鱼刺 (yú cī) — fish bone | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

fish bone

Measure word · 根

鱼刺。
Chī yú de shí hou yào xiǎo xīn yú cī.
Be careful of fish bones when eating fish.
鱼刺，。
Tā bèi yú cī qiǎ zhù le, qù le yī yuàn.
He got a fish bone stuck in his throat and went to the hospital.
鱼刺，。
Zhè zhǒng yú yú cī hěn shǎo, shì hé lǎo rén hé xiǎo hái chī.
This type of fish has few bones, suitable for the elderly and children.

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.

刺cìbone/thorn

鱼 names the animal and 刺 names its thin bony parts, together giving 'fish bone'.

Characters in this word

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.

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

朿刂刺

Meaning part形符xíngfú

刂Written in full as刀dāoknife

Sound part声符shēngfú

朿

朿cì刺cì

Same sound today

刺 pairs 刂 (knife) with 朿, which gives the sound; the knife part fits actions like stabbing or pricking.