机 (jī) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

机

jī[ji1]Tone 1

machine, engine, opportunity, aircraft

HSK 1

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機

Guru Deep Dive

English · machine, engine, opportunity, aircraft

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:6

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (木) should be slightly narrower and compressed to leave ample room for the complex right-hand side (戓).

Simplification Logic: Simplified from 機 to 机 by replacing the complex phonetic component 幾 with 几.

1. Meaning

machine or engine

aircraftopportunity or crucial pointquick-witted or flexibleorganic

noun / bound formNeutralBound morpheme#technology#transportation#time#attributes

Sample Usage

飞机
fēi jī
airplane
机会
jī huì
opportunity

2. Sound

/[t͡ɕi˥]/Tone: 55

机

jīji1

¯(55)

=jī

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolo-Palatal

Sounds like: soft j/dy sound as in 'jeep'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No air puff. Lips spread wide like smiling.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Blade of the tongue presses near the hard palate, flat and close to the lower teeth.

Final Rhyme

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 flat and high, matching a steady high-pitched hum in English.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse with the retroflex initial 'zhī' or aspirate it like 'qī'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Keep your voice at a steady, high pitch, like a sustained musical note at the top of your vocal range.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 6 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (木) should be slightly narrower and compressed to leave ample room for the complex right-hand side (戓).

Simplification Logic: Simplified from 機 to 机 by replacing the complex phonetic component 幾 with 几.

4. Components

Radical 木 · wood radical (tree, wood)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 木 (indicates that ancient mechanisms were made of wood.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 几 (original sound: ji)

A wooden structure (木) combined with a small low table frame (几) representing the intricate wooden framework of an ancient trap or loom.

木 wood / material
几 phonetic clue / frame

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally referred to a crossbow trigger mechanism made of wood, combining the wood radical (木) with a phonetic sound element (幾).

Semantic Evolution: From a wooden crossbow trigger mechanism to any delicate or intricate mechanism, and later expanded to modern engines, aircraft, and opportunities.

Ancient Chinese crossbows used wooden triggers (机) to release arrows with great force.
Over millennia, the meaning expanded from mechanical triggers to abstract turning points in time (机会).

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: キ / Kun: はた

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

기

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine a wooden (木) robot sitting at a small table (几) operating a high-tech flying machine.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

机

jīmachineBase character with wood radical.

肌

jīmuscleReplaces wood with flesh (月) for muscle tissue.

机场

jī chǎngairportCompound word combining machine and field.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

鸡(jī)

鸡 means chicken and uses the bird radical (鸟), whereas 机 uses the wood radical (木).

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我明天要坐飞[___]去北京。

Clue: jī

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the simplified radical component 几 inside 机 with the standalone character 几 (jǐ - how many).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 机 mean when combined in words like 飞机 (airplane) or 机会 (opportunity)?

Production: How do you write the character for 'machine' or 'engine' with 6 strokes?

机jīmachine, engine, opportunity, aircraft

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