水鶏

Japanese

Etymology 1

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

クイナ

Wikipedia ^ja

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

クイナ科

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Water rail

Wikipedia

/kufina/ → /kuwina/ → /kuina/

First attested in the Edo period.

Derivation uncertain. Thought to be a shift from a compound of 食い (kui, stem form of verb 食う (kuu), “to put in one's mouth, eat”) +‎ 鳴く (naku, “to call, said of a bird”). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

The kanji spelling means literally "water chicken".

Alternative forms

• 水雉, 秧鶏

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) くいな (Heiban – )
• (Tokyo) く​いな (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

水鶏(くいな) or 水鶏(クイナ) • (kuina) ^{←くひな (kufina) or クヒナ (kufina)?}

1. the water rail, Rallus aquaticus

   Hypernym: 鶴 (tsuru)

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 クイナ.

Derived terms

Proper noun

水鶏(くいな) • (Kuina) ^{←くひな (kufina)?}

1. a female given name

Etymology 2

From 水 (sui, “water”) +‎ 鶏 (kei, “chicken”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) すいけー (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

水(すい)鶏(けい) • (suikei) 

1. the water rail, Rallus aquaticus

References

Further reading

• Etymology at Nihon Jiten (in Japanese)

Kunigami

Noun

水鶏(ふみら) (fumira) 

1. the water rail, Rallus aquaticus

Derived terms

• 山原水鶏 (Yanbaru fumira)

Okinawan

Noun

水鶏(くみらー) (kumirā) 

1. the water rail, Rallus aquaticus

Derived terms

• 山原水鶏 (Yanbaru kumirā)