鼍 (tuó) · Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis); Yangtze…

Meanings

1 Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis); Yangtze alligator
2 (in 鼍鼓) drum made of alligator skin

Characters

鼍

tuó

Chinese alligator

Examples

HSK 7-9

鼍龙仅分布于长江下游，是国家一级保护动物。

Tuólóng jǐn fēnbù yú Cháng Jiāng xiàyóu, shì guójiā yījí bǎohù dòngwù.

The Chinese alligator lives only in the lower Yangtze region and is a state-protected first-class wild animal.

HSK 7-9

古代用鼍皮制成的鼓用于祭祀与战阵。

Gǔdài yòng tuó pí zhì chéng de gǔ yòngyú jìsì yǔ zhànzhèn.

In ancient times, drums made of alligator skin were used for ritual ceremonies and warfare.

Tips

usage

tuó names the Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis), one of only two surviving alligator species in the world. Two compounds: 鼍龙 (literally 'tuó-dragon' - the colloquial Chinese name; in folk tradition the alligator's roar was thought to be a dragon calling rain), 扬子鳄 (Yangtze crocodile - the modern zoological term, more common in everyday usage). The historical compound 鼍鼓 names a drum stretched with alligator hide - Han bronzes show such drums in ritual processions.

register

Outside zoology and classical references, the everyday word for the animal is 扬子鳄. 鼍 appears mainly in literary writing, place names, and folklore - and in Mozi's famous list 鱼鳖鼋鼍 'fish, turtle, soft-shell, alligator' in his pacifist parable 《公输》.

Components

radical

黽 miǎn

toad / amphibian (radical)

Bottom amphibian / reptile radical (Kangxi #205) - originally a pictograph of a frog or toad, later generalised to cover amphibians and large water-dwelling reptiles. Anchors the meaning: 鼍 is a great water reptile. Same radical heads 鼋 (giant soft-shelled turtle), 鳖 in its older form.

phonetic

单 dān

single; supplying the sound

Top phonetic - a fused shape historically derived from 单 (single) supplying the sound (dān → tuó is irregular by modern Mandarin but was regular in the Old Chinese phonetic series). The traditional form 鼉 shows the phonetic more clearly.