鱼肝油 (yú gān yóu) — cod-liver oil | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

cod-liver oil

Examples

鱼肝油，。
Wǒ měi tiān chī yì diǎn yú gān yóu, duì shēn tǐ hǎo.
I eat a little cod-liver oil every day; it's good for health.
鱼肝油。
Yī shēng ràng wǒ měi tiān hē yì píng yú gān yóu.
The doctor told me to drink a bottle of cod-liver oil every day.
鱼肝油。
Zhè zhǒng yú gān yóu de wèi dào yǒu diǎn qí guài.
This kind of cod-liver oil tastes a bit strange.

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.

鱼肝fish liver

鱼yúfish肝gānliver

偏正Modifier + head

鱼肝 suggests fish liver and 油 suggests oil, yielding oil made from fish liver.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

⺼Written in full as肉ròuflesh; body part

Sound part声符shēngfú

干

干gān肝gān

Same sound today

The left part ⺼ shows flesh or a body part, while the right part 干 gives the sound. Together they form 肝.

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

氵由油

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

由

由yóu油yóu

Same sound today

油 is built from 氵, a water part, and 由, which supplies the sound.

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