鼈

See also: 龞, 鱉, and 鳖

Translingual

Han character

鼈 (Kangxi radical 205, 黽+12, 25 strokes, cangjie input 火大口難山 (FKRXU), composition ⿱敝黽)

Derived characters

• 虌, 𫦣

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1524, character 27
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 48305
• Dae Jaweon: page 2060, character 11
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 7, page 4771, character 3
• Unihan data for U+9F08

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Chinese

Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声) : phonetic 敝 (OC *beds, *bed) + semantic 黽.

Etymology

For pronunciation and definitions of 鼈 – see 鱉. (This character is a variant form of 鱉).

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Japanese

Kanji

鼈

(Hyōgai kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: へち (hechi)
• Kan-on: へつ (hetsu)
• Kan’yō-on: べつ (betsu)
• Kun: すっぽん (suppon, 鼈); かめ (kame, 鼈)

Compounds

Compounds

• 鼈羹(べっかん) (bekkan)
• 鼈主簿(べっしゅぼ)伝(でん) (Besshubo-den)
• 鼈甲(べっこう) (bekkō, “tortoiseshell”)
• 鼈霊(べつれい) (betsurei)
• 魚鼈(ぎょべつ) (gyobetsu)
• 田(た)鼈(がめ) (tagame)
• 水鼈(トチカガミ) (tochikagami)
• 鼈亀(とちがめ) (tochigame)
• 石鼈(ヒザラガイ) (hizaragai)
• 番木鼈(マチン) (machin)

Alternative forms

鼈 (suppon)

Kanji in this term
鼈
すっぽん Hyōgai
kun'yomi

• 鱉

Etymology 1

Unknown, theories include:

1. Shift from スホン (suhon), the sound when it jumps into a river:

   /sufon/ → /suppon/

2. Corruption of 朱盆 (shubon, literally “vermillion tray”), from the resemblance of its shell:

   /ɕubon/ → /ɕuppon/ → /suppon/

(Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Noun

鼈(すっぽん) or 鼈(スッポン) • (suppon) 

1. a Chinese softshell turtle,

   Synonym: 鼈亀 (tochigame)

   Hypernym: 亀 (kame)

2. (theater) in kabuki, a trapdoor located on the 花道 (hanamichi, “walkway through the audience to the stage”)
3. (nautical) a bilge pump used on a 和船 (wasen, “traditional Japanese ship”)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 鼈(すっぽん)仕立(じた)て (suppon-jitate)
• 鼈(スッポン)茸(タケ) (suppontake, “common stinkhorn”, )
• 鼈(すっぽん)鍋(なべ) (suppon nabe)
• 鼈(すっぽん)煮(に) (suppon-ni)
• 鼈(スッポン)擬(モドキ) (suppon-modoki)
• 支那(シナ)鼈(スッポン) (Shina suppon)

Idioms

• 鼈(すっぽん)と月(つき) (suppon to tsuki), 月(つき)と鼈(すっぽん) (tsuki to suppon, “the moon and suppon (seem alike but are different) → like chalk and cheese”)

Proverbs

• 鼈(すっぽん)が時(とき)をつくる (suppon ga toki o tsukuru)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
鼈
べつ Hyōgai
kan'yōon

From Middle Chinese 鱉 (MC pjiet).

Noun

鼈(べつ) • (betsu) 

1. (rare) a Chinese softshell turtle,

Proverbs

• 鼈(べつ)人(ひと)を食(く)わんとして却(かえ)って人(ひと)に食(く)わる (betsu hito o kuwan to shite kaette hito ni kuwaru)
• 月鼈(げつべつ) (getsubetsu, “the moon and suppon (seem alike but are different) → like chalk and cheese”)

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Korean

Hanja

鼈 • (byeol) (hangeul 별, McCune–Reischauer pyŏl, Yale pyel)

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