Where does “年魚” come from?

年魚 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 年, from Middle Chinese 年, from Middle Chinese 代.

年魚 (Japanese): fish with a lifespan of less than a year

Definitions

  1. fish with a lifespan of less than a year

Ancestry of “年魚”, step by step

年魚 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 年

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese年a year; a grade, a school year; grain,...
2Middle Chinese年—
3Middle Chinese代—

via Japanese 魚

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese魚a fish; a fish, "especially" when used as food; a...
2Middle Chinese魚fish
Every word from Middle Chinese 代 →Every word from Middle Chinese 年 →Every word from Japanese 年 →