鲢 (lián) · silver carp, a common freshwater food fish

Measure Word

一条鲢鱼 tiáo

HSK 7-9

鲢鱼是一种常见又便宜的淡水鱼。

Liányú shì yì zhǒng chángjiàn yòu piányi de dànshuǐyú.

Silver carp is a common and inexpensive freshwater fish.

history

Rarely used alone, almost always in 鲢鱼 or 白鲢 (silver carp), one of the traditional "four domestic fishes". It is the fish radical 鱼 plus phonetic 连.

radical

鱼 yú

fish

The fish radical on the left, a pictograph of a fish. It supplies the meaning, marking the word as a species of fish, the same family as 鲤 and 鲫.

phonetic

连 lián

to link; phonetic

The right side carries the sound lián exactly. It contributes pronunciation only; its everyday "to connect" sense does not enter this fish name.

鲢 lián