鸡 | jī

In Mandarin Chinese, 鸡 (Pinyin: jī 🔊) is a noun for “chicken” and domestic fowl in general. To be more specific, Chinese uses compounds, for example:

• 公 + 鸡 = 公鸡 (gōngjī): cockerel, rooster
• 母 + 鸡 = 母鸡 (mǔjī): hen
• 小 + 鸡 = 小鸡 (xiǎojī 🔊): chick

The Rooster is one of the twelve-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac and is associated with the earthly branch 酉. The other meanings of 鸡 include “prostitute” and “penis” (why I am not surprised?).

鸡 is a simplified form of the traditional character 雞 which is a phono-semantic compound of phonetic 奚 (xī) and semantic 隹 “short-tailed bird”. Historical forms of this latter character show great diversity, depicting birds with assorted tails and in a variety of positions.

More photos related to chickens, zodiac and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

羊 | yáng

In Mandarin Chinese, 羊 (Pinyin: yáng 🔊) is a noun that is usually translated as “sheep” but is a general name for a caprid animal such as sheep, goat or antelope. To be more specific, Chinese uses compounds, for example:

• 公 + 羊 = 公羊 (gōngyáng 🔊): ram
• 母 + 羊 = 母羊 (mǔyáng 🔊): ewe
• 山 + 羊 = 山羊 (shānyáng 🔊): goat

A compound of 羊 and 肉 “meat”, 羊肉 (yángròu 🔊), means “mutton”.

The Goat is one of the twelve-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac and is associated with the earthly branch 未.

Just as it is the case with 牛, the character 羊 evolved from the pictogram of the animal’s head with horns.

More photos related to goats, sheep, lamb, zodiac and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

牛 | niú

In Mandarin Chinese, 牛 (Pinyin: niú 🔊) is a noun that is often translated as “ox” but is a general name for bovine animals (genus Bos, family Bovidae). To be more specific, Chinese uses compounds, for example:

• 公 + 牛 = 公牛 (gōngniú 🔊): bull
• 母 + 牛 = 母牛 (mǔniú 🔊): cow
• 水 + 牛 = 水牛 (shuǐniú 🔊): water buffalo

The Ox is one of the twelve-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac and is associated with the earthly branch 丑. 牛 is also the name of a Chinese constellation located near the European constellation of Capricorn.

Many historical forms of this character look like cow’s head complete with horns and ears. I think gnu (another bovid, although not Bos) is a good mnemonic to remember pronunciation of 牛. For more physics-inclined, 牛 is short for 牛顿 / 牛頓 (Niúdùn), “newton” (SI unit of force). 牛肉 (niúròu 🔊) means “beef”.

More photos related to cattle, buffalo, bulls, cows, beef, zodiac and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

女 | nǚ

In Mandarin Chinese, 女 (Pinyin: nǚ 🔊) means “woman”, “daughter” or, when applied to people, “female”. A combination with 人 “people”, 女人 (nǚrén 🔊), means “(an adult) woman”, “wife” or “mistress”.

According to Ponte Ryūrui, 女 “is a pictograph of a woman kneeling on the ground, shown with her arms entangled, holding a garment” while Wiktionary says that it is

a woman with breasts kneeling or standing. In modern form turned on left side: enclosed area is remnant of left breast (character’s left, depicted woman’s right), while right breast has disappeared. Graphically cognate to 母 (mǔ, “mother”), which has developed similarly, but also includes dots for nipples and has retained both breasts.

I prefer thinking of 女 as two entangled Greek letters ν (nu) which, incidentally, helps me to remember its pronunciation.

More photos related to women and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

母 | mǔ

In Mandarin Chinese, 母 (Pinyin: mǔ 🔊) means “mother”, or, when applied to an animal, “female”.

This character has evolved from a pictogram of a woman with rather exaggerated breasts with nipples. The historical forms of 母 show a standing or kneeling female figure. In the modern form, the woman’s chest is rectangular and rotated 90° so the whole affair now looks more like a chest of drawers.

More photos related to women and sea glass @ Shutterstock.