How to Write 鲦 (tiáo) — Meaning “Minnow”

Picture a 'fish' (鱼) that is as thin as a 'strip' (条) — that skinny fish is a minnow. You can also imagine the word 'tie' (sounds like tiáo) a minnow with a string to remember its pronunciation.

Write the left radical 鱼 first (8 strokes), then the right side 条 (7 strokes). Make sure the 条 part is not too narrow — the vertical line through it should be straight and the bottom hooks clearly written. A common mistake is forgetting the dot at the top of 条.

鲅 (bà, mackerel) uses 发 on the right, while 鲆 (píng, flatfish) uses 平. Visually, 鲦's right side 条 has a 'wood' radical (木) with a horizontal line through it, whereas 鲅 has a more complex 'hair' component and 鲆 has a flat 'level' shape. In meaning, only 鲦 refers to small minnows.

鲦 is mainly used in biological names or literary references, such as in the ancient Daoist story 'The Happy Minnow' from Zhuangzi. Today you might see it in fishing contexts (e.g., 抓鲦鱼 'catch minnows') or in zoology textbooks, but it is not common in everyday speech.

Common words containing 鲦 include: 鲦鱼 (tiáo yú) — Minnow; 抓鲦鱼 (zhuā tiáo yú) — to catch minnows; 鲦鱼群 (tiáo yú qún) — A school of minnows.