Taxonomy of meanings for 鳥:　　

  • niǎo (OC: ntɯɯwʔ MC: teu) 都了切 上 廣韻：【説文曰長尾禽緫名也象形都了切九 】
    • [read diào]> BIRD
      • n化為鳥 "it turns into a bird": the general word for any kind of bird
      • nnonreferentialbird
      • nadNbird-, of the bird-kind ???
      • nadVanalogylike birds SHIJI: 鳥聚
      • nadVinstrumentusing bird(-name)s
    • =屌 read diào PENIS

      Additional information about 鳥

      說文解字: 【鳥】，長尾禽總名也。象形。鳥之足似匕，从匕。凡鳥之屬皆从鳥。 【都了切】

        Criteria
      • ANIMAL

        [ARCHAIC/CURRENT]

        [[COMMON/RARE]]

        [TECHNICAL-TERM/CURRENT-WORD]

        1. Chóng 蟲 is sometimes referred to animals of any kind, and not only to insect-like creatures.

        [GENERAL]

        2. The current general word for an animal of any kind would appear to be qín shòu 禽獸, although this word definitely excludes snails, insects, snakes and the like.

        [CURRENT], [GENERAL]

        3. Niǎo shòu 鳥獸 refers specifically to all birds and beasts.

        [SPECIFIC]

        4. Wù 物 is sometimes used to refer to what in Christian parlance are "creatures" of any kind. See CREATURE

        [ARCHAIC?], [GENERAL]; [[RARE]]

        5. Dòng wù 動物 refers quite generally to all animals as opposed to plants and inanimate creatures, but the word is really a technical term and is rarely used.

        [GENERAL], [TECHNICAL]; [[RARE]]

      • FEMALE

        1. The current general word for a female of any species is cí 雌 (ant. xióng 雄 "male").

        2. Nu# 女 (ant. nán 男 "male") refers specifically to human females.

        3. Pìn 牝 (ant. mǔ 牡 "male") refers to specifically to females of animals.

        4. Zì 牸 refers to females of buffalo, but sometimes also of tiger, rhinoceros, or horse.

        5. Mǔ 母 (ant. gōng 公 "male") refers to adult females of some species, including spirits. NB incidentally: Mǔ jī 母雞 is current, while mǔ niǎo 母鳥 does not seem to be found.

        6. Kūn 坤 (ant. qián 乾 "metaphysically: male") is a metaphysical way of characterising things as belonging to the female realm. (NB incidentally and irrelevantly as a modern Chinese reflex kūn biǎo 坤錶 "women's watch".)

      • BIRD

        [[COMMON/RARE]]

        [COUNT/MASS]

        [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

        [NON-REFERENTIAL/REFERENTIAL]

        1. Niǎo 鳥 is by far the most common word for any bird, and this word can refer to individual creatures.

        [COUNT], [GENERAL]; [[COMMON+]]

        3. Qín 禽 refers to a large bird, typically a bird of prey that one might hunt for, and the word is predominantly used as a mass noun. (But note that the word can also be used to refer to wild beasts rather than birds.)

        [MASS!], [SPECIFIC]

        3. Fēi niǎo 飛鳥 is the generic and non-referential term.

        [NON-REFERENTIAL]

        4. Yǔ niǎo 羽鳥 is a rather formal general term for birds of all kinds.

        [NON-REFERENTIAL]; [[RARE]]

      • SHIP

        1. The general term for any ship, large or small, is zhōu 舟. [The word occurs already in the oracle bone inscriptions and in SHIJING. According to some opinions it originally referred to the boat made of one piece of wood, but it is not certain. The earliest forms of the character resemble the small ship made already from several planks. Note that in Western Zhou times, ship also played certain role in some rituals performed by the king, which probably took place in the pool within royal palace.

        2. Chuán 船／舡 is a colloquial general term for a ship which emerged in Warring States times and became current under the Han. The word can refer specifically to larger ships. The word is still unknown in LUNYU and ZUOZHUAN, where the only general term for a ship is still zhōu 舟.

        3. Háng 杭／航 refers specifically to a ferry and became current first in Han times. (From the Warring States period, only the former character is known, the latter form came to be used in Han times. The word refers specifically to a ferry, but can be used also as a general term for a ship.

        4. Sōu 艘 is another general word for a ship which was in use particularly from the Han till Tang, and it was usually used as a measure word for a ship.

        5. Yú 俞 refers in SHUOWEN and HUAINANZI to the boat made of one piece of wood, the monoxylon. Whether the term referred to this type of boat in general already since early times is not certain. Note that one monoxylon (3,9 m long) dating from Shang times was found in Shandong province.

