螈 (yuán): newt

Measure Word

一只螈 zhī

Meanings

1 newt
2 salamander (used as bound morpheme in compounds like 蝾螈)

Characters

螈

yuán

newt, salamander

Examples

蝾螈是一种两栖动物。

Róngyuán shì yì zhǒng liǎngqī dòngwù.

Newts are amphibians.

在溪边的石头下我们发现了一只小螈。

Zài xī biān de shítou xià wǒmen fāxiàn le yì zhī xiǎo yuán.

Under a rock by the stream we found a small newt.

Tips

usage

螈 rarely stands alone in modern Chinese - it almost always appears in 蝾螈 (róngyuán, newt). The 虫 radical signals 'small creature' (the broad zoological category Chinese once put insects, reptiles, and amphibians in).

Components

radical

虫 chóng

insect; small creature

Insect radical on the left, the indexing component. In classical Chinese 虫 covered all small wriggling animals - bugs, snakes, lizards, amphibians. It places 螈 alongside other reptile/amphibian chars 蛇 snake, 蛙 frog, 蜥 lizard, where the 虫 stretches well past 'insect' in the strict modern sense.

phonetic

原 yuán

source; plain

Right side 原 yuán supplies the sound exactly - same syllable, same tone. The same phonetic also drives 源 source, 愿 wish, 援 assist, 圆 round - a tight yuán family. Almost always seen in the compound 蝾螈 róngyuán 'newt'.