成鱼 (chéng yú) — adult fish | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

adult fish

Measure word · 条

成鱼。
Zhè tiáo hé lǐ de chéng yú shù liàng zhèng zài jiǎn shǎo.
The number of adult fish in this river is decreasing.
成鱼。
Yǎng zhí chǎng měi nián dōu huì bǎ chéng yú chū shòu gěi shì chǎng.
The farm sells adult fish to the market every year.
成鱼。
Yán jiū rén yuán biāo jì le wǔ shí tiáo chéng yú jìn xíng zhuī zōng.
The researchers tagged fifty adult fish for tracking.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

成 ('mature') and 鱼 ('fish') mean an adult fish.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

丁dīng成chéng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

成 puts 戊, a weapon, beside 丁, which gives the sound. The weapon part relates to protection, as in the old sense of city walls.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 魚; 鱼 is its simplified writing.

For 鱼, the traditional form 魚 is a picture of a fish.