鸡翅 (jī chì) — chicken wing

Definition

noun
chicken wing
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • 鸡翅。
    Wǒ xǐ huan chī jī chì.
    I like eating chicken wings.
  • 鸡翅。
    Mā ma zuò le hěn duō jī chì.
    Mom made a lot of chicken wings.
  • 鸡翅。
    Zhè jiā diàn de jī chì hěn hǎo chī.
    The chicken wings at this shop are very tasty.

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
翅chìwing

“鸡” means chicken and “翅” means wing, together chicken wing.

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 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
羽羽yǔfeathers
Sound part声符shēngfú
支
支zhī翅chì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

翅 uses 羽, meaning feathers, for the meaning and 支 for the sound. The 羽 part shows the character is about a wing or fin shape.

Open 翅 →

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