蛙

蛙 (Kangxi radical 142, 虫+6, 12 strokes, cangjie input 中戈土土 (LIGG), four-corner 5411₄, composition ⿰虫圭)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1081, character 25
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 32997
• Dae Jaweon: page 1549, character 20
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2847, character 3
• Unihan data for U+86D9

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *qʷraː, *qʷreː): semantic 虫 (“insect; creature”) + phonetic 圭 (OC *kʷeː).

Onomatopoeic (Sagart and Ma, 2020). Also compare Proto-Tai *krweːᴬ (“small frog”) (Schuessler, 2007).

蛙

1. frog
2. (swimming) short for 蛙泳 (wāyǒng, “breaststroke”)

蛙

1. only used in 蝭蛙

(Hyōgai kanji)

• Go-on: え (e)^{←ゑ (we, historical)}
• Kan-on: わ (wa)、わい (wai)
• Kan’yō-on: あ (a)
• Kun: かえる (kaeru, 蛙)^{←かへる (kaferu, 蛙, historical)}、かわず (kawazu, 蛙)^{←かはづ (kafadu, 蛙, historical)}
• Nanori: かえる (kaeru)

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

カエル

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Frog

Wikipedia

*⟨kape₁ru⟩ → /kaperu/ → /kaferu/ → /kaweru/ → /kajeru/ → /kaeru/

From Old Japanese.

The Nihon Kokugo Daijiten cites this to the Nihon Shoki of 720, however, that may only be traceable to supplemental glosses added later to the kanbun original.

Spelled phonetically once in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE, where it is used phonetically to spell the name of the maple tree, 楓 (kape₁rute > kaede). Generally regarded as the informal or everyday term for frog, in contrast to the formal or poetic term kawazu (see below).

The ultimate derivation is unclear, with numerous theories. Some of the leading ideas include:

• Cognate with 帰る (kaeru, “to return (to a point of origin)”), from the way that some species of frogs return to their birthplace to spawn
• Cognate with 孵る (kaeru, “to hatch (from an egg)”), in reference to tadpoles
• Derived from onomatopoeia, where kape originally referred to the frog's call, suffixed uncertain element -ru

The phonetic development went through a clear stage where the middle mora was pronounced /je/, as illustrated in the 1603 Nippo Jisho entry, spelled cayeru. This was likely a result of the Muromachi period sound shift, where /we/ shifted to /je/, followed later by /je/ merging into /e/ to produce modern /kaeru/.

Now the most common term for frog.

• (Tokyo) かえる (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

蛙(かえる) or 蛙(カエル) • (kaeru) ^{←かへる (kaferu)?}

1. a frog (amphibious animal)

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as カエル (kaeru).

• → Pohnpeian: kairu

⟨kapadu⟩ → */kapadu/ → /kafad͡zu/ → /kawad͡zu/ → /kawazu/

The more formal or poetic counterpart to kaeru (see above). Found in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE.

The ultimate derivation is unclear, but the initial kawa portion (ancient kapa) is very likely 川, 河 (kawa, ancient kapa, “river”).

The phonetic development of the term had already progressed to kawadzu by 1603, as seen in the Nippo Jisho entry, spelled cauazzu.

• (Tokyo) かわず (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

蛙(かわず) • (kawazu) ^{←かはづ (kafadu)?}

1. (poetic) a frog (amphibious animal)
   • 1686, 松尾芭蕉 Matsuo Bashō

     古池や蛙飛びこむ水の音

     ふるいけやかはづとびこむみづのおと
     (modern kana: ふるいけやかわずとびこむみずのおと)
     furuike ya kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto
     old pond -- a frog jumps in -- the sound of water

2. (Noh theater) a specific mask used in certain Noh plays, depicting a drowned person

• 井(い)の中(なか)の蛙(かわず)大(たい)海(かい)を知(し)らず (i no naka no kawazu taikai o shirazu): “a frog in a well does not know the great ocean” → metaphor of a narrow world view based on limited experience

⟨kaperu⟩ → /kaperu/ → /kaferu/ → /kaweru/ → /kajeru/ → /kairu/

Sound shift. Existed alongside earlier kayeru in the late 1500s, early 1600s, as seen in the 1603 Nippo Jisho entry, spelled cairu.

• IPA^(key):

蛙(かいる) • (kairu) 

1. (archaic, possibly obsolete) a frog (amphibious animal)

• IPA^(key):

蛙(あ) • (a) 

1. frog (amphibious animal)

• 御(お)玉(たま)杓(じゃく)子(し) (otamajakushi, “tadpole”)

蛙 • (wa, wae) (hangeul 와, 왜, revised wa, wae, McCune–Reischauer wa, wae, Yale wa, way)

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

蛙: Hán Nôm readings: oa

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