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海豚. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
海豚, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
海豚 in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
海豚 you have here. The definition of the word
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Chinese
Etymology
Native formation, attested abundantly in the Classical era. Also 海豨 (hǎixī, literally “sea-pig”), 江豚 (jiāngtún, literally “river-pig”). Semantically compare English mereswine (“porpoise or dolphin”, literally “sea-pig”).
Pronunciation
Noun
海豚
- dolphin
Synonyms
Dialectal synonyms of
海豚 (“dolphin”)
Variety
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Location
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Words
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Classical Chinese
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海豨
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Formal (Written Standard Chinese)
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海豚
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Taxonomic name
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海豚
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Northeastern Mandarin
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Taiwan
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海豚
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Singapore
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海豚
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Cantonese
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Guangzhou
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海豬, 海豚
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Hong Kong
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海豚
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Hakka
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Miaoli (N. Sixian)
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海豚, 海豬
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Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)
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海豚
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Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)
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海豚
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Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)
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海豚
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Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)
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海豚
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Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)
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海豬
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Southern Min
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Xiamen
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白鰗, 海豬, 媽祖婆魚, 媽祖魚, 鎮港魚
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Zhangzhou
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白鰗, 媽祖婆魚, 媽祖魚, 鎮港魚
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Taipei
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海豬仔
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Taipei (Wanhua)
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海豬
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New Taipei (Sanxia)
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海豬仔
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Kaohsiung
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海豬, 烏鯃
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Yilan
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海豬仔, 海豬
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Changhua (Lukang)
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海豬仔, 海豬
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Taichung
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海豬
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Taichung (Wuqi)
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海豬
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Tainan
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海豬仔, 海豬
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Taitung
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海豬
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Taitung (Green Island)
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烏鯃
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Hsinchu
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海豬, 海豬仔
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Pingtung (Liuqiu)
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烏鯃
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Kinmen
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海豬
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Penghu (Magong)
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海鼠, 烏鯃
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Penghu (Pengnan)
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海鼠
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Penghu (Xiyu)
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海鼠
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Penghu (Huxi)
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海鼠
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Penghu (Wangan)
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海鼠
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Penghu (Cimei)
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海鼠, 烏鯃
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Penghu (Huayu)
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烏鯃
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Penghu (Zhongtun)
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海鼠
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Penghu (Houliao)
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海鼠
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Penghu (Tongliang)
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海鼠, 烏鯃, 白鯃
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Penghu (Jibei)
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烏鯃, 白鯃
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Singapore (Hokkien)
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海豬
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Nan'ao (Houzhai)
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白吳
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Puxian Min
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Putian
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海豬
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Xianyou
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海豬
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Wu
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Shanghai
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海豚
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Derived terms
Descendants
Japanese
Etymology
Alternative spellings
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海豚 (kyūjitai) 鯆 (rare)
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From Old Japanese. Attested in the Kojiki of 712 CE with the phonetic spelling 入鹿魚.[1]
Further etymology Uncertain. One of the possible native-Japanese theories is that this was originally a compound of Old Japanese elements 魚 (iwo, “fish”) + 食 (uka, “food, something used as food”), with the following sound shifts.
- /iwo uka/ → /iru uka/ → /iruka/
Another possibility is that it was a borrowing from Ainu. Compare Sakhalin Ainu リク (riku), イリク (iriku), or Kuril Ainu リカ (rika, “whale”).[2][3] Given the unlikely sound shift required for the Old Japanese derivation and the lack of cognates in the Ryukyuan languages (see Proto-Ryukyuan *peto), an origin from Ainu seems more likely.
The spelling 海豚, which literally means “sea pig”, is from Chinese 海豚 (hǎitún).
Pronunciation
Noun
海豚 or 海豚 • (iruka)
- a dolphin or porpoise (the mammal)
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 イルカ.
Derived terms
See also
References
- ^ Omodaka, Hisataka (1967) 時代別国語大辞典 上代編 [The dictionary of historical Japanese: Old Japanese] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN, page 107
- ^ Vovin, Alexander (2022) “Ainu elements in early Japonic”, in Handbook of the Ainu Language, →DOI
- ^ 2005, Martine Robbeets (2005:190) Is Japanese Related to Korean, Tungusic, Mongolic and Turkic?
- ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
- ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
Kikai
Alternative spelling
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海豚 (kyūjitai)
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Etymology
From Proto-Ryukyuan *peto (“dolphin”). Cognate with Okinawan 海豚 (fītu).
Noun
海豚 or 海豚 (fitu or pitu)
- dolphin
Kunigami
Alternative spelling
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海豚 (kyūjitai)
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Etymology
From Proto-Ryukyuan *peto (“dolphin”). Cognate with Okinawan 海豚 (fītu).
Noun
海豚 (hīthui)
- dolphin
Northern Amami Ōshima
Alternative spelling
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海豚 (kyūjitai)
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Etymology
From Proto-Ryukyuan *peto (“dolphin”). Cognate with Okinawan 海豚 (fītu).
Noun
海豚 (hutu)
- dolphin
Okinawan
Alternative spelling
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海豚 (kyūjitai)
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Etymology
From Proto-Ryukyuan *peto (“dolphin”).
Noun
海豚 (fītu)
- dolphin
Southern Amami Ōshima
Alternative spelling
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海豚 (kyūjitai)
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Etymology
From Proto-Ryukyuan *peto (“dolphin”). Cognate with Okinawan 海豚 (fītu).
Noun
海豚 (hutu)
- dolphin