鱼子酱 (yú zǐ jiàng) — caviar

Definition

noun
caviar

Examples

  • 鱼子酱
    Tā mǎi le yì xiē yú zǐ jiàng sòng gěi péng you.
    He bought some caviar as a gift for a friend.
  • 鱼子酱
    Zhè zhǒng yú zǐ jiàng hěn guì, yī xiǎo guàn jiù yào liǎng qiān kuài.
    This kind of caviar is very expensive; a small jar costs two thousand yuan.
  • 鱼子酱
    Shēng rì wǎn yàn shàng wǒ men cháng le yú zǐ jiàng hé xiāng bīn.
    At the birthday dinner we tasted caviar and champagne.

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.

鱼子fish eggs
fishegg
偏正Modifier + head

鱼子 means fish eggs and 酱 means paste, giving a paste made from fish eggs.

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.

Open 鱼 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 醬; 酱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
yǒudrink
Sound part声符shēngfú
jiāngjiàng
Same sound today

The traditional form 醬 pairs 將, which suggests the sound, with 酉, a drink; the simplified 酱 is a later abbreviation.

Open 酱 →

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