鶏

鶏 U+9D8F, 鶏 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-9D8F ← 鶎 [U+9D8E] CJK Unified Ideographs 鶐 → [U+9D90]

See also: 鷄 and 雞

Translingual

Traditional	雞
Shinjitai	鶏
Simplified	鸡

Han character

鶏 (radical 196 鳥+8, 19 strokes, cangjie input 月人竹日火 (BOHAF), composition ⿰⿱爫夫鳥)

References

• KangXi: not present, would follow page 1494, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 47074
• Dae Jaweon: page 2024, character 8
• Hanyu Da Zidian: not present, would follow volume 7, page 4641, character 14
• Unihan data for U+9D8F

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Japanese

Shinjitai	鶏
Kyūjitai	鷄

Kanji

鶏

(common “Jōyō” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 鷄)

1. a chicken, a bird

Readings

• Goon: け (ke)
• Kan’on: けい (kei, Jōyō)
• Kun: にわとり (niwatori, 鶏, Jōyō)^{←にはとり (nifatori, historical)}; とり (tori, 鶏)

Compounds

Compounds

• 烏 (う)骨 (こっ)鶏 (けい) (ukokkei): silky, silkie (breed of chicken)
• 黄鶏 (かしわ) (kashiwa): a Japanese native species of chicken with dark reddish-brown feathers; the meat thereof; chicken (meat)
• 水鶏 (くいな) (kuina), 秧鶏 (くいな) (kuina), 水鶏 (すいけい) (suikei): rail; water rail
• 養 (よう)鶏 (けい) (yōkei): poultry farming, chicken raising

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
鶏
にわとり Grade: S
kun’yomi

Originally derived from the 枕詞 (makura kotoba, “pillow word”, an epithet as a poetic device) compound phrase niwa tsu tori, 庭 (niwa, “garden”) +‎ つ (tsu, possessive particle, analogous to modern Japanese の, no) +‎ 鳥 (tori, “bird”), used in Old Japanese poetry as an allusive introduction to kake, the older word for “chicken” (see below). The medial tsu disappeared over time, yielding modern Japanese niwatori.

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) にわとり [nìwátórí] (Heiban – [0])
  • IPA^(key): [ɲ̟iɰᵝa̠to̞ɾi]

Alternative forms

• 雞

Noun

鶏 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 鷄, hiragana にわとり, katakana ニワトリ, rōmaji niwatori, historical hiragana にはとり)

1. a chicken (a bird)

Synonyms

• 臼辺鳥 (うすべどり) (usubedori)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
鶏
かけ Grade: S
kun’yomi

From Old Japanese. Onomatopoeic of the sound made by a chicken. Compare English cluck.

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • IPA^(key): [ka̠ke̞]

Alternative forms

• 雞

Noun

鶏 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 鷄, hiragana かけ, rōmaji kake)

1. a chicken (a bird)
   • 711-712, Kojiki (Kami tsu maki)

     爾波都登理　迦祁波那久

     庭つ鳥　鶏は鳴く

     にわつとり　かけはなく

     niwa tsu tori, kake wa naku

     the garden bird, the chicken clucks

Synonyms

• 臼辺鳥 (うすべどり) (usubedori)

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
鶏
くたかけ Grade: S
kun’yomi

From Old Japanese. Compound of くた (kuta, root for numerous verbs, implying low-grade, rotten, stinky) +‎ かけ (kake, “chicken”, see above).

Formerly a derogatory term for a chicken. Over time, the derogatory sense was lost, and the term instead took on an old-fashioned or archaic sense.

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ᵝta̠ka̠ke̞]

Noun

鶏 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 鷄, hiragana くたかけ, rōmaji kutakake)

1. (archaic) a chicken (a bird)

Usage notes

Occasionally seen with the reading くだかけ (kudakake).

Synonyms

• 臼辺鳥 (うすべどり) (usubedori)