177) 鸟

niao

bird

Symbolizes a bird with a long tail, beak and legs.

177a) 鸡

ji

chicken

hand/again 又³⁴[yòu] + bird 鸟 [niǎo]

Signifies a bird (鸟) caught in hand (又), or domesticated – i.e. Chickens.

177b) 鸣

ming

cry

mouth 口¹⁶[kǒu] + bird 鸟 [niǎo]

Signifies a bird (鸟) crying with its beak (口). This character is used to mean cry of birds, animals or insects.

177cx) 山

shan

mountain

177c) 岛

dao

island

bird 鸟 [niǎo] + mountain 山¹⁹⁵[shān]

A small island as a small mountain (山) in middle of the sea has lots of birds (鸟) flying around freely.

178) 隹

zhui

(short-tailed) bird

Signifies a small bird which looked at from its side. While “鸟[niǎo]” is used to and signify long-tailed and larger birds, this character is a general term to mean ‘short-tailed and smaller birds.’

178a) 集

ji

collect, gather

bird 隹 [zhuī] + tree 木²¹⁰[mù]

Symbolizes small birds (隹) gathered onto a branch of a tree (木) and chatting or chirping.

178y-31f*) 推

tui

push

hand 扌=手 [shǒu] + bird 隹¹⁷⁸[zhuī]

A mother bird lightly pushes her young (隹) one with a wing (扌) to see if it is ready to leave the nest.

178z) 艰

jian

difficult

hand/again 又 [yòu] + bird 隹¹⁷⁸[zhuī]

Even a small bird that can fly (隹) is begging with outstretched hands (又) because of the drought and the difficulties the famine caused.

178z) 谁

shei

who

word 讠=言²²[yán] + bird 隹 [zhuī]

It is hard to find who cried (讠) out when a group of small birds (隹) sit together.

178cx) 冫

bing

178c) 准

zhun

standard

ice 冫206[bīng] + bird 隹 [zhuī]

When temperatures fall below a standard temperature such as freezing (冫) point, migratory birds (隹) prepare to fly away to warmer territories

179) 只

zhi

single; only

mouth 口¹⁶[kǒu] + hand/again 八→又³⁴[yòu]

Symbolizes only one bird (represented by “口” instead of “隹178”), being held on one hand (又). Used as unit to count a single item in a given pair, or when counting animals or ships.

179ax) 纟

si

179a) 织 / 针织

zhi / zhenzhi

weave; knit

thread 纟¹³²[sī] + a bird/single 只 [zhǐ]

Symbolizes how one can imagine the way to knit a piece of clothing using threads (纟) by looking at a bird (只) which builds its nest by knitting small branches together.

179b) 识

shi

know

word 讠=言²²[yán] + a bird/single 只 [zhǐ]

Symbolizes an act of explaining through words (讠) how a bird (只) builds its nest to let others know.

180a) 扌

shou

180a) 操

cao

hold; exercise

hand 扌=手³¹[shǒu] + cry 喿 [sào]

act of trying to catch birds by hand (扌) because they are too loud (喿). Also signifies that one needs to exercise in order to catch a bird by hands

zao

water 氵²⁰²[shuǐ] + cry 喿 [sào]

Birds singing on the tree branch (喿) jump into the water (氵) to bathe themselves. Birds are known to keep a high standard of hygiene.

181) 非

fei

not

Symbolizes a bird spreading its wings wide; each wing, when spread out, will not meet the other wing. Therefore it is used as negation.

181a) 排

pai

row, platoon; arrange

hand 扌=手³¹[shǒu] + not 非 [fēi]

 arranging things that are out of order (非) into proper order.

181b) 啡

fei

<transliterator>

mouth 口¹⁶[kǒu] + not 非 [fēi]

Originally meant to ‘signify’ snoring, which is an uncomfortable (非) sound (口) made during sleep. Now used as a transliterator to write words from foreign languages such as coffee (咖啡).

182) 羽

yu

feather

Symbolizes a bird with its wings raised high to show its feathers.

182a) 习

xi

practice

Symbolizes a baby bird practicing to fly so hard that its two wings (羽) become looking like one (习).

182bx) 番

fan

foreign; translate

sequence

182b) 翻 / 翻找

fan / fanzhao

turn (over); rummaging

sequence 番^183a[fān] + feather 羽 [yǔ]

A bird is continuously (番) flapping its wings (羽), resulting in wings being turned over as it flaps from top to bottom. Also signifies rummaging, as one needs to search over and under to find something.

182c) 飞

fei

fly

Symbolizes a big bird flying above with its wings wide open.