黄鱼 (huáng yú) — (fish) yellow croaker; (colloquial, transportation) an extra passenger taken illegally by a driver who pockets the fare

Definition

Two unrelated senses share the name: literally a yellow croaker fish, and colloquially an illegal extra passenger a driver pockets fare for.

noun
(fish) yellow croaker(colloquial, transportation) an extra passenger taken illegally by a driver who pockets the fare
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 黄鱼。
    Jīn tiān chāo shì de huáng yú hěn xīn xiān.
    The yellow croaker at the supermarket is very fresh today.
  • 黄鱼。
    Tā kào lā huáng yú zhuàn le bù shǎo wài kuài.
    He made a lot of extra money by taking illegal passengers.
  • 黄鱼，。
    Zuò huáng yú chē bǐ jiào zhèng guī chē pián yi, dàn shì bù ān quán.
    Riding in a car with illegal extra passengers is cheaper than hailing a regular car, but it's not safe.

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.

黄huángyellow
鱼yúfish

The fish called 黄鱼 is yellow, so its name points to its color.

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 黃; 黄 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
田田tiánfield
Sound part声符shēngfú
炗
炗guāng黃huáng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 黃 pairs 田 (field) with 炗 (light), which gives the sound; the simplified 黄 is a shorthand and its parts are not historical components.

Open 黄 →

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.

Open 鱼 →

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