讥 (jī) — to mock, to ridicule, to satirize (bound form, used in compounds)
Definition
讥 (jī) is a bound morpheme meaning 'to mock or satirize' — it never stands alone and only appears in compounds like 讥讽, 讥笑, and 讽刺.
bound form
to mockto ridiculeto satirize (bound form, used in compounds)
Easily confused
- 机jīlook-alike(bound form) machine; mechanical
- 鸡jīsound-alikechicken
- 叽jīlook-alike(onomatopoeia) chirp, twitter (sound of birds or small animals)
- 奇jīsound-alike(classifier) odd number (used after a number to count odd numbers)
- 玑jīlook-alike(bound form) a pearl or bead that is not round; used in literary compounds
- 基jīsound-alike(bound form) base; foundation; fundamental
Examples
- 。Tā zǒng xǐ huan jī xiào bié rén de quē diǎn.He always likes to mock other people's shortcomings.
- 。Zhè zhǒng jī fěng de yǔ qì ràng rén hěn bù shū fu.This kind of sarcastic tone makes people very uncomfortable.
- 讥。Bú yào jī cì bié rén de shī wù.Don't sting others with sarcasm over their mistakes.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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 譏; 讥 is its simplified writing.
Sound part声符shēngfú
幾
幾jī譏jī
Same sound today
The traditional form 譏 pairs 言 (speech) with 幾, which gives the sound; the simplified 讥 is a later shorthand.
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