鲸油 (jīng yóu) — whale oil; blubber (as a source of oil) | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

whale oilblubber (as a source of oil)

Easily confused

经由jīng yóusound-alikevia, by way of (indicating route, channel, or intermediary)

Examples

鲸油。
Guò qù rén men yòng jīng yóu diǎn dēng.
In the past, people used whale oil to light lamps.
鲸油。
Zhè zhǒng jīng yóu kě yǐ yòng lái zuò féi zào.
This kind of whale oil can be used to make soap.
鲸油。
Bǔ jīng chuán dài huí le dà liàng de jīng yóu.
The whaling ship brought back a large amount of whale oil.

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.

鲸 gives the source as a whale, and 油 names the oily product.

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 鯨; 鲸 is its simplified writing.

魚京鯨

Meaning part形符xíngfú

魚魚yúfish

Sound part声符shēngfú

京

京jīng鯨jīng

Same sound today

The traditional form 鯨 pairs 魚 (fish) with 京 for the sound; the simplified 鲸 keeps that same 京 sound part.

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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