箭鱼 (jiàn yú) — swordfish | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

swordfish

Measure word · 条

Easily confused

鉴于jiàn yúsound-alike(preposition) in view of, considering, given (followed by a noun phrase)

Examples

箭鱼。
Wǒ cóng lái méi chī guò jiàn yú.
I have never eaten swordfish.
箭鱼。
Zhè tiáo jiàn yú hěn dà.
This swordfish is very big.
箭鱼。
jiàn yú Shì yì zhǒng cháng jiàn de shēn hǎi yú.
Swordfish is a common deep-sea fish.

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.

“箭” arrow and “鱼” fish name a fish with an arrow-like bill.

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.

竹前箭

Meaning part形符xíngfú

竹竹zhúbamboo

Sound part声符shēngfú

前

前qián箭jiàn

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

The 竹 part points to bamboo, the material of arrows; the 前 part gives the sound.

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.

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