About
The character "鹈" is a phono-semantic compound formed with the phonetic component "弟" and the semantic component "鸟", signifying a bird, while its traditional counterpart "鵜" employs the bird radical "鳥". Historically, the character appeared in classical texts to denote a waterbird, specifically the pelican, a meaning maintained in contemporary usage almost exclusively within the compound "鹈鹕". Structurally, the simplified form altered the semantic element from "鳥" to "鸟" as part of a broader orthographic streamlining, yet the phonetic element "弟" has consistently provided pronunciation cues without substantive change.
Etymology Hide
