人魚

See also: 人鱼

Chinese

		man; person; people	fish
trad. (人魚)		人	魚
simp. (人鱼)		人	鱼

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): rényú

  (Zhuyin): ㄖㄣˊ ㄩˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jan⁴ jyu⁴
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶gnin-yu₆; ⁶zen-yu₆

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: rényú
    • Zhuyin: ㄖㄣˊ ㄩˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: rényú
    • Wade–Giles: jên²-yü²
    • Yale: rén-yú
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: renyu
    • Palladius: жэньюй (žɛnʹjuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʐən³⁵ y³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jan⁴ jyu⁴
    • Yale: yàhn yùh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jan⁴ jy⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: yen⁴ yu⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐn²¹ jyː²¹/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁶gnin-yu₆; ⁶zen-yu₆
    • MiniDict: nyin^去 yu^去; zen^去 yu^去
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³nyin-hhy₃; ³zen-hhy₃
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /n̠ʲin²² ɦy⁴⁴/, /zən²² ɦy⁴⁴/

Noun

人魚

1. mermaid; merperson; merfolk
2. dugong
3. (literary) giant salamander

Synonyms

• (mermaid): 美人魚／美人鱼 (měirényú)
• (dugong):

edit

• 儒艮 (rúgèn)
• 南海牛 (nánhǎiniú)
• 美人魚 / 美人鱼 (měirényú)

• (giant salamander):

Dialectal synonyms of 娃娃魚 (“giant salamander”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		鯢, 鯢魚, 人魚
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		大鯢
Taxonomic name		大鯢
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	娃娃魚
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	娃娃魚
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	娃娃魚
Southwestern Mandarin	Guiyang	娃娃魚
	Liuzhou	娃娃魚
Cantonese	Hong Kong	娃娃魚
Huizhou	Jixi	娃娃魚, 海狗魚
Jin	Xinzhou	娃娃魚兒

Derived terms

• 美人魚 / 美人鱼 (měirényú)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (人魚):

• → Japanese: 人魚(にんぎょ) (ningyo)
• → Korean: 인어(人魚) (ineo)
• → Vietnamese: nhân ngư (人魚)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
人	魚
にん Grade: 1	ぎょ Grade: 2
goon	kan'on

Etymology

人 (nin, “human”) +‎ 魚 (gyo, “fish”)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) にんぎょ [níꜜǹgyò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ɲ̟ĩŋʲɡʲo̞]

Noun

人(にん)魚(ぎょ) • (ningyo) 

1. a merperson

   人(にん)魚(ぎょ)姫(ひめ)

   Ningyo-hime

   The Little Mermaid

   伝(でん)説(せつ)では、彼(かの)女(じょ)は人(にん)魚(ぎょ)だったと言(い)われる。

   Densetsu de wa, kanojo wa ningyo datta to iwareru.

   The legend says that she was a mermaid.

   • 1999 March 27, “恍(こう)惚(こつ)の人魚(マーメイド) [Enchanting Mermaid]”, in Vol.2, Konami:

     海(うみ)を航(こう)海(かい)する者(もの)を誘(ゆう)惑(わく)しておぼれさせる、美(うつく)しい人(にん)魚(ぎょ)。

     Umi o kōkai suru mono o yūwaku shite oboresaseru, utsukushii ningyo.

     A beautiful mermaid who lures seafarers before drowning them.

Derived terms

• 人魚構文(にんぎょこうぶん) (ningyo kōbun)

References

• “人魚”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2025

• 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.

Korean

Hanja in this term
人	魚

Noun

人魚 • (ineo) (hangeul 인어)

1. hanja form^? of 인어 (“merperson”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
人	魚

Noun

人魚

1. chữ Hán form of nhân ngư (“merperson”)