héng
noun #65,990

Measure Word

zhī

Meanings

  1. 1 plover (bird of family Charadriidae)

Examples

HSK 4
Héng de zuǐ duǎn ér zhí, pǎo de hěnkuài.
The plover has a short, straight beak and runs very fast.
HSK 7-9
Hǎitān shàng yǒu hěnduō héng zài mìshí.
There are many plovers foraging on the beach.

Tips

usage
is a technical ornithological term. In everyday speech people just say 水鸟 (shuǐniǎo, waterbird); appears in field guides and bird-watching contexts.

Components

radical
niǎo
bird
Right side - pictograph of a bird in profile (eye, body, claw, tail), simplified from the more elaborate . The indexing radical, naturally so: is a plover, one of the short-billed shorebirds that scurry along beaches and mudflats. Same bird-family: chicken, duck, goose, eagle, dove, egret.
phonetic
xíng
to walk; row
Left side supplies the sound: xíng to héng with x/h alternation, an old shift surviving in the doublet / . itself pictures a crossroads - paths in four directions - meaning 'to walk, to go.' The picture reinforces meaning: plovers are restless waders, famous for their constant pacing along shorelines.

Stroke Order

héng