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小鸡 (xiǎo jī) — chick, baby chicken

Definition

noun
chickbaby chicken
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • 小鸡。
    Wǒ zài nóng chǎng kàn dào yì zhī xiǎo jī.
    I saw a chick on the farm.
  • 小鸡。
    Mǔ jī dài zhe tā de xiǎo jī zhǎo shí wù.
    The hen is looking for food with her chicks.
  • 小鸡，。
    Zhè zhī xiǎo jī hěn kě ài, máo róng róng de.
    This chick is very cute and fluffy.

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.

小xiǎosmall
鸡jīchicken

小 means small, 鸡 means chicken, so the whole names a baby chicken.

Characters in this word

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

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

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 →
Appears in
Birds

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