部首radical (鸟)部件component (rest of character)书写your drawing
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字源zìyuánEtymology & Structure
字源洞见 zìyuán dòngjiàn · Etymological Insight
鸡 = 又 + 鸟. The right side 鸟 (niǎo, bird) is the semantic component, the squat bird-radical that you also find in 鸭 (yā, duck) and 鹅 (é, goose). The left side 又 (yòu) is a simplified stand-in: it has no meaning of its own here, just a few quick strokes filling the slot where the traditional character carried far more.
The traditional form is 雞, and there the left side is 奚 (xī), a phonetic component that once supplied the rough sound of the word. Shuōwén Jiězì files 雞 under the 隹 (zhuī, short-tailed bird) radical and calls it 知時畜也, the creature that knows the hour, the cock whose crow announces dawn. When the character was streamlined for everyday writing, the busy 奚 was dropped and the plain hand-shape 又 was slotted in, the same labor-saving move that turned 漢 into 汉 and 觀 into 观.
So the modern glyph holds a small history of pruning. The bird stays on the right, anchoring the meaning. The left half went from a full sound-and-sense element to a stroke-economical placeholder. You read 鸡 not by sounding out its parts but by recognizing the bird and remembering the word.
Japanese kept the old bird in 鶏 (kei / niwatori) and Korean reads 雞 as 계 (gye), so the traditional 雞 still crows across the region even where the mainland glyph has gone lean.
厨房chúfángIn the Kitchen
鸡蛋jīdàn(chicken) egg
N 名词 míngcí
鸡 (chicken) + 蛋 (dàn, egg). The default word for an egg in cooking and at the market; if someone says 蛋 alone they almost always mean a 鸡蛋.
我早上吃了两个鸡蛋。
Wǒ zǎoshang chīle liǎng gè jīdàn.
I ate two eggs this morning.
西红柿炒鸡蛋是最常见的家常菜。
Xīhóngshì chǎo jīdàn shì zuì chángjiàn de jiācháng cài.
Tomato and scrambled egg is the most common home-style dish.
鸡肉jīròuchicken (meat)
N 名词 míngcí
鸡 (chicken) + 肉 (ròu, meat). The flesh on the menu, as opposed to the live bird. Pair it with 牛肉 (niúròu, beef) and 猪肉 (zhūròu, pork) to name the everyday meats.
辨析 biànxī · 鸡 vs. 鸡肉 鸡 alone can mean the whole bird (买一只鸡, buy a chicken); 鸡肉 points specifically at the meat as food.
炸鸡zhájīfried chicken
N 名词 míngcí
炸 (zhá, to deep-fry) + 鸡 (chicken). The crisp street-food and fast-food staple, often eaten with 啤酒 (píjiǔ, beer) in the Korean-style 炸鸡啤酒 pairing.
下雨天我特别想吃炸鸡。
Xiàyǔ tiān wǒ tèbié xiǎng chī zhájī.
On rainy days I especially crave fried chicken.
院子yuànziIn the Yard
公 (gōng, male) and 母 (mǔ, female) are the all-purpose sex markers for animals. Prefix either onto 鸡 and you sex the bird: 公鸡 the rooster, 母鸡 the hen. The same pair gives you 公牛 / 母牛 (bull / cow) and 公猫 / 母猫 (tomcat / queen).
公鸡gōngjīrooster, cock
N 名词 míngcí
公 (male) + 鸡 (chicken). The crowing bird of the farmyard, the one Shuōwén praised for knowing the hour.
天还没亮，公鸡就开始叫了。
Tiān hái méi liàng, gōngjī jiù kāishǐ jiào le.
It was not yet light when the rooster started crowing.
母鸡mǔjīhen
N 名词 míngcí
母 (female) + 鸡 (chicken). The egg-laying hen; a 母鸡下蛋 (the hen lays eggs) is the first farmyard fact every child learns.
小 (xiǎo, small) + 鸡 (chicken). The fluffy yellow chick just out of the shell, a favorite in children's songs and picture books.
母鸡带着一群小鸡在院子里走。
Mǔjī dàizhe yì qún xiǎojī zài yuànzi lǐ zǒu.
The hen walks through the yard leading a flock of chicks.
成语chéngyǔIdioms & Set Phrases
鸡毛蒜皮jī máo suàn píchicken feathers and garlic skins: trivial, petty mattersThe kitchen sweepings nobody bothers with. Used to dismiss a quarrel or complaint as not worth the fuss: 别为这点鸡毛蒜皮的事吵架.
闻鸡起舞wén jī qǐ wǔhear the cock and rise to practice swordplay: diligent self-disciplineFrom the Jin Shu account of Zǔ Tì (祖逖), who woke at the rooster's first crow to drill with his sword. A praise word for someone who studies or trains relentlessly.
鹤立鸡群hè lì jī qúna crane standing among chickens: head and shoulders above the restThe tall white crane towering over a yard of squat fowl. Said of a person whose talent or bearing makes them stand out from an ordinary crowd.
杀鸡儆猴shā jī jǐng hóukill the chicken to warn the monkey: punish one to frighten the restMake an example of a minor offender so the watching crowd falls into line. Common in talk of office discipline and political crackdowns.
记忆法 jìyìfǎ · Master Retention Image
Picture a farmyard at first light. On the right of the character squats the 鸟, the plump bird with its short curled tail, scratching at the dirt. That bird is the whole meaning of 鸡, and it never leaves the right side of the glyph.
On the left, where the traditional 雞 once kept the busy phonetic 奚, the simplified form set down a single open hand, 又, the hand of the farmer reaching into the coop. No sound, no story, just a few quick strokes so you can write the word before the rooster finishes crowing. Hand on the left, bird on the right: the farmer and the fowl.
From that one bird the day's vocabulary hatches. Reach into the coop for a 鸡蛋, carry the 鸡肉 to the kitchen, sex the flock into 公鸡 and 母鸡, and watch a 母鸡 lead her line of 小鸡 across the yard while the 公鸡 announces the hour.
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