鯨

See also: 鲸

Translingual

Han character

鯨 (Kangxi radical 195, 魚+8, 19 strokes, cangjie input 弓火卜口火 (NFYRF), four-corner 2039₆, composition ⿰魚京)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1473, character 12
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 46257
• Dae Jaweon: page 2005, character 9
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 7, page 4698, character 6
• Unihan data for U+9BE8

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Chinese

trad.		鯨
simp.		鲸
alternative forms		䲔 𩼃

Glyph origin

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

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

	Old Chinese
涼	*ɡ·raŋ, *ɡ·raŋs, *ɡ·raŋs
凉	*ɡ·raŋ
椋	*ɡ·raŋ
綡	*ɡ·raŋ
輬	*ɡ·raŋ
諒	*ɡ·raŋs
掠	*ɡ·raŋs, *ɡ·raɡ
弶	*ɡaŋs
京	*kraŋ
麖	*kraŋ
鶁	*kraŋ
景	*kraŋʔ
鯨	*ɡraŋ
黥	*ɡraŋ
勍	*ɡraŋ
剠	*ɡraŋ
倞	*ɡraŋs
影	*qraŋʔ
璟	*qraŋʔ, *kʷraŋʔ
憬	*kʷraŋʔ
暻	*kʷraŋʔ
澋	*ɡʷraːŋʔ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡraŋ) : semantic 魚 (“fish”) + phonetic 京 (OC *kraŋ).

Etymology

Cognate with 京 (OC *kraŋ, “mound; capital; great”) (Wang, 1982).

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 鯨

1. whale
2. ^† great; huge

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 鯨魚 (“whale”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		鯨
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		鯨
Taxonomic name		鯨
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	鯨魚
	Taiwan	鯨魚
	Singapore	鯨魚
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	鯨魚
Southwestern Mandarin	Guilin	鯨魚
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	鯨魚
Cantonese	Guangzhou	鯨魚
	Hong Kong	鯨魚
	Taishan	鯨魚
Hakka	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	鯨魚
	Miaoli (Gongguan; N. Sixian)	鯨魚
	Miaoli (Zhuolan; N. Sixian)	鯨魚
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	海翁
	Pingtung (Wuluo, Ligang; S. Sixian)	海翁
	Kaohsiung (Meinong; S. Sixian)	鯨魚
	Kaohsiung (Shanlin; S. Sixian)	鯨魚
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	海鰍, 鯨魚
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	海翁, 鯨魚
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	鯨魚, 海鰍
	Miaoli (Zhuolan; Raoping)	鯨魚
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	鯨魚, 海鰍
Southern Min	Xiamen	海翁
	Taipei	海翁
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	海翁
	Kaohsiung	海翁, 鯨魚
	Yilan	海翁, 鯨魚
	Changhua (Lukang)	海翁
	Taichung	海翁
	Tainan	海翁
	Hsinchu	海翁
	Kinmen	海翁
	Penghu (Magong)	海翁
	Penang (Hokkien)	鯨魚
	Singapore (Hokkien)	海翁, 鯨魚
	Leizhou	海公魚
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi)	鯨魚
Wu	Shanghai	鯨魚
	Wenzhou	鯨魚

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Japanese

Kanji

鯨

(Jōyō kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: ぎょう (gyō)^{←ぎやう (gyau, historical)}
• Kan-on: けい (kei)
• Kan’yō-on: げい (gei, Jōyō)
• Kun: くじら (kujira, 鯨, Jōyō)^{←くぢら (kudira, 鯨, historical)}、おくじら (okujira, 鯨)^{←おくぢら (okudira, 鯨, historical)}、いさ (isa, 鯨)、いさな (isana, 鯨)

Compounds

Compounds

• 鯨(げい)骨(こつ) (geikotsu): whale bone
• 鯨(げい)肉(にく) (geiniku): whale meat
• 鯨(げい)油(ゆ) (geiyu): whale oil

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
鯨
くじら Grade: S
kun'yomi

/kudira/ → /kud͡ʑira/

From Old Japanese. Appears in the Kojiki of 712 CE with the man'yōgana spelling 久治良 (kudira). Hypothesized as ultimately from reconstructed Proto-Japonic *kuntira.

