# 鶏

| 鶏 | U+9D8F, &#40335; CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-9D8F |
| ← 鶎 [U+9D8E] | CJK Unified Ideographs | 鶐 → [U+9D90] |

## Translingual

| Traditional | 雞 |
| Simplified | 鸡 |
| Japanese | 鶏 |
| Korean | 鷄 |

### Han character

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

#### References

* Kangxi Dictionary: not present, would follow page 1494, character 10
* Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 47074
* Dae Jaweon: page 2024, character 8
* Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): not present, would follow volume 7, page 4641, character 14
* Unihan data for U+9D8F

## Japanese

| Shinjitai | 鶏 |
| Kyūjitai | 鷄 |

### Kanji

(Jōyō kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 鷄)
* chicken
* bird

#### Readings

* Go-on: け (ke)
* Kan-on: けい (kei, Jōyō)
* Kun: にわとり (niwatori, 鶏, Jōyō)、とり (tori, 鶏)、かけ (kake, 鶏)、くたかけ (kutakake)

#### Compounds

* 鶏(けい)冠(かん) (keikan, “cockscomb”)
* 鶏(けい)肉(にく) (keiniku, “chicken meat”)
* 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), 秧鶏(くいな) (kuina, “rail, water rail”)
* 軍(ぐん)鶏(けい) (gunkei)
* 軍鶏(シャモ) (shamo, “gamecock”)
* 水(すい)鶏(けい) (suikei, “rail; water rail”)
* 矮鶏(チャボ) (chabo, “bantam”)
* 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
* Alternative spellings
* 鷄 (kyūjitai) 雞
⟨nipa tu to$_2$ri⟩ → */nipatːəri/ → /nifatori/ → /niwatori/
Originally derived from the 枕詞 (makura kotoba, “pillow word”, an epithet as a poetic device) compound phrase 庭つ鳥 (niwa tsu tori), 庭 (niwa, “garden”) +‎ つ (tsu, Old Japanese possessive particle) +‎ 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

* (Tokyo) にわとり [nìwátórí] (Heiban – [0])
* IPA: [ɲ̟iβ̞a̠to̞ɾʲi]

#### Noun

鶏(にわとり) or 鶏(ニワトリ) • (niwatori)
* a domesticated chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus)
    Synonyms: 臼辺鳥 (usubedori), 鳥 (tori)
    Hypernym: 雉 (kiji)

##### Usage notes

* As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as ニワトリ.

##### Proverbs

* 鶏(にわとり)を割(さ)くに焉(いずく)んぞ牛(ぎゅう)刀(とう)を用(もち)いん (niwatori o saku ni izukun zo gyūtō o mochiin, “why chop a chicken with a meat cleaver? → don't exaggerate”)

### Etymology 2

* Kanji in this term
* 鶏
* かけ Grade: S
* kun'yomi
* Alternative spellings
* 鷄 (kyūjitai) 雞
⟨kake$_1$⟩ → */kakʲe/ → /kake/ From Old Japanese, first attested in the Kojiki (712 CE).
Onomatopoeic of the sound made by a chicken. Compare English cluck.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ka̠ke̞]

#### Noun

鶏(かけ) • (kake)
* a chicken (domesticated fowl)
    Synonym: 臼辺鳥 (usubedori)
** 711–712, Kojiki, poem 2:
    [...]　爾波都登理(にはつとり)　迦祁(かけ)波那久(はなく)　[...] [Man'yōgana]
    [...]　庭(には)つ鳥(とり)　鶏(かけ)は鳴(な)く　[...] [Modern spelling]

### Etymology 3

* Kanji in this term
* 鶏
* くたかけ Grade: S
* kun'yomi
* Alternative spelling
* 鷄 (kyūjitai)
First attested in The Tales of Ise. Possibly influenced by Ainu コタン.
This word has also been spelled as くだかけ (kudakake). This word must have been a compound of くた (kuta/kuda) +‎ 鶏 (kake, “chicken; rooster”).
However, the initial kuta-/kuda- portion has been subject to debate. Several sources have attempted to give an etymology:
* The Hikobae of 1847 and the Daigenkai derive kuta- as a word meaning 'stinky'.
* The Kita-no-bezuihitsu, Meigentsū, and the Minakata-Kumakusu derive this from 百済鶏 (kudara-kake, literally “Baekje chicken”), saying that the chicken was imported from there.
* The Wakun-no-Shiori derives kuta as an eastern word for "house". The same source also supposes a Sanskrit origin, transcribed as kukutaeshira, and also supposes it was derived from 管掛 (kuda-kake) from the way it has a good voice.
* The Honchō Jigen derives this from kudo-kake, where kudo- means 'a passing sound' and -kake means 'to put on'.
* The Myōgoki derives kuda- from 数連 (kazutsura), while -kake is an onomatopoeic sound.
The third etymology is the most likely, as this note appears in several manuscripts of The Tales of Ise, and Vovin (2021) identifies kuda- with Ainu コタン (kotan, “village”) (cf. English village and villa). He also identifies the poem in The Tales of Ise as being a hybrid Japanese-Ainu poem.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [kɯ̟ta̠ka̠ke̞]

#### Noun

鶏(くたかけ) • (kutakake)
* (archaic) a chicken (domesticated fowl)
    Synonym: 臼辺鳥 (usubedori)

##### Usage notes

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

### Etymology 4

* Kanji in this term
* 鶏
* とり Grade: S
* kun'yomi
* Alternative spellings
* 鷄 (kyūjitai) 雞
From 鳥 (tori, “bird”).

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) とり [tòrí] (Heiban – [0])
* IPA: [to̞ɾʲi]

#### Noun

鶏(とり) • (tori)
* Alternative spelling of 鳥 (tori): a chicken (domesticated fowl); chicken meat

##### Derived terms

* 鶏(とり)の空(そら)音(ね) (tori no sorane, “cock's false cry”)
* 鶏(と)冠(さか) (tosaka, “cockscomb”)
* 鶏(とり)肉(にく) (toriniku, “chicken meat”)

### References

* 1 2 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
* 1 2 3 4 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* 1 2 “くた‐かけ 【鶏】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
* ↑ Vovin, Alexander (2021) “Ainu elements in early Japonic”, in Handbook of the Ainu Language, →DOI