毽

jiàn

noun

Meanings

放学后，孩子们在院子里踢毽子。

Fàngxué hòu, háizi men zài yuànzi lǐ tī jiànzi.

After school the children kicked a shuttlecock in the yard.

她能把毽子踢上一百多下不落地。

Tā néng bǎ jiànzi tī shàng yì bǎi duō xià bù luòdì.

She can keep the shuttlecock in the air for over a hundred kicks.

culture

Almost always 毽子 with the noun suffix. 踢毽子 ('kicking the shuttlecock') is a traditional Chinese folk game and a common schoolyard and park pastime.

radical

毛 máo

feather; fur

Left side is the feather radical 毛, since a shuttlecock is tipped with feathers stuck into a weighted base.

phonetic

建 jiàn

to build; sound element

Right side 建 supplies the reading jiàn with no tone change — a clean phonetic.

毽 jiàn