螃蟹 (páng xiè) — crab | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

crab

Measure word · 只

Examples

螃蟹。
Wǒ men zài hǎi biān zhuā le yì zhī páng xiè.
We caught a crab at the seaside.
螃蟹。
Mā ma zhǔ le yì guō páng xiè.
Mom cooked a pot of crabs.
螃蟹。
Zhè zhǒng páng xiè de ké hěn yìng.
This kind of crab has a very hard shell.

Origin

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

螃páng

螃蟹 names a crab as one word; 螃 and 蟹 do not carry independent meanings here.

Sound-only characters

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

解虫蟹

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

解

解jiě蟹xiè

Same sound today

蟹 pairs 虫, which points to a creature, with 解, which gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Fish & Aquatic Life Meat & Seafood

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