Chinese

Noun

海豹

1. seal; earless seal; true seal   (Classifier: 隻／只 m)

Japanese

海豹

Etymology

Originally a compound of Old Japanese elements 痣 ‎(aza, “bruise”) +‎ 等 ‎(ra, a pluralizer, “lots of”) +‎ 獣 ‎(shi, “beast, especially one used for meat”). The bruise meaning was in reference to the spotted coat.

The 海豹 spelling is an example of ateji. The characters literally mean “sea leopard”.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• あざ​らし (Nakadaka)^[1]
• IPA^(key): [a̠za̠ɺ̠a̠ɕi]

Alternative forms

• アザラシ

Noun

海豹 ‎(hiragana あざらし, katakana アザラシ, romaji azarashi)

1. an earless seal, a true seal (the mammal), a member of family Phocidae

Usage notes

As with many terms used in biology, this is often spelled in katakana, as アザラシ.

See also

• 葦鹿, 海驢 (あしか, アシカ, ​ashika): a sea lion
• 膃肭臍 (おっとせい, オットセイ, ​ottosei): a fur seal
• 海象 (せいうち, セイウチ, ​seiuchi): a walrus

References

1. ↑ 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