贝

cowrie; shellfish; currency (archaic)

4 strokes Dict coverage rank #647 U+8D1D

Pictograph (象形字)

A sea shell, once used as currency

components: 冂人

shellfish · Heisig RSH #52

目 eye + animal legs — as a component also called: shellfish, shells, oyster, clam

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Characters built with 贝 as their sound component

These characters all use 贝 (bèi) as their phonetic component — compare how they read:

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
贝 sound component	bèi	sea shell; money, currency
败	bài	failure; to decline, to fail, to suffer defeat
贼	zéi	thief, traitor; cunning, sly
坝	bà	embankment; dam
赘	zhuì	unnecessary, superfluous
呗	bài	final particle of an assertion
狈	bèi	a legendary wolf; distressed, wretched
钡	bèi	barium

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
贝尔法斯特	Bèi ěr fǎ sī tè	Belfast, capital of Northern Ireland
马尔贝克	Mǎ ěr bèi kè	Malbec (grape type)
亚的斯亚贝巴	Yà dì sī Yà bèi bā	Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia
贝斯手	bèi sī shǒu	bassist; bass player
电贝斯	diàn bèi sī	electric bass (guitar)
贝克尔	Bèi kè ěr	Baker or Becker (name)
阿卡贝拉	ā kǎ bèi lā	(loanword) a cappella
贝里斯	Bèi lǐ sī	Belize (Tw)
哈贝马斯	Hā bèi mǎ sī	Jürgen Habermas (1929-), German social philosopher
阿贝尔	Ā bèi ěr	Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829), Norwegian mathematician; (math.) abelian
非阿贝尔	fēi ā bèi ěr	(math.) non-abelian
巴贝多	Bā bèi duō	Barbados, Caribbean island (Tw)
贝多罗树	bèi duō luó shù	Talipot palm (Corypha umbraculifera), whose leaves were used as writing media
阿迪斯阿贝巴	Ā dí sī Ā bèi bā	Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia (Tw)
贝内特	Bèi nèi tè	(surname) Bennett
贝拉米	Bèi lā mǐ	Bellamy
贝加尔湖	Bèi jiā ěr Hú	Lake Baikal, Russia
巴贝虫病	bā bèi chóng bìng	(medicine) babesiosis
贝尔格莱德	Bèi ěr gé lái dé	Belgrade, capital of Serbia
贝克勒尔	bèi kè lè ěr	becquerel (unit of radioactivity, symbol Bq); abbr. to 貝克\|贝克[bei4 ke4]