銭亀

See also: 錢龜

Japanese

Kanji in this term
銭	亀
ぜに Grade: 6	かめ > がめ Grade: S
kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
錢龜 (kyūjitai) 缿

Etymology

Compound of 銭(ぜに) (zeni, “round coin, often with a hole in the center”) + 亀(かめ) (kame, “turtle”), from the appearance of the pond turtle's shell.

The kame changes to game as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ぜにがめ [zènígámé] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [d͡ze̞ɲ̟iɡa̠me̞]

Noun

銭(ぜに)亀(がめ) or 銭亀(ゼニガメ) • (zenigame) 

1. an immature Japanese pond turtle, Mauremys japonica

   Hypernym: 石亀 (ishigame)

2. an immature Chinese pond turtle, Mauremys reevesii

   Hypernym: 草亀, 臭亀 (kusagame)

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 ゼニガメ.

Derived terms

• ゼニガメ (Zenigame, “Squirtle”)
• 銭亀崎(ぜにがめさき) (Zenigamesaki)
• 銭亀(ぜにがめ)町(ちょう) (Zenigame-chō)

Proper noun

銭亀(ぜにかめ) • (Zenikame) 

1. a place name

銭(ぜに)亀(がめ) • (Zenigame) 

1. a surname