鸡舍 (jī shě) — chicken coop, hen house

Definition

noun
chicken coophen house
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 鸡舍。
    Tā men zài hòu yuàn jiàn le yí gè jī shě.
    They built a chicken coop in the backyard.
  • 鸡舍。
    Měi tiān zǎo chén tā dōu yào dǎ sǎo jī shě.
    Every morning she has to clean the hen house.
  • 鸡舍。
    Zhè ge jī shě néng yǎng èr shí zhī jī.
    This chicken coop can hold twenty chickens.

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
舍shèhouse

鸡 names the bird and 舍 names a house or shelter, giving the sense of a hen house.

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.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
余
余yú舍shè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

舍 is 余 plus 口. 余 was the original picture for this word, and 口 was later added to distinguish it.

Open 舍 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.