鲤 (lǐ) — carp (bound form, used in compounds)
Definition
鲤 (lǐ) is a bound morpheme meaning 'carp' — it almost never stands alone. You will see it in compounds like 鲤鱼 (carp) and 锦鲤 (koi, literally 'brocade carp', also used online to mean 'lucky fish').
bound form
carp (bound form, used in compounds)
Examples
- 。Zhè tiáo lǐ yú hěn dà.This carp is very big.
- 鲤。Jǐn lǐ shì yì zhǒng guān shǎng yú.Koi is a type of ornamental fish.
- 鲤。Zhè zhǒng yú shǔ yú lǐ kē.This fish belongs to the carp family.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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 鯉; 鲤 is its simplified writing.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
魚魚yúfish
The traditional form 鯉 has 魚 for fish and 里 for the sound; the modern 鲤 is a later simplified shape.
Appears in
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