Chinese

Noun

天竺鼠

1. guinea pig

Synonyms

• 豚鼠 (túnshǔ)

Japanese

Etymology

Compound of 天竺 ‎(tenjiku, “India”) +‎ 鼠 ‎(nezumi, “mouse”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) てんじく​ねずみ [tèńjíkúꜜnèzùmì] (Nakadaka - [4])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [tẽ̞nd͡ʑikɯᵝ ne̞zɯᵝmi]

Noun

天竺鼠 ‎(hiragana てんじくねずみ, katakana テンジクネズミ, romaji tenjiku nezumi, historical hiragana てんぢくねずみ)

1. guinea pig

Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana in biological contexts, as テンジクネズミ.

Derived terms

• 鬼天竺鼠 (おにてんじくねずみ) ‎(oni tenjiku nezumi): capybara

References

1. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9