eagle, hawk, falcon
English · eagle, hawk, falcon
eagle, hawk, or falcon (bird of prey)
- 老鹰在蓝天盘旋。lǎo yīng zài lán tiān pán xuán.An eagle is circling in the blue sky.
- 他是队里的鹰派人物。tā shì duì lǐ de yīng pài rén wù.He is a hawk in the team.
Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 18 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The upper crown (广 and 隹) must be balanced evenly over the lower foot (鸟), keeping the center of gravity stable despite the high stroke count.
Simplification Logic: The traditional form 鷹 contains 鳥 (11 strokes) at the bottom, while the simplified form 鹰 replaces it with 鸟 (5 strokes), greatly reducing writing complexity.
Radical 鸟 · Bird Radical (bird)
Semantic Clue (形旁): 鸟 (Indicates that this character is a type of bird.)
Phonetic Clue (声旁): 膺 (original sound: ying)
A fierce bird sitting under a shelter (广) with sharp features (隹) and a strong bird body (鸟), representing a powerful raptor.
- 广 shelter/cliff
- 隹 short-tailed bird
- 鸟 bird
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
3· Phonetic Root: 䧹Origin: Originally combined elements indicating a bird perched high up or nesting on cliffs, evolving to represent eagles and hawks.
Semantic Evolution: From general large predatory birds to specifically eagles, hawks, and falcons, and later used metaphorically for aggressive political factions (hawks).
- Falconry has a long history in China, making raptors prominent in literature and art.
Imagine an EAGLE soaring high up near a cliff shelter (广), watching a small bird (鸟) with its sharp, piercing eyes.
yīngConfusing the simplified bottom component 鸟 with 乌, or getting overwhelmed by the 18 strokes and forgetting proper proportion.
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