海豚
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
Japanese[edit]
| Kanji in this term | |
| 海 | 豚 |
Etymology[edit]
Unclear. One of the more likely theories is that this was originally a compound of Old Japanese elements 魚 (iwo, “fish”) + 食 (uka, “food, something used as food”).
/iwo uka/ > /iru uka/ > /iruka/
The 海豚 spelling is an example of ateji. The characters literally mean “sea pig”.
Pronunciation[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
- 鯆 (rare)
Noun[edit]
海豚 (hiragana いるか, katakana イルカ, romaji iruka)
- a dolphin (the mammal)
Usage notes[edit]
As with many terms used in biology, this is commonly spelled in katakana, as イルカ.
Derived terms[edit]
- 海豚座 (いるかざ, Irukaza): the Dolphin constellation, Delphinus
See also[edit]
Mandarin[edit]
| simpl. and trad. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 海豚 | |||
Noun[edit]
海豚 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin hǎitún)
Categories:
- Japanese terms written with two Han script characters
- Japanese terms spelled with 海
- Japanese terms spelled with 豚
- Japanese terms derived from Old Japanese
- Japanese compound words
- Japanese nouns
- ja:Cetaceans
- Mandarin nouns in simplified script
- Mandarin nouns in traditional script
- Mandarin nouns
- Chinese hanzi
- cmn:Mammals in simplified script
- cmn:Mammals in traditional script
