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鱼类 (yú lèi) — fish (as a general category or taxonomic group)

Definition

noun
fish (as a general category or taxonomic group)
Measure word · 种

Examples

  • 鱼类。
    yú lèi Shì dì qiú shàng zuì gǔ lǎo de jǐ zhuī dòng wù zhī yī.
    Fish are one of the oldest vertebrates on Earth.
  • 鱼类。
    Hǎi yáng zhōng de yú lèi zhǒng lèi fēi cháng fēng fù.
    The species of fish in the ocean are very diverse.
  • 鱼类。
    Zhè zhǒng yú lèi shēng huó zài shēn hǎi lǐ.
    This type of fish lives in the deep sea.

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yúfish
类lèicategory

鱼 means fish and 类 means category, so the word names the broad class of fish.

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 →

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 類; 类 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
犬犬quǎn
Sound part声符shēngfú
頪
頪lèi類lèi
Same sound today

The traditional form 類 pairs 犬, which relates to the meaning, with 頪, which gives the sound. The simplified 类 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 类 →
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