项 (xiàng) · item, thing

Meanings

1 item
2 thing
3 classifier for items, tasks, or policies

Characters

项

xiàng

item; nape of neck; measure word for items

Examples

HSK 3

这项工作很重要。

Zhèxiàng gōngzuò hěn zhòngyào.

This task is very important.

HSK 4

我们有三项任务需要完成。

Wǒmen yǒu sān xiàng rènwu xūyào wánchéng.

We have three tasks that need to be completed.

HSK 5

这项规定从下个月开始执行。

Zhèxiàng guīdìng cóng xiàgèyuè kāishǐ zhíxíng.

This regulation will be enforced starting next month.

Tips

usage

项 is used as a classifier for formal items: policies, regulations, tasks, achievements, records. It is more formal than 个.

grammar

Common collocations: 一项研究 (a research project), 一项政策 (a policy), 一项成就 (an achievement).

Components

radical

页 yè

head; page

Right indexing radical 页 (head). The original meaning of 项 was 'nape of the neck' - the back of the head where the 工 column meets the spine. The classifier sense spread by extension: 'an item' as a single neck/headcount of something. Same radical in 头, 颜, 顿.

phonetic

工 gōng

work (here phonetic)

Left 工 supplies the sound - gōng → xiàng shows audible drift in the same Old Chinese velar series. The 'work' meaning isn't active here. Same phonetic body produces 红 (hóng, red), 江 (jiāng, river), 攻 (gōng, attack), with the rime persisting across the family.