鮎

See also: 鲇

Translingual

Han character

鮎 (Kangxi radical 195, 魚+5, 16 strokes, cangjie input 弓火卜口 (NFYR), composition ⿰魚占)

See also

• 占

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1468, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 46070
• Dae Jaweon: page 2001, character 16
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 7, page 4680, character 14
• Unihan data for U+9B8E

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Chinese

trad.		鮎
simp.		鲇
alternative forms		鯰／鲶

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 鮎
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script

Characters in the same phonetic series (占) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
頕	*taːm
煔	*ɦlaːm, *hljems, *hl'eːms
炶	*ɦlaːm
詀	*rteːm, *rdeːms, *teːm, *tʰjeb
站	*rteːms
檆	*sreːm
黏	*nem
粘	*nem
枮	*slem, *ʔl'ɯm
霑	*tem
沾	*tem, *teːms, *tʰeːm
覘	*tems, *tʰem
鉆	*tʰem, *ɡrem, *tʰeːb
占	*ʔljem, *tjems
颭	*tjemʔ
佔	*tjems, *teːm
苫	*hljem, *hljems
痁	*hljem, *teːms
蛅	*njem
阽	*lem
敁	*teːm
掂	*tiːm
點	*teːmʔ
玷	*teːmʔ, *teːms
店	*tiːms
坫	*tiːms, *tim
黇	*tʰeːm
扂	*deːmʔ
拈	*neːm
鮎	*neːm
砧	*ʔl'ɯm
笘	*teːb
跕	*teːb, *tʰeːb
貼	*tʰeːb
帖	*tʰeːb
怗	*tʰeːb
呫	*tʰeːb

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): nián (nian²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄋㄧㄢˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): nim⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: nián
    • Zhuyin: ㄋㄧㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: nián
    • Wade–Giles: nien²
    • Yale: nyán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: nian
    • Palladius: нянь (njanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ni̯ɛn³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: nim⁴
    • Yale: nìhm
    • Cantonese Pinyin: nim⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: nim⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /niːm²¹/

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• Middle Chinese: nem

Rime
Character	鮎
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	泥 (8)
Final (韻)	添 (157)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	IV
Fanqie	奴兼切
Baxter	nem
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/nem/
Pan Wuyun	/nem/
Shao Rongfen	/nɛm/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/nɛm/
Li Rong	/nem/
Wang Li	/niem/
Bernard Karlgren	/niem/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	nián
Expected Cantonese Reflex	nim4

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*neːm/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	鮎
Reading #	1/1
No.	16733
Phonetic component	占
Rime group	談
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	鮎
Old Chinese	/*neːm/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 鮎

1. fishes in Siluriformes, especially Amur catfish ()

Usage notes

Rarely used in Chinese. The variant form 鯰／鲶 is more often used for the word catfish.

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Japanese

Kanji

鮎

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

1. ayu, sweetfish
2. catfish

Readings

• Go-on: ねん (nen)^{←ねん (nen, historical)←ねむ (nemu, ancient)}
• Kan-on: でん (den)^{←でん (den, historical)←でむ (demu, ancient)}
• Kun: あい (ai, 鮎); あゆ (ayu, 鮎); なまず (namazu, 鮎)^{←なまづ (namadu, 鮎, historical)}

Etymology 1

鮎 (ayu, ai): the ayu or sweetfish.

Kanji in this term
鮎
あゆ Jinmeiyō
kun’yomi

From Old Japanese of uncertain derivation.

• One commonly encountered etymology suggests that ayu may derive from 饗 (ae, “hosting someone to a meal”), in reference to the way that this fish may be used in Shinto offerings. However, this would have been pronounced ape in ancient times, and while this ape did later become ahe, and a shift from -he to -ye did occur in many terms during the Muromachi period, the word ayu in reference to the fish appeared in the Nihon Shoki (720 CE), and is thus too old for this shift to have occurred.
• Another common etymology states that ayu may be from extinct Old Japanese term 落ゆ (ayu, “to fall, as nuts from a tree; to flow down, as liquid in a stream”), in reference to the way that ayu swim downstream to spawn in the autumn. Some references suggest that this is not very eventful and that this etymology is therefore unlikely. However, there are terms specific to the ayu downstream migration, such as 落鮎 (ochiayu, “ayu migrating downstream to spawn”) and 鮎落つ (ayuotsu, “ayu migrating downstream to spawn”), suggesting that this event has been culturally important enough that the 落ゆ (ayu) derivation may be plausible.
• Alternatively, this term may be borrowed from Ainu アイ (ay, “arrow”) in reference to how fast the fish moves. See also obsolete Japanese reading ai below.

