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人鱼 (rén yú) — mermaid; a mythical creature with the upper body of a human and the tail of a fish; dugong; a marine mammal also known as the sea cow

Definition

Literally "human-fish," used in folk tales and classical Chinese for both mermaids and dugongs (sea cows). Today the mythical mermaid sense is the common one; the dugong sense is rare and technical.

noun
mermaida mythical creature with the upper body of a human and the tail of a fishdugonga marine mammal also known as the sea cow
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 。
    Tóng huà gù shi lǐ cháng cháng chū xiàn rén yú de xíng xiàng.
    Images of mermaids often appear in fairy tales.
  • 。
    Rén yú shì shì jiè shàng zuì gǔ lǎo de hǎi yáng bǔ rǔ dòng wù zhī yī.
    The dugong is one of the oldest marine mammals in the world.
  • 。
    Kē xué jiā zài ào dà lì yà hǎi àn fā xiàn le yì qún rén yú.
    Scientists discovered a group of dugongs off the coast of Australia.

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.

人rénhuman
鱼yúfish

人 (“human”) and 鱼 (“fish”) combine to suggest a human-fish creature.

Characters in this word

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.

Open 人 →

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 →
Appears in
Fish & Aquatic LifeMythology & Folklore

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