Definitions

páng carp

Etymology phono-semantic

fish

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The character (traditional form ) is a phono-semantic compound. Its semantic radical () on the left places it in the category of fish, and its phonetic component on the right provides the pronunciation. The character refers specifically to the bitterling, a small freshwater fish. This structure is typical of Chinese fish names, where the fish radical combines with a phonetic to denote particular species.

Etymology Hide

Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Seal etymology image
Seal Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern