蝌 (kē): (in 蝌蚪) tadpole

Meanings

池塘里有很多蝌蚪在游。

Chítáng lǐ yǒu hěn duō kēdǒu zài yóu.

There are many tadpoles swimming in the pond.

蝌蚪会慢慢长成青蛙。

Kēdǒu huì mànmàn zhǎng chéng qīngwā.

Tadpoles slowly grow into frogs.

memory

Only occurs in 蝌蚪 ('tadpole'). The small-creature radical 虫 plus the 科 sound is an easy hook: a small wriggly pond creature.

radical

虫 chóng

insect; small creature

Small creature, the radical on the left. It tags a tiny aquatic animal, the same family as 蚪 and 蛙.

phonetic

科 kē

branch; subject; phonetic

Supplies the sound kē with an exact match. It is purely phonetic here; the same element gives 棵 (measure word for trees).

蝌 kē