鸭 (yā) — (bound form) duck
Definition
鸭 is a bound form meaning 'duck' (the animal, its meat, and related items). It almost never stands alone — pair it with a noun like 烤鸭 (roast duck), 鸭蛋 (duck egg), or 鸭汤 (duck soup).
bound form
duck
Easily confused
- 呀yāsound-alike(interjection) ah! oh! (expressing surprise, sudden realization, or admiration)
- 压yāsound-aliketo press, to push down
- 押yāsound-aliketo pawn, to mortgage
- 雅yāsound-alikeelegant, refined (morpheme in compounds such as 优雅, 文雅, 雅致)
- 丫yāsound-alike(bound form) forked; branching (e.g. 树丫, 枝丫)
- 鸦yāsound-alikecrow (bound form, used in compounds)
Examples
- 。Wǒ xiǎng chī kǎo yā.I want to eat roast duck.
- 鸭。Zhè ge yā tāng hěn hǎo hē.This duck soup is very tasty.
- 。Tā mǎi le jǐ gè yā dàn.He bought some duck eggs.
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 鴨; 鸭 is its simplified writing.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
鳥鳥niǎobird
Sound part声符shēngfú
甲
甲jiǎ鴨yā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.
The traditional form 鴨 uses 甲 for its sound and 鳥 for bird; the simplified 鸭 is a shorthand.
Appears in
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