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Definition 2025

鯨

鯨

See also: 鲸

Translingual

Han character

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

References

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

Chinese

trad. 鯨
simp. 鲸

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 鯨
Small seal script
Characters in the same phonetic series (京) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
涼 *ɡ·raŋ, *ɡ·raŋs, *ɡ·raŋs
凉 *ɡ·raŋ
椋 *ɡ·raŋ
綡 *ɡ·raŋ
輬 *ɡ·raŋ
諒 *ɡ·raŋs
掠 *ɡ·raŋs, *ɡ·raɡ
弶 *ɡaŋs
京 *kraŋ
麖 *kraŋ
鶁 *kraŋ
景 *kraŋʔ
鯨 *ɡraŋ
黥 *ɡraŋ
勍 *ɡraŋ
剠 *ɡraŋ
倞 *ɡraŋs
影 *qraŋʔ
璟 *qraŋʔ, *kʷraŋʔ
憬 *kʷraŋʔ
暻 *kʷraŋʔ
澋 *ɡʷraːŋʔ

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

Pronunciation

Rime
Character 鯨
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 群 (30)
Final (韻) 庚 (111)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 渠京切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /ɡˠiæŋ/
Pan
Wuyun		 /ɡᵚiaŋ/
Shao
Rongfen		 /ɡiaŋ/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /giajŋ/
Li
Rong		 /ɡiɐŋ/
Wang
Li		 /ɡĭɐŋ/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /gi̯ɐŋ/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 qíng
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 鯨
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 jīng
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ gjæng ›
Old
Chinese		 /*[ɡ]raŋ/
English whale

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter-Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 鯨
Reading # 1/1
No. 6832
Phonetic
component		 京
Rime
group		 陽
Rime
subdivision		 0
Corresponding
MC rime		 擎
Old
Chinese		 /*ɡraŋ/

Definitions

鯨

  1. whale

Japanese

Kanji

鯨

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

Compounds

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
鯨
くじら
Grade: S
kun'yomi

From Old Japanese. /kudira/ → /kud͡ʑira/

Ultimate derivation unclear. Theories include an alteration from 口広 (kuchibiro) in reference to the wide mouth; 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.

Pronunciation

Noun

鯨 ‎(hiragana くじら, katakana クジラ, romaji kujira, historical hiragana くぢら)

  1. a large marine mammal belonging to order Cetacea: a whale
    鯨 鯢 唐韻云、大魚、雄曰鯨、渠京反、雌曰鯢、音蜺、久知良 [...]‎[3]
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)
    Cujira. (鯨) 鯨.‎[4]
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)
Usage notes

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

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
鯨
いさ
Grade: S
kun'yomi

From Old Japanese. Root isa (“powerful?”) shared with verb 勇む ‎(isamu, “to be courageous, to be in high spirits”).

Pronunciation

Noun

鯨 ‎(hiragana いさ, romaji isa)

  1. (archaic) a large marine mammal belonging to order Cetacea: a whale
Derived terms

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
鯨
いさな
Grade: S
kun'yomi

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

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

  • 勇魚

Noun

鯨 ‎(hiragana いさな, romaji isana)

  1. (archaic) a large marine mammal belonging to order Cetacea: a whale
    • 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 ...
Derived terms

References

  1. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
  2. ↑ 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3
  3. ↑ 931–938, Wamyō Ruijushō, book 8, page 3:
  4. ↑ 1603–1604, Nippo Jisho (page 165)

Korean

Hanja

鯨 • ‎(gyeong) (hangeul 경, revised gyeong, McCune-Reischauer kyŏng, Yale kyeng)

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

Vietnamese

Han character

鯨 (kình, kềnh)

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

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