金鱼 (jīn yú) — goldfish | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

goldfish

Measure word · 条

Examples

金鱼。
Wǒ jiā de jīn yú yǎng le sān nián le.
The goldfish at my home has been raised for three years.
金鱼。
Xiǎo péng yǒu zài chí táng biān kàn jīn yú yóu lái yóu qù.
The children are watching goldfish swim back and forth by the pond.
金鱼。
Zhè tiáo jīn yú de yán sè zhēn piào liang.
This goldfish has really beautiful colors.

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.

“金” gives gold color, “鱼” gives fish, together naming a golden fish.

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.

金 was drawn with marks for two pieces of metal, along with a part that gave its sound; it first meant copper, then metals and gold.

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.

Appears in

Fish & Aquatic Life

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