鹅
é · HSK 7
goose
🪿 sounds like eh? — a goose honking in surprise
The rising tone é mimics the short, sharp honk of a startled goose. The character breaks down: 我 (wǒ, me) on the left + 鸟 (niǎo, bird) on the right — literally 'my bird,' the domesticated bird you keep.
鹅 — 我 (wǒ, phonetic) + 鳥 (bird, semantic)
鹅 is a phono-semantic compound. The 鳥 component signals that it refers to a bird, while 我 provides the sound, echoing the goose's honking call. The simplified form replaces 鳥 with 鸟, but the structure and meaning—domestic goose—remain unchanged.