Ultimate derivation unclear. Theories include an alteration from 口広 (kuchibiro) in reference to the wide mouth; an alteration from 口開く (kuchibiraku) in reference to the gaping mouth; and an alteration from 黒白 (kuroshiro) in reference to the black-and-white coloration of certain cetaceans.

However, the oldest sources clearly spell the term as kudira.

• This rules out 口 (kuti → kuchi, “mouth”) as an etymon, as the oldest compounds using this term use the bound form kutu, not kuti, and there is no support for a kutu → kudi shift.
• This also rules out 白 (siro, sira → shiro, shira, “white”) as an etymon. Although rendaku (voicing in compounds) would give modern jira as a reading for 白, the ancient reading of sira would voice to something closer to zira, and there is no support for a zira → dira shift.

Also compare Korean 고래 (gorae) "whale."

Noun

鯨(くじら) or 鯨(クジラ) • (kujira) ^{←くぢら (kudira)?}

1. a whale (large sea mammal)

   鯨 鯢 唐韻云、大魚、雄曰鯨、渠京反、雌曰鯢、音蜺、久知良 [...]

   “鯨" and "鯢" are Chinese words for big fishes. Males are called 鯨, whose pronunciation is represented by 渠京 and Females are called 蜺... (Its Japanese pronunciation is 久知良

   Cujira. (鯨) 鯨.

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

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 クジラ.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• ゴジラ (Gojira, “Godzilla”)
• 鯨(くじら)取(と)り (kujiratori, “whaling”)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
鯨
いさ Grade: S
kun'yomi

From Old Japanese. Root isa (“powerful?”) appears to be the same element in verb 勇む (isamu, “to be courageous, to be in high spirits”).

Noun

鯨(いさ) • (isa) 

1. (archaic) a whale (large sea mammal)

Derived terms

• 鯨(いさな) (isana), 勇魚(いさな) (isana): whale (see below)

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
鯨
いさな Grade: S
kun'yomi

From Old Japanese. Found in the Man'yōshū completed some time after 759 CE, often with the spelling 鯨魚 (literally “whale fish”).

From cognate isa above, suffixed with 魚 (-na, “fish”). Sometimes spelled as 勇魚.

Alternative forms

• 勇魚

Noun

鯨(いさな) • (isana) 

1. (archaic) a whale (large sea mammal)
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 13, poem 3339:
     ; text here

     玉桙之 道尓出立 葦引乃 野行山行 潦 川徃渉 鯨名取 海路丹出而...

     玉桙の 道に出で立ち あしひきの 野行き山行き にはたづみ 川行き渡り 鯨魚取り 海道に出でて...
     たまほこの みちにいでたち あしひきの のゆきやまゆき にはたづみ かはゆきわたり いさなとり うみぢにいでて...

     Tamahoko no / michi ni idetachi / ashi hiki no / no yuki yama yuki / niwatazumi / kawa yuki watari / isana tori umiji ni idete...

     Heading out on the jeweled-spear road, going through the alluring fields and mountains, crossing the puddles and rivers, taking to the whaling sea road ...

Derived terms

• 鯨(いさな)取(と)り (isana tori), 勇魚(いさな)取(と)り (isana tori): whaling; an epithet for the sea

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Korean

Hanja

鯨 • (gyeong) (hangeul 경)

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

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Kunigami

Kanji

鯨

• Kun: ぐんじゃ (gunja)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡund͡ʑa/

Noun

鯨 (hiragana ぐんじゃ, romaji gunja)

1. whale

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Miyako

Kanji

鯨

• Kun: ふづぁ (fudza)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fud͡za/

Noun

鯨 (hiragana ふづぁ, romaji fudza)

1. whale

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Okinawan

Kanji

鯨

(Jōyō kanji)

Readings

• Kun: ぐじら (gujira, 鯨)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡud͡ʑiɾa/

Noun

鯨 (hiragana ぐじら, romaji gujira)

1. whale

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Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 鯨 (kình, kềnh)

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