螃

páng
旁 + 虫

Definitions

páng (noun) crab

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 虫 represents the meaning and 旁 represents the sound.

Semantic: 虫 Phonetic: 旁

About

螃 is a phono-semantic compound character. The semantic radical 虫 identifies a broad category historically applied to a wide range of creatures, insects, reptiles, and crustaceans, while the phonetic element 旁 gives the pronunciation. The character's meaning is 'crab', and it is almost always used together with 蟹 to create the binomial compound 螃蟹, which is the standard Chinese word for crab. Because it functions almost entirely as a bound morpheme within this specific zoological term, it has not undergone any semantic drift or expansion into unrelated uses.

Example Sentences Hide

我喜欢吃螃蟹。

Wǒ xǐhuān chī pángxiè.

I like to eat crab.

妈妈买了螃蟹。

Māma mǎile pángxiè.

Mom bought crabs.

螃蟹在爬行。

Pángxiè zài páxíng.

The crab is crawling.

这只螃蟹很大。

Zhè zhī pángxiè hěn dà.

This crab is very big.

海滩上有许多螃蟹。

Hǎitān shàng yǒu xǔduō pángxiè.

There are many crabs on the beach.

昨天我们吃了螃蟹。

Zuótiān wǒmen chīle pángxiè.

Yesterday we ate crabs.

因为螃蟹新鲜，所以很好吃。

Yīnwèi pángxiè xīnxiān, suǒyǐ hěn hǎochī.

Because the crabs are fresh, they are very delicious.

烹饪螃蟹时需要小心，以免被夹伤。

Pēngrèn pángxiè shí xūyào xiǎoxīn, yǐmiǎn bèi jiā shāng.

When cooking crabs, you need to be careful to avoid being pinched.

Related Characters

Component: 旁

膀 镑 榜 傍 磅 谤 滂 耪 蒡 鳑 鰟 艕 嗙 塝

Component: 虫

虽 独 触 融 虫 蛋 蛇 蜂 蜜 蛮 虹 蝶 螺 蚁

Example Words

螃蟹