鱼翅 (yú chì) — shark fin soup (a traditional Chinese dish) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

shark fin soup (a traditional Chinese dish)

Measure word · 碗

Examples

鱼翅。
Zhè jiā cān tīng de yú chì fēi cháng yǒu míng.
This restaurant's shark fin soup is very famous.
鱼翅。
Tā diǎn le yì wǎn yú chì.
He ordered a bowl of shark fin soup.
鱼翅。
yú chì Shì guǎng dōng cài lǐ de yí dào míng cài.
Shark fin soup is a famous dish in Cantonese cuisine.

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 names the fish and 翅 names the fin, together meaning fish fin.

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.

支羽翅

Meaning part形符xíngfú

羽羽yǔfeathers

Sound part声符shēngfú

支

支zhī翅chì

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

翅 uses 羽, meaning feathers, for the meaning and 支 for the sound. The 羽 part shows the character is about a wing or fin shape.

Appears in

Food (General)Meat & Seafood

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