猩

xīng

星 + 犭

Definitions

xīng ape

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 犭 represents the meaning and 星 represents the sound.

Semantic: 犭 Phonetic: 星

About

猩 is a phono-semantic compound: the left-side radical 犭, meaning 'beast' or 'animal', supplies the semantic category, while the right-side component 星 ('star') serves purely as the phonetic indicator. In classical Chinese literature, 猩 referred to various legendary or real primates and wild simian creatures inhabiting forested mountains. In modern biological taxonomy, the character specifically denotes orangutans or chimpanzees, fitting the animal radical, and the 星 element simply dictates the pronunciation without any celestial connotation.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

那只猩猩很聪明。

Nà zhī xīngxing hěn cōngmíng.

That orangutan is very smart.

猩猩喜欢吃香蕉。

Xīngxing xǐhuān chī xiāngjiāo.

Orangutans like to eat bananas.

她穿了一件猩红色的外套。

Tā chuān le yī jiàn xīnghóng sè de wàitào.

She wore a scarlet coat.

我们在森林里发现了一只猩猩。

Wǒmen zài sēnlín lǐ fāxiàn le yī zhī xīngxing.

We discovered an orangutan in the forest.

猩猩的智商相当高。

Xīngxing de zhìshāng xiāngdāng gāo.

The intelligence of orangutans is quite high.

夕阳把天空染成了猩红色。

Xīyáng bǎ tiānkōng rǎn chéng le xīnghóng sè.

The sunset dyed the sky scarlet.

虽然猩猩看起来笨重，但它们实际上很灵活。

Suīrán xīngxing kàn qǐlái bènzhòng, dàn tāmen shíjì shàng hěn línghuó.

Although orangutans look clumsy, they are actually very agile.

为了保护濒危的猩猩物种，国际组织采取了多种措施。

Wèile bǎohù bīnwēi de xīngxing wùzhǒng, guójì zǔzhī cǎiqǔ le duō zhǒng cuòshī.

To protect the endangered orangutan species, international organizations have taken various measures.

Related Characters

Component: 星

Component: 犭

猩