鸡汤 (jī shāng) — chicken soup | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literally 'chicken soup' — the literal dish, and a common metaphor for inspirational, feel-good writing (as in 心灵鸡汤 'chicken soup for the soul').

noun

chicken soup

Measure word · 碗

Examples

鸡汤。
Gǎn mào de shí hou hē yì wǎn rè jī shāng huì shū fu hěn duō.
Drinking a bowl of hot chicken soup when you have a cold will make you feel much better.
鸡汤。
Tā huā le sān gè xiǎo shí dùn le yì guō jī shāng.
She spent three hours simmering a pot of chicken soup.
鸡汤。
Zhè jiā diàn de jī shāng wèi dào tè bié xiān měi.
The chicken soup at this restaurant tastes especially fresh and delicious.

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

汤tāngsoup

鸡 means chicken and 汤 means soup, together giving soup made from chicken.

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.

奚隹雞

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 湯; 汤 is its simplified writing.

氵昜湯

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

昜

昜yáng湯tāng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 汤, the shape explained is 湯: 氵 is water, and 昜 gives the sound.

Open 汤 →