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基

jī
noun #1,908

Meanings

  1. 1 base; foundation
  2. 2 basic; fundamental
  3. 3 radical (chemistry)

Examples

基础很重要。
Jīchǔ hěn zhòngyào.
The foundation is important.
基本上没问题。
Jīběnshàng méiwèntí.
Basically no problem.
基于这个原因……
Jīyú zhège yuányīn … …
Based on this reason...

Tips

usage
基 is used in: 基础 (foundation), 基本 (basic/fundamental), 基于 (based on), 基地 (base/headquarters), 基因 (gene), 基金 (fund). It conveys the idea of a starting point or underlying structure.

Components

radical
土 tǔ
earth; soil
Bottom 土 is the earth radical and indexing component. 基 means 'foundation' — the packed earth a building sits on, hence 基础, 地基, 基地. Position is iconic: the radical sits at the bottom like a foundation under everything else. Family: 城, 堂, 场.
phonetic
其 qí
his/her/its (classical); winnowing basket
Top 其 supplies the sound (qí → jī, with palatal shift). 其 originally pictured a winnowing basket; later borrowed for the classical pronoun 'his/its'. Pure phonetic role here — basket has no semantic carry. Same phonetic in 期 (qī, period), 旗 (qí, flag), 棋 (qí, chess) — same qí/jī family.

Stroke Order

基 jī