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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

鳥

niǎo
bird (Classifier: 隻／只 m; 群 m)
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 2
  • TOCFL 3
  • radical 鳥
  • 11 strokes

Etymology graph

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  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
  • sound component
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Origin

Pictogram (象形): a bird with a dangling tail.

Compare 烏, which is very similar, of similar origin, and 隹, which originated from a similar image of a bird, but is today rather more abstract and less recognizable. Compare to Egyptian 𓄿

Originally pronounced with a /t-/ initial (compare 島 (OC *tuːwʔ, “island”)). In many dialects, it changed to a /n-/ initial to avoid homophony with the vulgar word 屌 (diǎo, “penis”), which may ultimately have developed from the sense “bird”. Birds/fowl are characteristically associated with Chinese slang for male genitalia; compare 雀 (“sparrow > penis”) and 雞 (“chicken > penis”).

Alternatively, Schuessler (2007) hypothesised that the /n-/ initial form for “bird” may be unrelated to the /t-/ form. Instead, it may be connected with the Tai-Kadai word for bird; compare Proto-Tai *C̬.nokᴰ (“bird”), whence Thai นก (nók).

The /t-/ form may be derived from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *daw (“bird”), cognate with Proto-Karen *thoᴮ (“bird”) and Proto-Bodo-Garo *tao² (“bird”).

* (rating in Maimai (video game series)):

: Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 鳥, from トリプルエス (triple S).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • partChinese户
  • inheritedProto-Sino-Tibetan*daw “bird”
  • partChinese一 “one”
  • partChinese㇆
  • partChinese火 “fire; flame (Classifier: 把 m; 團／团 m)”

Related: Proto-Tai *C̬.nokᴰ, Thai นก, Proto-Karen *thoᴮ, Proto-Bodo-Garo *tao²

Words built on it: 島

Meanings

character
  1. bird (Classifier: 隻／只 m; 群 m)
  2. to pay attention; to heed; to take notice of
  3. unpleasant thing
  4. inferior or objectionable (a general term of disparagement)
  5. SSS rating in Maimai (video game series)

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

鳥：長尾禽緫名也。象形。鳥之足似匕，从匕。凡鳥之屬皆从鳥。

Xu Shen, c. 100 CE — the first analytical dictionary of Chinese characters.

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 脊椎動物亞門鳥綱動物的通稱。卵生，體溫恆定，全身被羽毛。前肢變化為翅膀，能飛行；後肢為腳，用以行走或站立。嘴內無齒，用肺呼吸。一般鳥類均會飛翔，但亦有雙翼退化不能飛的，如雞、鴨、鵝、駝鳥等。種類繁多，遍布世界各地。

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 鳥 was written 字形演變

  1. 鳥 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 鳥 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 鳥 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 鳥 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  5. 鳥 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  6. 鳥 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • Structural decomposition (chaizi) — See upstream
  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • 說文解字 Shuowen Jiezi (Xu Shen, c. 100 CE) — Public domain
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 鳥