wing
English · wing
wing
- 鸟儿展翅飞翔。niǎo ér zhǎn chì fēi xiáng.The bird spreads its wings and flies.
- 从旁协助cóng páng xié zhùTo assist from the side
Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 17 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: Maintain vertical symmetry with the top crown (羽) balanced evenly over the lower body (异), keeping horizontal strokes parallel and evenly spaced.
Radical 羽 · Feather Radical (Feathers, wings, birds)
Semantic Clue (形旁): 羽 (Indicates feathers and wings)
Phonetic Clue (声旁): 异 (original sound: yi)
The character combines the feather radical (羽) at the top with a phonetic and conceptual lower part (异), representing feathered wings used for soaring or sheltering.
- 羽 Feathers / wings
- 异 Different / phonetic indicator
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
4· Phonetic Root: 異Origin: Originally depicted as a pair of bird wings made of feathers (羽), later formalized with a phonetic component to represent soaring, wings, and by extension sheltering or assisting.
Semantic Evolution: From physical bird wings to anything wing-shaped (like the sides of an airplane or a target bullseye), and metaphorically to protecting, sheltering, or assisting someone.
- It represents one of the traditional 28 lunar mansions (constellations) in Chinese astronomy.
- Used historically as an alternate name for the ancient capital of Jiang during the Spring and Autumn period.
Imagine a magnificent bird with 17 glowing feathers (羽) on its wings, flying 'differently' (异) across the sky, using its strong wings (yì) to assist and protect smaller birds below.
yìOverwhelmed by the 17 strokes and trying to memorize every single line mechanically instead of breaking it down into the feather top (羽) and the lower phonetic part (异).
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