About
The character 鲣, the simplified form of 鰹, is a phono-semantic compound. Its semantic element is the fish radical 鱼 (traditional 魚), which indicates that the character belongs to the category of fish. The phonetic element is 坚 (traditional 堅), which suggests the pronunciation. The character refers to the bonito, a medium-sized predatory marine fish of the mackerel and tuna family, highly valued in various culinary traditions. The simplification from 鰹 to 鲣 involved replacing the radical 魚 with 鱼 and the phonetic 堅 with 坚, reducing the overall number of strokes while preserving the original semantic and phonetic logic.
Report an issue
Flag incorrect definitions, examples, etymology, etc.