雎 (jū) · the osprey; fish hawk

Meanings

HSK 7-9

关关雎鸠，在河之洲。

Guān guān jū jiū, zài hé zhī zhōu.

The ospreys call to each other on the islet in the river.

history

雎 is not used alone in modern Chinese. It survives in the bird name 雎鸠 (the osprey), famous as the opening image of the 诗经, and as a surname.

register

Literary and classical; encountered through the Book of Songs and in names, not in speech.

radical

隹 zhuī

short-tailed bird

隹 is the short-tailed-bird radical, marking the character as a kind of bird - here a raptor that hunts fish.

phonetic

且 qiě

moreover; for the time being

且 supplies the sound; the reading has drifted from 且 to 雎, the same phonetic seen in 趄.

雎 jū