海豚

Chinese

		ocean; sea	suckling pig
trad. (海豚)		海	豚
simp. #(海豚)		海	豚

Etymology

Native formation, attested abundantly in the Classical era. Also 海豨 (hǎixī, literally “sea-pig”), 江豚 (jiāngtún, literally “river-pig”). Semantically compare English mereswine (“porpoise or dolphin”, literally “sea-pig”).

Noun

(deprecated template usage) 海豚

1. dolphin

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 海豚 (“dolphin”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		海豨
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		海豚
Taxonomic name		海豚
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	海豚
	Singapore	海豚
Cantonese	Guangzhou	海豬, 海豚
	Hong Kong	海豚
Hakka	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	海豚, 海豬
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	海豚
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	海豚
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	海豚
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	海豚
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	海豬
Southern Min	Xiamen	白鰗, 海豬, 媽祖婆魚, 媽祖魚, 鎮港魚
	Zhangzhou	白鰗, 媽祖婆魚, 媽祖魚, 鎮港魚
	Taipei	海豬仔
	Taipei (Wanhua)	海豬
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	海豬仔
	Kaohsiung	海豬, 烏鯃
	Yilan	海豬仔, 海豬
	Changhua (Lukang)	海豬仔, 海豬
	Taichung	海豬
	Taichung (Wuqi)	海豬
	Tainan	海豬仔, 海豬
	Taitung	海豬
	Taitung (Green Island)	烏鯃
	Hsinchu	海豬, 海豬仔
	Pingtung (Liuqiu)	烏鯃
	Kinmen	海豬
	Penghu (Magong)	海鼠, 烏鯃
	Penghu (Pengnan)	海鼠
	Penghu (Xiyu)	海鼠
	Penghu (Huxi)	海鼠
	Penghu (Wangan)	海鼠
	Penghu (Cimei)	海鼠, 烏鯃
	Penghu (Huayu)	烏鯃
	Penghu (Zhongtun)	海鼠
	Penghu (Houliao)	海鼠
	Penghu (Tongliang)	海鼠, 烏鯃, 白鯃
	Penghu (Jibei)	烏鯃, 白鯃
	Singapore (Hokkien)	海豬
	Nan'ao (Houzhai)	白吳
Puxian Min	Putian	海豬
	Xianyou	海豬
Wu	Shanghai	海豚

Derived terms

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

海豚 (iruka): a dolphin or porpoise.

Kanji in this term
海	豚
いるか
Grade: 2	Grade: S
jukujikun

Alternative spelling
海豚 (kyūjitai)

Alternative forms

• 鯆 (rare)

Etymology

Unclear. One of the more likely native-Japanese 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/

Another possibility is that it was a borrowing from Ainu. Compare Sakhalin Ainu リク (riku), イリク (iriku), or Kuril Ainu リカ (rika, “whale”). Given the unlikely sound shift required for the Old Japanese derivation, an origin from Ainu seems more likely.

The spelling 海豚, which literally means “sea pig”, is an orthographic borrowing from Chinese.

Noun

海豚(いるか) or 海豚(イルカ) • (iruka) 

1. a dolphin or porpoise (the mammal)

Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as イルカ.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 海豚座(いるかざ) (Irukaza): the Dolphin constellation, Delphinus
• 鼠海豚(ねずみいるか) (nezumi iruka): the harbor porpoise,

See also

• 鱪(しいら) (shīra), 鱰(しいら) (shīra): a dolphin fish, a dorado fish

References

• Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

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Kikai

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 海豚 (xoj^X dwon, literally “sea pig”). Cognate with Okinawan 海豚 (fītu).

Noun

海豚 (hiragana ふぃとぅ, romaji fitu, hiragana ぴとぅ, romaji pitu)

1. dolphin

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Kunigami

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 海豚 (xoj^X dwon, literally “sea pig”). Cognate with Okinawan 海豚 (fītu).

Noun

海豚 (hiragana ひーとぅい, romaji hītui)

1. dolphin

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Northern Amami-Oshima

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 海豚 (xoj^X dwon, literally “sea + pig”). Cognate with Okinawan 海豚 (fītu).

Noun

海豚 (hiragana ふとぅ, romaji futu)

1. dolphin

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Okinawan

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 海豚 (xoj^X dwon, literally “sea pig”).

Noun

海豚 (hiragana ふぃーとぅ, romaji fītu)

1. dolphin

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Southern Amami-Oshima

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 海豚 (xoj^X dwon, literally “sea pig”). Cognate with Okinawan 海豚 (fītu).

Noun

海豚 (hiragana ふとぅ, romaji futu)

1. dolphin