鹧鸪 (zhè gū) — Chinese francolin, a type of partridge (Francolinus pintadeanus)

Definition

noun
Chinese francolina type of partridge (Francolinus pintadeanus)
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • 鹧鸪。
    Shān lǐ yǒu jǐ zhī zhè gū zài jiào.
    There are a few francolins calling in the mountains.
  • 鹧鸪。
    Tā dǎ le yì zhī zhè gū dài huí jiā.
    He shot a francolin and brought it home.
  • 鹧鸪。
    zhè gū De ròu hěn hǎo chī.
    Francolin meat is very tasty.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

鹧zhè
鸪gū

The characters 鹧 and 鸪 carry no separate meaning here; together they name a francolin.

Sound-only characters

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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 鴣; 鸪 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
鳥鳥niǎobird
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ鴣
Same sound today

The traditional form 鴣 combines 鳥 (bird) with 古 as a sound part. The simplified 鸪 is a later abbreviation.

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