Writing Balance Rule: Keep the strokes balanced and compact; the vertical hook should mirror the slight curve of the top stroke.
1. Meaning
small table
how many (when used in variant contexts)several
NounNeutral#furniture#household objects
Sample Usage
茶几
chájī
coffee table / tea table
几案
jī'àn
small desk or table
2. Sound
/[t͡ɕi˥]/Tone: 55
几
jīji1
|
++
¯(55)
=jī
Initial Consonant
j
Type: Unaspirated Alveolo-Palatal
Sounds like: soft j sound (like the 'j' in jeep)
Unaspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: No air puff. Lips spread wide like smiling.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Blade of the tongue touches or approaches the hard palate while the tip rests behind lower front teeth.
Final Rhyme
i
Vowel Group: -i vowel group
Sounds like: ee sound as in 'see'
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ee'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Tone
T1 (55)
5 → 5 (55)
1st Tone (High-Flat)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 is sung on a high, steady pitch, exactly like staying on a single high note when humming.
👂
Listening trap: Mistaking the high level tone (Tone 1) for a rising tone or confusing it with 'jǐ' (how many) due to tone differences.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: A flat, high horizontal line drawn in the air at eye level, matching the high level pitch of Tone 1.
3. Writing
Topology: Single character · Strokes: 2 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: Keep the strokes balanced and compact; the vertical hook should mirror the slight curve of the top stroke.
4. Components
Radical几 · small table radical (small table or low stool)
Semantic Clue (形旁):几 (represents the shape of a low, traditional Chinese armrest or small table)
The character visually depicts a tiny little wooden table standing on two legs, ready to hold your tea.
丿 Top slanted stroke forming the edge
㇉ Vertical hook stroke forming the leg and support
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
13· Phonetic Root: 几 (jī)
5. History
Liushu category: Pictogram (象形)
Origin: In Oracle Bone script, 几 was drawn as a simple line drawing of a low furniture piece or armrest used for leaning on while sitting on a mat.
Semantic Evolution: Originally meant a low armrest or table. Over time, it was heavily borrowed phonetically to mean 'how many' or 'several' (now written as 几 in simplified Chinese for both, while 幾 is the traditional for the latter).
Ancient scholars would lean on a 'jī' while reading or meditating.
The simplified form merges the ancient furniture pictograph with the phonetic loan for numbers.
6. Sinosphere
Sound Shift Bridge: No direct English cognate; purely a Mandarin monosyllable.
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
Imagine a tiny wooden table ('jī') standing on two little legs, holding a steaming cup of tea right in front of your eyes.
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
机
jīmachine / engineAdd the wood radical (木) to the left to show a wooden machine or mechanism.
肌
jīmuscle / fleshAdd the moon/flesh radical (月) to indicate body tissue.
讥
jīridicule / mockAdd the speech radical (讠) to indicate mocking words.
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
己(jǐ)
In 己 (self), the stroke closes at the bottom; in 几 (table), the stroke ends in a sweeping hook pointing upward.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
我们买了一个新茶[___]。
Clue: jī
Common Learner Pitfall
Confusing the stroke ending of 几 (table) with 己 (self), or mixing up the high level tone (jī) with the dipping tone (jǐ).
Memory Prompts
Recognition: When you see the character 几 standing alone as a noun, what piece of low furniture does it evoke?
Production: How do you write the 2-stroke character for 'small table' with its characteristic hook?
Real-World Video Context
Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.
Search theme
Accent preference
Results are live YouTube search — accents and levels aren't verified.
几jīsmall table
Speed:
Searching YouTube for native pronunciation videos...