鳞 lín — fish scales · English

鳞

lín

fish scales

At a glance · 鳞

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Evolution of the glyph

Five stages, from a sketch of the real object to regular script — tap a stage, drag the timeline, or play the animation.

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seen
Oracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCE
Seal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCE
Clerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CE
Regular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seenOracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCESeal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCEClerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CERegular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

⚠ Some ancient forms are not attested：oracle bone form、seal script form。No excavated oracle bone / seal artifact is attested for this character yet; we leave it blank rather than fabricate.

鳞字小篆从鱼粦声，为形声字；本义为鱼鳞，代指鱼。甲骨文未见。

What the sketch shows

Origins & notes

鳞本义为鱼鳞，引申为鳞甲类动物（代鱼）。

Structure

形声字，左部『鱼』为意符，右部『粦』为声符。

At a glance

Pinyinlín

Radical鱼

Strokes20

UnicodeU+9CDE

Character type形声

Theme动物

Six languages, one character

Each page offers hreflang versions; switching language keeps the glyphs and meanings aligned.

English fish scales Lin is a phonetic-semantic character meaning fish scales and, by metonymy, fish.

Français écailles de poisson Lin est un caractère phonético-sémantique signifiant les écailles de poisson et, par métonymie, le poisson.

Español escamas de pez Lin es un carácter fonosemántico que significa las escamas del pez y, por metonimia, el pez.

العربية قشور السمك لين حرف صوتي دلالي يعني حرشف السمك، ويقصد به السمك مجازاً.

Русский рыбья чешуя Линь — фоносемантический знак, означающий рыбью чешую и, метонимически, рыбу.

Common words

鱼鳞yú línfish scales
鳞片lín piànscale

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