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This year is the year of ji according to the Chinese zodiac that features 12 animals. Chinese words are made up of characters which function like root words in English. A single character is usually ambiguous in meaning. In the Year of the Ox, for instance, we were debating whether it should be the year of the bull, the cow, the heifer, or the steer. The choice has a lot to do with age, gender, as well as surgical procedures involving testicles. The word ji creates similar difficulties, although perhaps not the Year of the Cock, for obvious reasons, but how about chicken, hen, or rooster? 按照中国的十二生肖来看，今年是鸡年。汉语由字组成，就好像英语的词根一样。单个的字通常意义模糊。举例来说，我们会争论牛年的“牛”到底是公牛、奶牛、小母牛、还是肉牛。我们的选择和牛的年龄、性别、以及是否阉割过都有关系。鸡年的“鸡”也遇到了同样的麻烦，虽然很明显不是男人的那个“鸡”，但是到底是小鸡、母鸡还是公鸡呢？ My first choice would be rooster. These zodiac signs are all about symbolism if you ask me, though there are people who believe that, because you are born in a monkey year, you monkey around doing monkey business. I don’t believe it. Just as I don’t believe that dog-year people bite, bark or pee near a fire hydrant. Roosters fare better on my symbolism scale. In Chinese, "rising to the crow of the rooster" is a sign of a "gritty", hard-working person. According to recent psychological findings, such people are the salt of the earth. For this reason alone, I had hoped I could raise a rooster in my backyard, but homeowner association bylaws and city ordinances do not encourage it. I will download a cock-a-doodle-doo ringtone instead. | 
