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鹦鹉 (yīng wǔ) — parrot

Definition

noun
parrot
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • 鹦鹉，。
    Wǒ yǒu yì zhī yīng wǔ, tā hěn cōng ming.
    I have a parrot; it's very smart.
  • 鹦鹉“”。
    Zhè zhī yīng wǔ huì shuō "nǐ hǎo".
    This parrot can say "hello".
  • 鹦鹉。
    Gōng yuán lǐ yǒu hěn duō yīng wǔ.
    There are many parrots in the park.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

鹦yīng
鹉wǔ

The characters 鹦 and 鹉 do not carry separate meanings here; together they name the bird.

Sound-only characters

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 鸚; 鹦 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
鳥鳥niǎobird
Sound part声符shēngfú
嬰
嬰yīng鸚⁰yīng
Same sound today

The traditional form 鸚 uses 鳥 (bird) to show it is a bird and 嬰 to give the sound; the simplified 鹦 is a later shorthand.

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 鵡; 鹉 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
鳥鳥niǎobird
Sound part声符shēngfú
武
武wǔ鵡
Same sound today

The traditional form 鵡 pairs 鳥 (bird) with 武 as a sound component; the simplified 鹉 is a later abbreviation.

Appears in
Birds

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