隻

隻 (Kangxi radical 172, 隹+2, 10 strokes, cangjie input 人土水 (OGE) or 難人土水 (XOGE), four-corner 2040₇, composition ⿱隹又)

• 𬿈, 𭂙, 𫫊, 愯, 㨦, 𣺦, 𪯩, 𣉲, 㸕, 𪼌, 𬑠, 𮀺, 𬓏, 𮖤, 𥻬, 𮈳, 䑾, 𥛭, 謢, 𮔺, 𪯰, 𮧽, 𣄥, 𩹹, 𫤑, 𪒊, 𩁦
• 䨇, 𬯰, 𬷩, 𠔟, 𡙜, 蒦, 篗, 䨥, 𩀝, 矍, 𮚮, 𢊄, 𤹆, 𰯪, 𣡀, 𥤙, 𥌍, 𫉬, 𥨦, 𫊆, 𮒗, 𧃀, 𮓈

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1364, character 9
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 41941
• Dae Jaweon: page 1867, character 26
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 4090, character 10
• Unihan data for U+96BB

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 隹 (“bird”) + 又 (“hand”).

To hold one bird is 隻; to hold two birds is 雙.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tjak ~ g-t(j)ik (“one”).

隻

1. ^† one bird
2. single

   隻字不提／只字不提  ―  zhīzìbùtí  ―  to not say a single word

3. ^† (mathematics) odd
4. ^† alone
5. ^† unique
6. Classifier for one of a pair. ⇒ all nouns using this classifier

   Antonyms: 雙／双 (shuāng) (pair), 對／对 (duì) (pair), 副 (fù) (pair/set)

   alt. forms: 只 (zhī)

   一隻鞋，一雙鞋／一只鞋，一双鞋  ―  yī zhī xié, yī shuāng xié  ―  a shoe, a pair of shoes

7. Classifier for birds and certain animals (especially limbed or small, grabbable by hand).

   Coordinate terms: 頭／头 (tóu) (for large animals), 條／条 (tiáo) (for long/thin animals)

   一隻貓／一只猫  ―  yī zhī māo  ―  a cat

   兩隻豬／两只猪 [Cantonese]  ―  loeng⁵ zek³ zyu¹ [Jyutping]  ―  two pigs

   • 我親像一隻離水的魚 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
     我亲像一只离水的鱼 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]

     From: 2018, 蔡秋鳳 [Kerris Tsai], 離水的魚

     góa chhin-chhiūⁿ chi̍t chiah lī chúi ê hî [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

     I am like a fish away from water

8. Classifier for symmetrical body parts, limbs, hands, feet.

   昆蟲有六隻腳。／昆虫有六只脚。  ―  Kūnchóng yǒu liù zhī jiǎo.  ―  Insects have six legs.

   十隻手指／十只手指  ―  shí zhī shǒuzhǐ  ―  ten fingers

   四隻桌腳／四只桌脚  ―  sì zhī zhuō jiǎo  ―  four table feet

9. Classifier for certain vessels, containers, utensils and objects worn on or grabbable by hand.

   alt. forms: 只 (zhī)

   一隻戒指／一只戒指  ―  yī zhī jièzhǐ  ―  one ring

   一隻手錶／一只手表  ―  yī zhī shǒubiǎo  ―  one wristwatch

   一隻皮箱／一只皮箱  ―  yī zhī píxiāng  ―  one leather suitcase

   兩隻花瓶／两只花瓶  ―  liǎng zhī huāpíng  ―  two flower vases

   一隻氣球／一只气球  ―  yī zhī qìqiú  ―  one air balloon

10. Classifier for boats.

    alt. forms: 只 (zhī)

    四隻船／四只船  ―  sì zhī chuán  ―  four boats

11. Classifier for songs.
12. (dialectal, humorous or derogatory) Classifier for people.
13. (Cantonese) Classifier for kinds or varieties.

    呢隻雪糕太甜喇。 [Cantonese, trad.]
    呢只雪糕太甜喇。 [Cantonese, simp.]

    ni¹ zek³ syut³ gou¹ taai³ tim⁴ laa³. [Jyutping]

    This sort of ice cream is too sweet.

14. (Cantonese, slang) Classifier for months of prison sentence.