鸡心 (jī xīn) — heart-shaped pendant or ornament; chicken heart (as food)

Definition

Literally 'chicken heart', 鸡心 is used both for the food (stir-fried as a dish) and, by shape, for heart-shaped pendants or ornaments like necklaces and brooches.

noun
heart-shaped pendant or ornamentchicken heart (as food)
Measure word · 个
Easily confused

Examples

  • 鸡心。
    Tā dài le yì tiáo jī xīn xiàng liàn.
    She wore a heart-shaped necklace.
  • 鸡心。
    Tā sòng gěi wǒ yí gè jī xīn xíng zhuàng de xiōng zhēn.
    He gave me a heart-shaped brooch.
  • 鸡心。
    Jīn tiān wǎn fàn yǒu chǎo jī xīn.
    Today's dinner includes stir-fried chicken hearts.

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
心xīnheart

鸡 names the chicken and 心 names the heart, giving either 'chicken heart' or a shape like it.

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 →

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

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →

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