美人鱼 (měi rén yú) — mermaid | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

mermaid

Measure word · 条

Examples

美人鱼。
Hái zi men dōu xǐ huan tīng měi rén yú de gù shi.
Children all like to listen to mermaid stories.
美人鱼。
Wǒ men zuó tiān kàn le yí bù guān yú měi rén yú de diàn yǐng.
We watched a movie about mermaids yesterday.
美人鱼。
Gōng yuán lǐ yǒu yí gè měi rén yú de diāo xiàng.
There is a mermaid statue in the park.

Origin

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.

美人beautiful woman

美měibeautiful人rénperson

偏正Modifier + head

The 美人 idea of a beautiful woman combines with 鱼 for fish, naming a mermaid.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

羊羊yángram or feathers
大大dàperson

美 shows 大, a person, wearing 羊, a headdress of feathers or ram's horn.

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

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.

Appears in

Mythology & Folklore

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