匙

shi / chí
noun #9,700

Meanings

  1. 1 key (in 钥匙)

Characters

Contains the spoon radical 匕. Pronounced chí in 汤匙 (spoon) but shi in 钥匙 (key).

Examples

HSK 4
Nǐ de yàoshi zài zhuōzi shàng.
Your key is on the table.
HSK 5
Wǒ qù pèiyàoshi le.
I went to the locksmith to have a duplicate key made.

Tips

usage
The neutral-tone shi occurs only inside 钥匙 (key) and its compounds: 配钥匙 (to copy a key), 遥控钥匙 (key fob). For the spoon sense use the chí reading.

Components

radical
匕 bǐ
spoon; dagger
The 匕 radical at the lower-left is the semantic core; it originally pictured a small ladle or scoop. 匙 effectively writes 'spoon' with 是 as a sound clue. The same radical anchors 比 and 北.
phonetic
是 shì
is; this
Top-left bulk supplies the sound, shì drifting heavily to chí here, one of the larger phonetic gaps in modern Chinese. 是 sits in the dominant upper position; 匕 wraps around the bottom-left in the surround pattern.

Stroke Order

匙 shi