The Bird That Sings: 鳥

A Bird on the Page

Yesterday we rode 馬 (うま, horse) across the plains of pictographs. Today we look up. The kanji 鳥 (とり, bird) is a picture of a bird with its wings spread, its head turned to the side, and its tail feathers fanned out. Over three thousand years, the drawing got tidied into the clean lines you see now. But if you squint, you can still see the beak at the top, the body in the middle, and the four small strokes at the bottom — those are the tail and legs.

In Japanese, 鳥 is read とり when it stands alone, as in 小鳥 (ことり, small bird) or 野鳥 (やちょう, wild bird). When it combines with other characters, it often keeps the sound ちょう, as in 白鳥 (はくちょう, swan — literally 'white bird') or 鳥肉 (とりにく, chicken meat — literally 'bird meat').

The Bird That Sings: 鳴

Now take 鳥 and add a mouth. Put the mouth on the left, and you get 鳴 (なく, to chirp, to sing). The mouth is the radical 口 (くち), and together they mean 'the bird opens its mouth.' So 鳴く is what birds do: 鳥が鳴く (とりがなく, the bird chirps).

But 鳴 isn't just for birds. In Japanese, cats also 鳴く (they say ニャー), and even frogs 鳴く. So the kanji is a picture of a bird calling, but it's used for any animal sound. When you hear a sound from an animal, you can say 鳴く.

The Chicken: 鶏

Now meet 鶏 (にわとり, chicken). This character is a bird, 鳥, with a little extra on the left. That extra part is 奚, which gives the sound (in Chinese, where this character came from). In Japanese, 鶏 is read にわとり when it means the bird, and けい in compounds like 鶏肉 (けいにく, chicken meat).

Why does 鶏 have that extra part? It's not a picture of a chicken specifically — it's a bird that was given a phonetic hint. The left side tells you how to say it, and the right side (鳥) tells you it's a bird. This is a common pattern in kanji: one part for meaning, one part for sound.

So when you see 鶏, you know it's a bird, and you might guess it's pronounced like けい. And indeed, 鶏肉 is chicken meat, and 養鶏 (ようけい) is poultry farming.

Birds in Your World

Birds are everywhere in Japanese, and you'll see 鳥 in signs, menus, and books. In your city, you might see 野鳥 (やちょう) in a park, or 白鳥 (はくちょう) on a lake. When you're in your country, pay attention to the birds around you — they're all 鳥.

And when you hear a bird sing, you can say 鳥が鳴いている (とりがないている, the bird is singing). It's a simple sentence that uses both kanji from today.

A Note on Readings

The reading とり is a kun'yomi, the native Japanese reading. The reading ちょう is an on'yomi, borrowed from Chinese. Many kanji have both, and it's often the on'yomi that appears in compounds. So 白鳥 is はくちょう, not しろとり. That's a rule of thumb: when a kanji is part of a compound, it often uses the Chinese reading.

But there are exceptions, like 小鳥 which is ことり, using the native reading. So you have to learn each word. That's part of the fun.

Tomorrow: The Fish

Tomorrow we dive into water with 魚 (さかな, fish). You'll see its scales and tail, and find it in 鮮 (あたらしい, fresh) and 漁 (りょう, fishing). But there's a twist: the fish in 魚 doesn't look like a fish at all until you know what to look for. It's a picture of a fish with its mouth open, its body, and its tail — but the tail is what makes it tricky. Can you spot it?