鹦鹉螺 (yīng wǔ luó) — nautilus | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

nautilus

Measure word · 只

鹦鹉螺，。
yīng wǔ luó De ké fēi cháng piào liang, yǒu hěn duō luó xuán wén.
The shell of the nautilus is very beautiful, with many spiral patterns.
，鹦鹉螺。
Zài shuǐ zú guǎn lǐ, wǒ dì yī cì jiàn dào huó de yīng wǔ luó.
In the aquarium, I saw a live nautilus for the first time.
鹦鹉螺。
yīng wǔ luó Bèi chēng wéi hǎi yáng zhōng de huó huà shí.
The nautilus is known as a living fossil in the ocean.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鸚; 鹦 is its simplified writing.

嬰鳥鸚

Meaning part形符xíngfú

鳥鳥niǎobird

Sound part声符shēngfú

嬰

嬰yīng鸚⁰yīng

Same sound today

The traditional form 鸚 uses 鳥 (bird) to show it is a bird and 嬰 to give the sound; the simplified 鹦 is a later shorthand.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鵡; 鹉 is its simplified writing.

武鳥鵡

Meaning part形符xíngfú

鳥鳥niǎobird

Sound part声符shēngfú

武

Same sound today

The traditional form 鵡 pairs 鳥 (bird) with 武 as a sound component; the simplified 鹉 is a later abbreviation.

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

虫累螺

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

累

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

螺 combines 虫, a part associated with creatures, with 累, which gives the sound.