 pairs 尸 (body) with 米, which came from dots showing faeces coming out of the body.

Open 屎 →

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