The kanji spelling 鮎 in reference to sweetfish is specific to Japan, probably in reference to the way the fish (魚) stakes out its territory (占). There is another tale wherein Empress Jingū caught an ayu and thereby prophesied (also spelled 占) the outcome of a battle, but this is likely a folk etymology. In China and elsewhere, the 鮎 character refers instead to catfish.

The kanji spelling 年魚 is in reference to the common one-year lifespan of this fish.

The kanji spelling 香魚 is in reference to its sweet-tasting flesh.

Alternative forms

• 年魚, 香魚

Noun

鮎(あゆ) or 鮎(アユ) • (ayu) 

1. the ayu or sweetfish, Plecoglossus altivelis
   • 720, Nihon Shoki (poem 126/129)

     美曳之弩能(み𛀁しのの)曳之弩能(𛀁しのの)阿喩(あゆ)阿喩(あゆ)舉曾播(こそは)施麻倍母曳岐(しまへも𛀁き)愛俱流之衛(えくるしゑ)奈疑能母縢(なぎのもと)制利能母縢(せりのもと)阿例播俱流之衛(あれはくるしゑ) [Man'yōgana]

     み吉(えし)野(の)の吉(えし)野(の)の鮎鮎(あゆあゆ)こそは島(しま)辺(べ)も良(え)きえ苦(くる)しゑ水葱(なぎ)の本(もと)芹(せり)の本(もと)あれは苦(くる)しゑ [Modern spelling]

     mi-Eshino no Eshino no ayu ayu koso wa shimabe mo eki e kurushie nagi no moto seri no moto are wa kurushie

     (please add an English translation of this example)

   Synonyms: 香魚 (kōgyo), 年魚 (nengyo)

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 アユ.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 鮎掛(あゆかけ) (ayukake): ayu catching: fishing for ayu with a hook and line
• 鮎寄(あゆよせ) (ayuyose): alternate for 鮎豆腐 (ayu-dōfu); see below
• 鮎擬(あゆもどき) (ayumodoki): the (formerly ) or kissing loach fish; a kind of dish made with tofu cut into long strips, sauteed in oil, then prepared with smartweed vinegar in a fashion similar to salt-roasted ayu
• 鮎汲(あゆくみ) (ayu kumi): using a net on a pole to catch young ayu as they swim upstream in March or April
• 鮎祭(あゆまつり) (ayu matsuri): a festival formerly held at Ise Shrine on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month
• 鮎刺(あゆさし) (ayusashi): alternate name for the 小鰺刺 (koajisashi, “little tern”)
• 鮎子(あゆこ) (ayuko): ayu fry; a term of endearment for the ayu fish
• 鮎鷹(あゆたか) (ayutaka): alternate name for the 小鰺刺 (koajisashi, “little tern”)
• 鮎(あゆ)豆腐(どうふ) (ayu-dōfu): ground ayu sandwiched between layers of strained tofu, placed on a wooden board, and steamed
• 鮎(あゆ)落(お)つ (ayuotsu): ayu migrating downstream to spawn
• 鮎籠(あゆかご) (ayu kago): an ayu basket, made of bamboo with a narrow opening and bulging bottom, used in ancient times to trap ayu
• 鮎鮨(あゆずし) (ayuzushi): a kind of sushi prepared by salting or vinegaring a gutted and cleaned ayu fish, then presenting with the belly packed with rice; popular during the Edo period

• 落鮎(おちあゆ) (ochiayu): ayu migrating downstream to spawn

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
鮎
あい Jinmeiyō
kun’yomi

Obsolete variant of ayu pronunciation. May have been the original pronunciation.

Noun

鮎(あい) • (ai) 

1. (obsolete) the ayu or sweetfish, Plecoglossus altivelis

Usage notes

Found in some compounds. Generally not used on its own.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 鮎並(あいなめ), 鮎(あい)魚女(なめ) (ainame): a greenling, a kind of marine fish, so named for its similarities to the ayu
• 鮎鷹(あいたか) (aitaka): alternate name for the 小鰺刺 (koajisashi, “little tern”)

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
鮎
なまず Jinmeiyō
kun’yomi

The kanji spelling 鮎 in reference to sweetfish is specific to Japan. In China and elsewhere, the 鮎 character refers instead to catfish. See the 鯰 entry for more detail about the Japanese term namazu.

Noun

鮎(なまず) • (namazu) ^{←なまづ (namadu)?}

1. Rare spelling of 鯰 (namazu): a catfish

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Korean

Hanja

鮎 • (jeom) (hangeul 점, revised jeom, McCune–Reischauer chŏm, Yale cem)

1. (메기) catfish, sheatfish

Synonyms

• 鰋 (언, eon)

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Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 鮎 (niêm, chẻm, niềm, nhương)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.