蝦蟇

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 蝦蟇 – see 蛤蟆 (“frog; toad; tadpole; etc.”). (This term is a variant form of 蛤蟆).

Japanese

蝦蟇 (gama, gamagaeru): a Japanese common toad.

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
蝦	蟇
か > が Jinmeiyō	ま Hyōgai
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
蟇

Appears to be borrowed from Middle Chinese 蝦蟇 (MC hae mae, literally “frog, toad + frog, toad”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɡa̠ma̠]
• (Tokyo) がま [gáꜜmà] (Atamadaka – [1])
• (Tokyo) がま [gàmá] (Heiban – [0])

Noun

蝦(が)蟇(ま) • (gama) 

1. a toad

   Synonyms: 蝦蟇 (gamagaeru), 蟇 (hiki), 蟇蛙 (hikigaeru), 蟾蜍 (senjo)

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 ガマ (gama).

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
蝦	蟇
がまがえる
Jinmeiyō	Hyōgai
jukujikun

Appears to be a compound of 蟇 (gama, “toad”) +‎ 蛙 (kaeru, “frog”). The kaeru changes to gaeru as an instance of rendaku (連濁). The kanji in this term are reversed as jukujikun (熟(じゅく)字(じ)訓(くん)) to match the Chinese spelling of the borrowed term gama (see above).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɡa̠ma̠ɡa̠e̞ɾɯ̟]
• (Tokyo) がまがえる [gàmágáꜜèrù] (Nakadaka – [3])

Noun

蝦蟇(がまがえる) • (gamagaeru) ^{←がまがへる (gamagaferu)?}

1. a toad

References

• “^▲蝦^▲蟇”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026