zūn
noun #35,188

Measure Word

tiáo

Meanings

  1. 1 trout
  2. 2 barbel (a type of fish)

Examples

HSK 7-9
Tā zài shān xī lǐ diào dào yì tiáo zūn.
He caught a trout in the mountain stream.
HSK 7-9
Sānwényú hé hóngzūn shì qīnqi.
Salmon and rainbow trout are relatives.

Tips

usage
Almost never used as a single character today - appears in compounds like 虹鳟 (rainbow trout) and 鳟鱼 (trout). Note the ('fish') radical on the left, the standard pattern for fish names. There is also a Taiwan reading zùn.

Components

radical
fish
Left fish radical in its simplified form - head on top, body and tail compressed into the cross-stroke at the bottom. The indexing radical: names the trout, so this groups with carp, salmon, cod, shark - the whole shoal of single-character fish names.
phonetic
zūn
to honour; venerable
Right supplies the sound zūn with no shift - a clean phonetic. pictures two hands lifting a ritual wine vessel, hence 'to revere.' The 'honoured fish' association is a nice mnemonic: trout were prized in classical Chinese fish-eating culture, the bright-red-eyed variety often singled out by name.

Stroke Order

zūn