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火鸡 (huǒ jī) — turkey (the bird or its meat); Fire Rooster (34th year in the Chinese sexagenary cycle)

Definition

Two distinct meanings: the bird/meat 'turkey', and in the sexagenary cycle, 'Fire Rooster' (the 34th year, the 鸡 branch with fire in its heavenly stem).

noun
turkey (the bird or its meat)Fire Rooster (34th year in the Chinese sexagenary cycle)
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • 火鸡。
    Gǎn ēn jié hěn duō rén chī huǒ jī.
    Many people eat turkey on Thanksgiving.
  • 火鸡。
    Zhè zhī huǒ jī kǎo dé hěn hǎo chī.
    This turkey is roasted deliciously.
  • 。
    Huǒ jī nián shì liù shí jiǎ zǐ de dì sān shí sì nián.
    The Fire Rooster year is the 34th year in the sexagenary cycle.

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.

火huǒfire
鸡jīchicken

A 鸡 bird or rooster associated with 火 fire.

Characters in this word

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

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

Open 火 →

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
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