鶏

鶏 (Kangxi radical 196, 鳥+8, 19 strokes, cangjie input 月人竹日火 (BOHAF), composition ⿰⿱爫夫鳥)

• KangXi: not present, would follow page 1494, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 47074
• Dae Jaweon: page 2024, character 8
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): not present, would follow volume 7, page 4641, character 14
• Unihan data for U+9D8F

(common “Jōyō” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 鷄)

1. chicken
2. bird

• Go-on: け (ke)
• Kan-on: けい (kei, Jōyō)
• Kun: にわとり (niwatori, 鶏, Jōyō)^{←にはとり (nifatori, historical)}; とり (tori, 鶏); かけ (kake, 鶏); くたかけ (kutakake)

⟨nipa tu to₂ri⟩ → */nipatːəri/ → /nifatori/ → /niwatori/

Originally derived from the 枕詞 (makura kotoba, “pillow word”, an epithet as a poetic device) compound phrase 庭つ鳥 (niwa tsu tori), 庭 (niwa, “garden”) +‎ つ (tsu, Old Japanese possessive particle) +‎ 鳥 (tori, “bird”), used in Old Japanese poetry as an allusive introduction to kake, the older word for “chicken” (see below). The medial tsu disappeared over time, yielding modern Japanese niwatori.[1]

• Kun’yomi
• (Tokyo) にわとり [nìwátórí] (Heiban – [0])[2]
• IPA^(key): [ɲ̟iɰᵝa̠to̞ɾʲi]

鶏(にわとり) • (niwatori) ^{←にはとり (nifatori)?}

1. a domesticated chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus)

   Synonyms: 臼辺鳥 (usubedori), 鳥 (tori)

   Hypernym: 雉 (kiji)

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as ニワトリ.

• 鶏(にわとり)を割(さ)くに焉(いずく)んぞ牛(ぎゅう)刀(とう)を用(もち)いん (niwatori o saku ni izukun zo gyūtō o mochiin, “why chop a chicken with a meat cleaver? → don't exaggerate”)

⟨kake₁⟩ → */kakʲe/ → /kake/

From Old Japanese, first attested in the Kojiki (712 CE).

Onomatopoeic of the sound made by a chicken.[1][2] Compare English cluck.

• Kun’yomi
• IPA^(key): [ka̠ke̞]

鶏(かけ) • (kake) 

1. a chicken (domesticated fowl)
   • 711–712, Kojiki (poem 2)

     [...]　爾波都登理(にはつとり)　迦祁(かけ)波那久(はなく)　[...] [Man'yōgana]

     [...]　庭(には)つ鳥(とり)　鶏(かけ)は鳴(な)く　[...] [Modern spelling]

     ...niwa tsu tori, kake wa naku...

     the garden bird, the chicken clucks

   Synonym: 臼辺鳥 (usubedori)

From Old Japanese.

Compound of くた (kuta, root for numerous verbs, implying "low-grade, rotten, stinky") +‎ かけ (kake, “chicken”, see above).[1] Literally “rubbish clucker”.

Formerly a derogatory term for a chicken. Over time, the derogatory sense was lost, and the term instead took on an old-fashioned or archaic sense.

• Kun’yomi
• IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ᵝta̠ka̠ke̞]

鶏(くたかけ) • (kutakake) 

1. (archaic) a chicken (domesticated fowl)

   Synonym: 臼辺鳥 (usubedori)

Occasionally seen with the reading くだかけ (kudakake).[1][2]

From 鳥 (tori, “bird”).

• Kun’yomi
• (Tokyo) とり [tòrí] (Heiban – [0])[2]
• IPA^(key): [to̞ɾʲi]

鶏(とり) • (tori) 

1. Alternative spelling of 鳥 (tori): a chicken (domesticated fowl); chicken meat

• 鶏(とり)の空(そら)音(ね) (tori no sorane, “cock's false cry”)
• 鶏(と)冠(さか) (tosaka, “cockscomb”)