鲤鱼 (lǐ yú) — carp | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Common freshwater carp, used in food and as a cultural symbol of luck and perseverance in China (e.g., 鲤鱼跳龙门).

noun

carp

Measure word · 条

Examples

鲤鱼。
Mā ma zuò le yì tiáo dà lǐ yú.
Mom made a big carp.
鲤鱼。
Gōng yuán de hú lǐ yǒu hóng sè de lǐ yú.
There are red carp in the park lake.
，鲤鱼。
Zài zhōng guó, lǐ yú dài biǎo hǎo yùn.
In China, carp represents good luck.

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.

鲤 names the carp and 鱼 marks it as a fish; together they mean carp.

Characters in this word

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 鯉; 鲤 is its simplified writing.

魚里鯉

Meaning part形符xíngfú

魚魚yúfish

Sound part声符shēngfú

里

里lǐ鯉lǐ

Same sound today

The traditional form 鯉 has 魚 for fish and 里 for the sound; the modern 鲤 is a later simplified shape.

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.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Fish & Aquatic Life

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