鱼 yú fish
How it came to be
A fish stood on its tail: the head at the top, the scaled body in the middle, the tail fin at the bottom. The four dots of the full form are the fin worn down.
How it is used
- Fish, both the animal and the food: 钓鱼 (diàoyú) to fish, 一条鱼 (yì tiáo yú) one fish (measure word 条).
- Combines freely for species: 鲨鱼 (shāyú) shark, 鲤鱼 (lǐyú) carp, 金鱼 (jīnyú) goldfish.
- Homophone with 余 (yú, surplus), so fish is a lucky New Year symbol - 年年有鱼/余 abundance every year.
Characters built with 鱼
Words with 鱼
Example sentences
- 这条鱼死了。 Zhè tiáo yú sǐ le.This fish has died.
- 我钓到一条鱼。 Wǒ diàodào yī tiáo yú.I've caught a fish.