鸡

雞

jī

noun HSK 3 #1,024

Measure Word

一只鸡 zhī

Meanings

1 chicken

About the ingredient

肉类 Meat

Sold whole or in parts, and live in some markets. Chinese cooks usually chop it through the bone into small pieces, so expect bones in most dishes. Free-range birds are firmer and chewier.

Also called 鸡肉

Used in 56 dishes

香菇蒸鸡 xiānggū zhēng jī

咸鱼鸡粒炒饭 xiányú jīlì chǎofàn

蟹黄汤包 xièhuáng tāngbāo

鸡丝面 jīsīmiàn

麻油鸡 máyóujī

江南百花鸡 Jiāngnán bǎihuājī

贵妃鸡 guìfēijī

道口烧鸡 Dàokǒu shāojī

龙凤汤 lóngfèngtāng

Characters

鸡

jī

chicken

Examples

HSK 2

我想吃鸡肉。

Wǒ xiǎng chī jīròu.

I want to eat chicken.

HSK 3

奶奶家养了很多鸡。

Nǎinai jiā yǎng le hěnduō jī.

Grandma's family raises many chickens.

HSK 6

这只鸡很肥。

Zhè zhī jī hěn féi.

This chicken is very fat.

Tips

culture

Chicken is one of the most important meats in Chinese cuisine. Whole chicken is served at celebrations and family gatherings.

Components

radical

鸟 niǎo

bird

Bird radical on the right is the indexing component, classing 鸡 in the bird family with 鸭 duck, 鹅 goose, 鸽 pigeon, 鹰 eagle. The radical alone makes 鸡 transparent: 'a bird' - and culture supplies the rest, since chicken is far and away the most common domesticated bird in Chinese kitchens.

phonetic

又 yòu

again; hand (here phonetic substitute)

Left is 又 'again/hand' - a pictograph of a right hand. In 鸡 it serves as a simplified phonetic substitute. The traditional 雞 had 奚 on the left, a 10-stroke phonetic; the 1956 reform replaced it with the 2-stroke 又 to slash the character's complexity. The sound link to jī is loose - this is a reform-era shortcut where the radical does most of the work.

Stroke Order

鸡 jī

鸡