鸡窝 (jī wō) — chicken coop, hen house | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

chicken coophen house

Measure word · 个

Examples

鸡窝。
Tā zài hòu yuàn jiàn le yí gè jī wō.
He built a chicken coop in the backyard.
鸡窝。
Zhè ge jī wō lǐ zhù zhe shí zhī mǔ jī.
Ten hens live in this hen house.
鸡窝。
Měi tiān zǎo chén tā dōu qù jī wō lǐ jiǎn jī dàn.
Every morning he goes to the chicken coop to collect eggs.

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

窝wōnest

鸡 denotes the bird and 窝 the nest or shelter, together pointing to a coop for chickens.

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.

奚隹雞

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 →

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 窩; 窝 is its simplified writing.

穴咼窩

Meaning part形符xíngfú

穴穴xuécave

Sound part声符shēngfú

咼

咼wāi窩wō

Same sound today

The traditional form 窩 uses 穴, a cave, for meaning and 咼 for sound; the simplified 窝 is a later shorthand.

Open 窝 →