烏賊

Chinese

Etymology

Attested earliest in the Yi Zhou Shu as □鰂 (missing 1st component being presumably 烏):

• 臣請正東符婁、仇州、伊慮、漚深、九夷、十蠻、越漚、鬋髮文身，請令以魚（皮）之鞞、□鰂之醬、鮫瞂、利劍為獻。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

  ---

  臣请正东符娄、仇州、伊虑、沤深、九夷、十蛮、越沤、鬋发文身，请令以鱼（皮）之鞞、□鲗之酱、鲛瞂、利剑为献。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

  From: Lost Book of Zhou, circa 4^th – 1^st centuries BCE

  Chén qǐng zhèngdōng Fúlóu, chóuzhōu, Yīlǜ, Òushēn, Jiǔyí, Shímán, Yuè'òu, jiǎnfà wénshēn, qǐng lìng yǐ yú (pí) zhī bǐng, □zéi zhī jiàng, jiāo fá, lìjiàn wèi xiàn.

  Your servant requests that, from the east, the Fulou, the hostile provinces, Yilu, Oushen, Nine Yi, Ten Man, the peoples who cut their hair and tattoo their bodies, be commanded to bring fish-skin scabbards, cuttlefish sauce, shark shields, and sharp swords as tributes.

An early apperance of 烏鰂 is in the Huangdi Neijing (translation based on Yang, 2019):

• 以四烏鰂骨一藘茹二物并合之，丸以雀卵，大如小豆，以五丸為後飯，飲以鮑魚汁，利腸中及傷肝也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

  ---

  以四乌鲗骨一𰱮茹二物并合之，丸以雀卵，大如小豆，以五丸为后饭，饮以鲍鱼汁，利肠中及伤肝也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

  From: Huangdi Neijing, 4^th century BCE to 3^rd century CE

  Yǐ sì wūzéigǔ yī lǘrú èr wù bìnghé zhī, wán yǐ quèluǎn, dà rú xiǎodòu, yǐ wǔ wán wèi hòu fàn, yǐn yǐ bàoyú zhī, lì chángzhōng jí shānggān yě.

  Four parts of cuttlebone and one part of Rubia are mixed with sparrow egg to make pills like small beans. Five pills are taken in with abalone juice after meals in order to smooth the intestine and relieve the liver damage

Pronunciation

Noun

烏賊

1. cuttlefish (Classifier: 隻／只)

   • ［蘇］頌曰︰一種柔魚，與烏賊相似，但無骨爾。越人重之。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
     ［苏］颂曰︰一种柔鱼，与乌贼相似，但无骨尔。越人重之。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Compendium of Materia Medica , by Li Shizhen, 1578 CE

     ［ Sū ］ Sòng yuē ︰ yīzhǒng róuyú, yǔ wūzéi xiàngsì, dàn wú gǔ ěr. Yuèrén zhòng zhī.

     Song: Squids are a variation similar to the cuttlefishes, but without a bone. The Yue people value them. (translation by Unschuld, 2021)

Synonyms

Derived terms

See also

• 魷魚／鱿鱼 (yóuyú)
• 章魚／章鱼 (zhāngyú)

Japanese

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

烏賊

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Squid

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *ika. First cited to the 播磨風土記 (Satsuma Fudoki) of 715.

Ultimate derivation uncertain. Derivations from within Japanese include:

• Related to 厳めしい (ikameshii, “imposing; offputting”)
• Related to 怒る (ikaru, “to move in a rough or wild fashion”)

Outside of Japanese, compare also Hawaiian iʻa, Maori ika (“fish, marine animal in general”), in turn ultimately from Proto-Austronesian *Sikan (“fish”).

The kanji is an orthographic borrowing from Chinese 烏賊／乌贼 (wūzéi, literally “crow + murderer / thief”). According to the 和名類聚抄 (Wamyō Ruijushō) of 938, the spelling was chosen for the way that certain squid would feign death and float motionless on the surface near shore, and when a crow would come to pick up the "dead" squid, the squid would instead grab the crow and drag it underwater.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) いか (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

烏賊(いか) or 烏賊(イカ) • (ika) 

1. a squid (sea animal), a cuttlefish

Derived terms

References