        6. Bó 舶 originally referred specifically to the large sea ships of the foreign traders reaching Canton area. Later it came to refer generally to large or sea ship.

        7. Fāng chuán 方船, fāng 舫 (the latter word first appeared in the Warring States period and became more current in Han times) refer to the double ship, ship consisting of two joined boats. This kind of ship could be used for various purposes (for transportation of goods or soldiers, as a warship, or to cross a river), and was in use at least from the Warring States period till Tang; the period during it most flourished was neverthless Jin dynasty.

        8. Gě 舸 refers generally to a large ship; according to FANG YAN, in Han times the word was used in an area on the middle reaches of Chang jiang.

        9. Biàn 艑 refers to the large ship, used probably mainly for transportation of goods, which was used in the middle and lower reaches of the Chang jiang.

        10. Tà 榻 is the general word for a large ship, which was in use mainly from the North Southern dynasties till Tang period.

        11. Cáo 艚 is the post-Buddhist word referring to the transportation ship. It was large and slow.

        12. Líng (written like 舟令 ) refers specifically to the small ship with vindows. In the Warring States and Han period, it was in use particularly in the area of ancient states Wu and Yue.

        13. Dāo 刀 / (written like 舟刀 ) refers to a small boat. The word occurs already in SHIJING.

        14. Mù sù (written like 舟冒; 舟宿 chā 艖 ) all refer to the small and narrow boats, and according to FANG YAN, were used in the middle reaches of Chang jiang.

        15. Tǐng 艇 refers to the boat even smaller than the previous, with space for one or two people. According to HUAINANZI, this was originally used in the area of Sichuan.

        16. Qióng (written like 舟共 ) refers to the small boat used mainly in the middle reaches of the Chang jiang.

        17. Lì 麗 refers to a small boat. The word occurs already in ZHUANGZI.

        18. Dié 艓 refers to the small boat.

        19. Zé měng 舴艋 refers to the small boat.

        20. (I can not find a character in the dictionary: written like 舟鳥 ) refers to the small and narrow boat.

        21. Sān yì 三翼 refers to the battleships which were in use in the southern states of Wu and Yue in Chunqiu and Warring States times. It seems that they were divided to three categories according to their size. According to Han sources, the largest ones had a space for 91 men, those of middle size for 50 men, and minor for 26 men. Note that the earliest ship battle is mentioned in ZUOZHUAN to 549 B.C., and it took place on a river; the first sea battle is dated to 484 B.C. As can be seen on pictorial presentations dating from the late Chunqiu and early Warring States period, ship battles esentially resembled battles on the earth; the ships pulled with oars came close one to the other and warriors staying on the higher board attacked enemies with arrows, halberds, and spears.

        22. Yú huáng 余 / 艅皇 / 艎 was in Chunqiu times the name of the large battleship belonging to the kings of Wu. Later it came to be used as a general term for a large battleship.

        23. Mào tū 冒突 came to use in the Eastern Han period and referred to the battleship which could directly clash into the ship of enemies.

        24. Lóu chuán 樓船 refers to the battleship with several boards. These came to use already in the late Chunqiu period, and were used till Ming times.

        25. Gē chuán 戈船 refers to the large battleship which was in use from the late Chunqiu till the Southern and Northern dynasties. It obtained its name from halberds and spears put on its board; perhaps general word for a battleship (???).

        26. Méng chōng 艨童舟童 refers to a smaller battleship used to clash into the battleships of enemies. It has two boards, the lower for oarmen and higher for warriors; moreover it was covered with fresh oxen skins to defend firearrows of the enemies. In use since the Three Kingdoms.

        27. Jiàn 艦 refers to the large battleship with wooden battlements which came to be used in the Three Kingdoms.

      • RIVERS

        1. NB: Hé 河 is normally a proper name of Yellow River and its tributaries. [The term Huanghe was in use since the Han times. The river flows through the following provinces Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong. In the northeastern part of the Shandong province, it flows into the Bohai gulf.

        2. Jiāng 江 is a proper name for the Yangtse River and its tributaries. [The greatest river of China. It flows through the following provinces and areas Xizang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu. Overall length 6300 km.]

        3. Huái 淮 belonged to the Four Great Rivers of antiquity. It springs from the Dongbo mountains in the Henan province, and then flows through the Anhui and Jiangsu. There it flows into the Jiāng.

        4. Zhè shǔi 浙水, Zhè jiāng 浙江 is an ancient name of the modern Qiántángjiāng 錢塘江. It is the greatest river of the modern Zhejiang province. It flows into the Hangzhou bay south of the city of Hangzhou. Overall length 450 km.

