井底之蛙

Chinese

FWOTD – 5 April 2019

		warn; well	background; bottom; base background; bottom; base; (possessive part.); (subor. part.)	's; him/her/it; this	frog
trad. (井底之蛙)		井	底	之	蛙
simp. ^#(井底之蛙)		井	底	之	蛙
Literally: “a frog at the bottom of a well (who can only see a small part of the sky through the opening)”.

Etymology

From Zhuangzi:

井鼃不可以語於海者，拘於虛也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.][▼ expand/hide]

井鼃不可以语于海者，拘于虚也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE

Jǐngwā bù kě yǐ yù yú hǎi zhě, jū yú xū yě. [Pinyin]

A frog in a well would not be able to put into words (the idea) of an ocean. (To the frog, the concept is) confined to the abstract.

Note: 鼃 is an ancient character for frog. In modern times, it has often been replaced with 蛙 (wā).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): jǐngdǐzhīwā

(Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄥˇ ㄉㄧˇ ㄓㄨㄚ
Cantonese (Jyutping): zeng² dai² zi¹ waa¹

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: jǐngdǐzhīwā [Phonetic: jíngdǐzhīwā]
  - Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄥˇ ㄉㄧˇ ㄓㄨㄚ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jiingdiijyua
  - IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕiŋ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ti²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ u̯ä⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: zeng² dai² zi¹ waa¹
  - Yale: jéng dái jī wā
  - Cantonese Pinyin: dzeng² dai² dzi¹ waa¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: zéng² dei² ji¹ wa¹
  - IPA ^(key): /t͡sɛːŋ³⁵ tɐi̯³⁵ t͡siː⁵⁵ wäː⁵⁵/

Idiom

井底之蛙

a person of very limited outlook and experience
- 汝乃井底之蛙，安知玄奧乎！ [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
  汝乃井底之蛙，安知玄奥乎！ [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]
  From: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, circa 14^th century CE
  Rǔ nǎi jǐngdǐzhīwā, ān zhī xuán'ào hū! [Pinyin]
  You're (like) a frog at the bottom of a well (who can only see part of the sky), how would you know about anything that is profound!
- 可知我井底之蛙，成日家只說現在的這幾個人是有一無二的。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
  可知我井底之蛙，成日家只说现在的这几个人是有一无二的。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]
  From: Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber, mid-18^th century CE
  Kě zhī wǒ jǐngdǐzhīwā, chéngrìjia zhǐ shuō xiànzài de zhè jǐ ge rén shì yǒuyīwú'èr de. [Pinyin]
  [You] can tell that I am a frog at the bottom of a well; all day, all [I] talk about is that these several people are so unique.

Related terms

坐井觀天／坐井观天 (zuòjǐngguāntiān)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (井底之蛙):

→ Korean: 정저지와 (井底之蛙, jeongjeojiwa)

Others:

Japanese: 井 (い)の中 (なか)の蛙大海 (かわずたいかい)を知 (し)らず (i no naka no kawazu taikai o shirazu), 井 (い)の中 (なか)の蛙 (かわず) (i no naka no kawazu), 井 (せい)底 (てい)の蛙 (あ) (seitei no a)

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