鯨

鯨 (Kangxi radical 195, 魚+8, 19 strokes, cangjie input 弓火卜口火 (NFYRF), four-corner 2039₆, composition ⿰魚京)

• 𪸉

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1473, character 12
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 46257
• Dae Jaweon: page 2005, character 9
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 7, page 4698, character 6
• Unihan data for U+9BE8

Historical forms of the character 鯨
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡraŋ) : semantic 魚 (“fish”) + phonetic 京 (OC *kraŋ).

Cognate with 京 (OC *kraŋ, “mound; capital; great”) (Wang, 1982).

鯨

1. whale
2. ^† great; huge

(Jōyō kanji)

• Go-on: ぎょう (gyō)^{←ぎやう (gyau, historical)}
• Kan-on: けい (kei)
• Kan’yō-on: げい (gei, Jōyō)
• Kun: くじら (kujira, 鯨, Jōyō)^{←くぢら (kudira, 鯨, historical)}、おくじら (okujira, 鯨)^{←おくぢら (okudira, 鯨, historical)}、いさ (isa, 鯨)、いさな (isana, 鯨)

/kudira/ → /kud͡ʑira/

From Old Japanese. Appears in the Kojiki of 712 CE with the man'yōgana spelling 久治良 (kudira). Hypothesized as ultimately from reconstructed Proto-Japonic *kuntira.

Ultimate derivation unclear. Theories include an alteration from 口広 (kuchibiro) in reference to the wide mouth;^[1] an alteration from 口開く (kuchibiraku) in reference to the gaping mouth; and an alteration from 黒白 (kuroshiro) in reference to the black-and-white coloration of certain cetaceans.^[2]

However, the oldest sources clearly spell the term as kudira.

• This rules out 口 (kuti → kuchi, “mouth”) as an etymon, as the oldest compounds using this term use the bound form kutu, not kuti, and there is no support for a kutu → kudi shift.
• This also rules out 白 (siro, sira → shiro, shira, “white”) as an etymon. Although rendaku (voicing in compounds) would give modern jira as a reading for 白, the ancient reading of sira would voice to something closer to zira, and there is no support for a zira → dira shift.

Also compare Korean 고래 (gorae) "whale."

• (Tokyo) くじら (Heiban – )^[3][4]
• IPA^(key):

鯨(くじら) or 鯨(クジラ) • (kujira) ^{←くぢら (kudira)?}

1. a whale (large sea mammal)
   • 898–901, Shinsen Jikyō, volume 9, page 1:

     鼇　五労反　久地良（久知）

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 898–901, Shinsen Jikyō, volume 9, page 2:

     鼇　敖龜字　背負甲　蓬莱之山遊戯　滄之中　久地良

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 938, Minamoto no Shitagō, Wamyō Ruijushō, volume 8, page 3:

     鯨　鯢　唐韻云、大魚、雄曰鯨、渠京反、雌曰鯢、音蜺、久知良 […]

     Whales and Whale-cows: The Tangyun calls them great fish. Males are called 鯨, fanqie kei, and Females are called 蜺, sound gei, kujira

   • 1603, “cujira”, in Vocabvlario da Lingoa de Iapam (Nippo Jisho) [Vocabulary of the Language of Japan] (in Portuguese), Nagasaki:

     Cujira. Balea.

     Kujira. Whale.

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

From Old Japanese. Root isa (“powerful?”) appears to be the same element in verb 勇む (isamu, “to be courageous, to be in high spirits”).^[5]

• IPA^(key):

鯨(いさ) • (isa) 

1. (archaic) a whale (large sea mammal)

• 鯨(いさな) (isana), 勇魚(いさな) (isana): whale (see below)

From Old Japanese. Found in the Man'yōshū completed some time after 759 CE,^[6] often with the spelling 鯨魚 (literally “whale fish”).

From cognate isa above, suffixed with 魚 (-na, “fish”).^[5][4] Sometimes spelled as 勇魚.

• 勇魚

• IPA^(key):

鯨(いさな) • (isana) 

1. (archaic) a whale (large sea mammal)
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 13, poem 3339:
     ; text here

     玉桙之 道尓出立 葦引乃 野行山行 潦 川徃渉 鯨名取 海路丹出而...

     玉桙の 道に出で立ち あしひきの 野行き山行き にはたづみ 川行き渡り 鯨魚取り 海道に出でて...
     たまほこの みちにいでたち あしひきの のゆきやまゆき にはたづみ かはゆきわたり いさなとり うみぢにいでて...

     Tamahoko no / michi ni idetachi / ashi hiki no / no yuki yama yuki / niwatazumi / kawa yuki watari / isana tori umiji ni idete...

     Heading out on the jeweled-spear road, going through the alluring fields and mountains, crossing the puddles and rivers, taking to the whaling sea road ...

• 鯨(いさな)取(と)り (isana tori), 勇魚(いさな)取(と)り (isana tori): whaling; an epithet for the sea

• Shōjū with Kyōto Daigaku Bungakubu Kokugogaku Kokubungaku Kenkyūshitu (898–901) Shinsen Jikyō (Zōteiban) (in Japanese), Kyōto: Rinsen, published 15 December 1967, →ISBN.
• Minamoto, Shitagō with Kyōto Daigaku Bungakubu Kokugogaku Kokubungaku Kenkyūshitu (931–938) Shohon Shūsei Wamyō Ruijushō: Honbunhen (in Japanese), Kyōto: Rinsen, published 1968, →ISBN.

From Middle Chinese 鯨 (MC gjaeng).

Recorded as Middle Korean 껴ᇰ (Yale: kkyeng) in Dongguk Jeongun (東國正韻 / 동국정운), 1448.

Recorded as Middle Korean 겨ᇰ (kyeng) (Yale: kyeng) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

鯨

Wikisource

鯨 (eumhun 고래 경 (gorae gyeong))

1. hanja form^? of 경 (“whale”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

(Jōyō kanji)

• Kun: ぐんじゃ (khunja, 鯨)

• IPA^(key): /ɡund͡ʑa/

鯨(ぐんじゃ) (khunja) 

1. whale

(Jōyō kanji)

• Kun: ふづぁ (fudsa, 鯨)

• IPA^(key): /fud͡za/

鯨(ふづぁ) (fuds-a) 

1. whale

(Jōyō kanji)

• Kun: ぐじら (gujira, 鯨)

• IPA^(key): /ɡud͡ʑiɾa/

鯨(ぐじら) (gujira) 

1. whale

鯨: Hán Nôm readings: kình, kềnh

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