        5. Xiāng shǔi 湘水 is the greatest river in the modern Hunan province. It springs from the western slopes of the Donghaiyang mountains [Guangxi], and then flows through the cities of Hengyang and Changsha into the Dongting lake. Overall length 817 km.

        6. Mì luó shǔi 汩羅水 is the river in the northeastern part of the modern Hunan province. It springs from the Xiang mountains near the city of Ningzhou [the modern Jiangxi province]. The overall length 250 km. The poet Qu Yuan is said to commit suicide by throwing himself into this river.

        7. Yuán jiāng 沅江 is the river in the western part of the modern Hunan province. It springs from the Yunwu mountains in the Guizhou, and then flows to the east into the Dongting lake. Overall length 993 km.

        8. Xiāo xiāng 瀟湘 is another name for the Xiāng shǔi 湘水. The name sometimes refers to the middle part of the Xiāng shǔi, where it meets with the Xiāo shǔi 瀟水. Mentioned already in the Shanhaijing.

        9. Luò shǔi 洛水 is the river in the modern Henan province. The name was originally writen like 雒, in the period of the Three kingdoms it has been changed to 洛. Its spring is located in the Luonan county in the Shaanxi province, then it flows to the East through the cities Luoning, Yiyang, and Luoyang. In the modern Gong county, it flows into the Huanghe.　　　　　

        10. Hàn shǔi 漢水, Hàn jiāng 漢江 is one of the most important rivers of ancient China. It springs from the Panzhong mountains in the modern Shaanxi province, then flows through the southern part of the Shaanxi, northwestern and central Hubei, and in the Hanyang city [Wuhan] it flows into the Changjiang. Overall length of the river is 1532 km.

        11. Wèi shǔi 渭水, Wèi hé 渭河 is the most important tributary of the Huanghe. Its spring is located in the Niǎoshǔ 鳥鼠 mountains [Weiyuan county, Gansu province]. The river flows to the east, into the Huanghe. Its overall length is 787 km.

        12. Jīng hé 涇河 is the northern tributary of the Wèi shǔi 渭水. It has two springs - the northern, which is located in the Pingliang, and the southern, located in Huating [both counties belong to the modern Gansu province]. The river flows into the Wèi shǔi 渭水 in the modern Gaoling county [Shaanxi province]. Its overall length is 451 km.　　

        13. Lì zé 笠澤 is an original name of the later Sōng jiāng 松江. It springs from the Taihu lake, and flows to the east into the sea. An overall length of the river is 125 km.

        14. Luòshǔi 洛水

        15. Yīshǔi 伊水

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      • REGRET

        1. The current general word for regret of one's actions is huǐ 悔, whereas the current general word for regretting past experience is hèn 恨.　LH: 鳥與人異，謂之能悔。

        2. Jiù 疚 refers to specifically moral regret.

        3. Xí 惜 refers to emotional and sentimental regret.

      • BEAST

        [GENERAL]

        [SPECIFIC]

        Wild animals are generally mentioned in the context of hunting or capturing animals, and also in connection with their use in the culinary arts as well as in the production of utensils of all kinds. Their wild nature is standardly contrasted with humane or civilised domesticity.

        1. Qín shòu 禽獸 is the current general word for non-domestic animals which often but not always includes birds of a certain size, but the term which includes all manner of fowl more explicitly is the also current niǎo shòu 鳥獸. See ANIMAL

        [GENERAL]

        2. Qín 禽 is sometimes used to refer quite generally to non-tame animals, especially in so far as these may be caught alive and with a net, but the word also refers specifically to wild birds. The word refers to smaller beasts than shòu 獸.

        [SPECIFIC]

        3. Shòu 獸 tends to refer to dangerous mammals above a certain size that are typically imagined as running (zǒu shòu 走獸 ), and sometimes as liable to bite..

        [SPECIFIC]

        4. Yě shòu 野獸 focusses on the habitat of wild animals far from human habitation, in the open countryside.

        5. Máo 毛 and máo wù 毛物 refer generally to animals with feathers or fur, birds and beasts.

        Word relations
      • Epithet: (BIRD)飛 / 蜚/FLY The dominant word in this group is fēi 飛 which usually refers to the flying in a certain direction.
      • Epithet: (BIRD)/
      • Epithet: (BIRD)羽/FEATHER Yǔ 羽 can refer to any feather of any kind, but which usually refers to feathers as forming the most visible part of a wing.
      • Assoc: (BIRD)獸/BEAST Shòu 獸 tends to refer to dangerous mammals above a certain size that are typically imagined as running (zǒu shòu 走獸), and sometimes as liable to bite.