鲇

鮎

nián

占 + 鱼

Definitions

nián sheatfish (Parasilurus asotus); oriental catfish; see also 鯰|鲶[nián]

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 鱼 represents the meaning and 占 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鮎.

Semantic: 鱼 Phonetic: 占

About

The character 鲇 is a phono-semantic compound that denotes scaleless freshwater fish, especially catfish. Its left component, the fish radical 鱼 (appearing as 魚 in the traditional form 鮎), provides the semantic category. The right component, 占 (zhān), serves as the phonetic element indicating pronunciation. In the variant 鯰, the phonetic role is instead filled by 念 (niàn). As a noun, it refers to a bottom-dwelling aquatic animal characterized by prominent barbels, combining a zoological classifier with a sound marker.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

河里有一条鲇鱼。

Hé lǐ yǒu yī tiáo nián yú.

There is a catfish in the river.

我们晚餐吃了鲇鱼。

Wǒmen wǎncān chī le nián yú.

We ate catfish for dinner.

爸爸钓到了一条大鲇鱼。

Bàba diào dào le yī tiáo dà nián yú.

Dad caught a big catfish.

在市场上买鲇鱼很便宜。

Zài shìchǎng shàng mǎi nián yú hěn piányi.

Buying catfish at the market is very cheap.

鲇鱼比鲤鱼更好吃。

Nián yú bǐ lǐ yú gèng hǎo chī.

Catfish is more delicious than carp.

昨天晚餐我们吃了红烧鲇鱼。

Zuótiān wǎncān wǒmen chī le hóngshāo nián yú.

Yesterday for dinner, we ate braised catfish.

渔民们经常在夜晚捕捉鲇鱼。

Yúmín men jīngcháng zài yèwǎn bǔzhuō nián yú.

Fishermen often catch catfish at night.

虽然鲇鱼外表丑陋，但是肉质鲜美，深受人们喜爱。

Suīrán nián yú wàibiǎo chǒulòu, dànshì ròuzhì xiānměi, shēn shòu rénmen xǐ'ài.

Although catfish look ugly, their meat is delicious and well-liked by people.

Related Characters

Component: 占

Component: 鱼