雞腸

Chinese

FWOTD – 28 March 2024

		fowl; chicken	intestines
trad. (雞腸/鷄腸)		雞/鷄	腸
simp. (鸡肠)		鸡	肠

The loopy letters of cursive handwriting looked like chicken intestines to Cantonese people who could not understand English.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jīcháng

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧ ㄔㄤˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gai¹ coeng^4-2
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): kiê-chhòng

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jīcháng
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧ ㄔㄤˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jicháng
    • Wade–Giles: chi¹-chʻang²
    • Yale: jī-cháng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jicharng
    • Palladius: цзичан (czičan)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ³⁵/
    • Homophones:

      [Show/Hide]
      edit edit 機場／机场 雞腸／鸡肠 飢腸／饥肠

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gai¹ coeng^4-2
    • Yale: gāi chéung
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gai¹ tsoeng^4-2
    • Guangdong Romanization: gei¹ cêng^4-2
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɐi̯⁵⁵ t͡sʰœːŋ²¹⁻³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kiê-chhòng
    • Hakka Romanization System: gie^ˊ cong^ˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: gie¹ cong²
    • Sinological IPA: /ki̯e²⁴ t͡sʰoŋ¹¹/

Noun

雞腸

1. chicken intestines (Classifier: 條／条 m c; 具 m)
   • 1726, “博物彙編·藝術典·第三百二卷·醫部”, in 陳夢雷 [Chen Menglei], editor, 《古今圖書集成》 [Complete Classics Collection of Ancient China], volume 446, page 26:

     雞䏶胵　雞腸各五具炙乾 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
     鸡䏶胵　鸡肠各五具炙干 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

     jī bìzhì, jīcháng gè wǔ jù zhìgān [Pinyin]

     Chicken gizzards and chicken intestines, five of each, fry until dry

   • 2015, 彭瑞珠, “筷菜分人惜”, in 《104年教育部閩客語文學獎作品集》‎^[1], page 67:

     該雞腸，𠊎來摎佢翻起來好無？ [Sixian Hakka, trad.]
     该鸡肠，𠊎来摎佢翻起来好无？ [Sixian Hakka, simp.]

     Ke kiê-chhòng, ngài lòi lâu kì phôn hí-lòi hó mò? [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]

     Those chicken intestines, let me turn them inside out, okay?

   • 2018 June 26, 陳惠芳, “懷舊菜見大廚真章”, in 《大公報》 [Ta Kung Pao], page B10:

     記者起筷入口，感覺魚腸如雞腸般肥厚，沒有魚腥味，吃起來有嚼感。 [Literary Cantonese, trad.]
     记者起筷入口，感觉鱼肠如鸡肠般肥厚，没有鱼腥味，吃起来有嚼感。 [Literary Cantonese, simp.]

     gei³ ze² hei² faai³ jap⁶ hau², gam² gok³ jyu⁴ coeng^4-2 jyu⁴ gai¹ coeng^4-2 bun¹ fei⁴ hau⁵, mut⁶ jau⁵ jyu⁴ sing¹ mei⁶, hek³ hei² loi⁴ jau⁵ ziu⁶ gam². [Jyutping]

     The journalist picked up the fish intestines, and when they were put in the mouth, it felt as thick as chicken intestines, had no fishy taste, and had a good chew to it.

2. (Cantonese, figurative) foreign language written in cursive Latin alphabet, especially English
   • 1965, 龍影, directed by 關志堅 [Kwan Chi-Kin], 《恩義難忘》 [Your Infinitive Kindness]‎^[2], 西瓜刨 [Sai Gwa-Pau] (actor):

     國語同佢搞唔掂㗎喇，不如用雞腸？ [Cantonese, trad.]
     国语同佢搞唔掂㗎喇，不如用鸡肠？ [Cantonese, simp.]

     gwok³ jyu⁵ tung⁴ keoi⁵ gaau² m⁴ dim⁶ gaa³ laa³, bat¹ jyu⁴ jung⁶ gai¹ coeng^4-2? [Jyutping]

     Mandarin won't work with her; how about you use English?

Synonyms

• (English language):

Dialectal synonyms of 英語 (“the English language”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		英語, 英文
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	英語, 英文
	Taiwan	英語, 英文
	Malaysia	英語, 英文
	Singapore	英語, 英文
Lanyin Mandarin	Ürümqi	英文
Cantonese	Guangzhou	英文
	Hong Kong	英文, 雞腸
	Taishan	英文
	Kaiping (Chikan)	英文
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	英文
	Singapore (Guangfu)	英文
Hakka	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	英語, 英文
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	英語
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	英語, 英文
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	英語, 英文
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	英語
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	英語
Eastern Min	Sitiawan (Gutian)	英文
Southern Min	Xiamen	英文, 英語
	Quanzhou	英語
	Zhangzhou	英語
	Tainan	英語, 英文
	Penang (Hokkien)	紅毛話, 紅毛
	Singapore (Hokkien)	紅毛話
	Manila (Hokkien)	英文, 英文話
	Bangkok (Teochew)	紅毛話
	Singapore (Teochew)	紅毛話, 英文
	Singapore (Hainanese)	紅毛話
Wu	Shanghai	英文

Derived terms

• 小肚雞腸／小肚鸡肠 (xiǎodùjīcháng)
• 雞腸仔環／鸡肠仔环
• 雞腸字／鸡肠字
• 雞腸狗肚／鸡肠狗肚
• 雞腸草／鸡肠草
• 雞腸鳥肚／鸡肠鸟肚
• 鼠肚雞腸／鼠肚鸡肠
• 鼠腹雞腸／鼠腹鸡肠