蛙

蛙 (radical 142, 虫+6, 12 strokes, cangjie input 中戈土土 (LIGG), four-corner 5411₄, composition ⿰虫圭)

• KangXi: page 1081, character 25
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 32997
• Dae Jaweon: page 1549, character 20
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 4, page 2847, character 3
• Unihan data for U+86D9

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *qʷraː, *qʷreː) : semantic 虫 (“insect; creature”) + phonetic 圭 (OC *kʷeː).

蛙

1. frog

蛙

1. Only used in 蝭蛙.

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

• Go-on: え (e)^{←ゑ (we, historical)}
• Kan-on: わ (wa); わい (wai)
• Kan’yō-on: あ (a)
• Kun: かえる (kaeru, 蛙)^{←かへる (kaferu, historical)}; かわず (kawazu, 蛙)^{←かはづ (kafadu, historical)}

蛙 (kaeru, kawazu, kairu): a frog.

⟨kaperu⟩ → /kaperu/ → /kaferu/ → /kaweru/ → /kajeru/ → /kaeru/

From Old Japanese.

Only found once in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE, where it is used phonetically to spell the name of the maple tree.[1] Generally regarded as the informal or everyday term for frog, in contrast to the formal or poetic term kawazu (see below).[2]

The ultimate derivation is unclear, with numerous theories. Some of the leading ideas include:

• Cognate with 帰る (kaeru, “to return (to a point of origin)”), from the way that some species of frogs return to their birthplace to spawn
• Cognate with 孵る (kaeru, “to hatch (from an egg)”), in reference to tadpoles
• Derived from onomatopoeia, where kape originally referred to the frog's call, suffixed uncertain element -ru

The phonetic development went through a clear stage where the middle mora was pronounced /je/, as illustrated in the 1603 Nippo Jisho entry, spelled cayeru.[3] This was likely a result of the Muromachi period sound shift, where /we/ shifted to /je/, followed later by /je/ merging into /e/ to produce modern /kaeru/.

Now the most common term for frog.

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) かえる [kàérú] (Heiban – [0])[4][5][6]
  • IPA^(key): [ka̠e̞ɾɯ̟ᵝ]

• 蝦

蛙 (hiragana かえる, katakana カエル, rōmaji kaeru, historical hiragana かへる)

1. a frog (amphibious animal)

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts, as カエル.

⟨kapadu⟩ → */kapadu/ → /kafad͡zu/ → /kawad͡zu/ → /kawazu/

The more formal or poetic counterpart to kaeru (see above).[2] Found in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE.[7]

The ultimate derivation is unclear, but the initial kawa portion (ancient kapa) is very likely 川, 河 (kawa, ancient kapa, “river”).

The phonetic development of the term had already progressed to kawadzu by 1603, as seen in the Nippo Jisho entry, spelled cauazzu.[8]

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) かわず [kàwázú] (Heiban – [0])[4][5][6]
  • IPA^(key): [ka̠ɰᵝa̠zɨᵝ]

蛙 (hiragana かわず, rōmaji kawazu, historical hiragana かはづ)

1. (poetic) a frog (amphibious animal)
2. (Noh theater) a specific mask used in certain Noh plays, depicting a drowned person

• 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): “a frog in a well does not know the great ocean” → metaphor of a narrow world view based on limited experience

⟨kaperu⟩ → /kaperu/ → /kaferu/ → /kaweru/ → /kajeru/ → /kairu/

Sound shift. Existed alongside earlier kayeru in the late 1500s, early 1600s, as seen in the 1603 Nippo Jisho entry, spelled cairu.[9]

• Kun’yomi
  • IPA^(key): [ka̠iɾɯ̟ᵝ]

蛙 (hiragana かいる, rōmaji kairu)

1. (archaic, possibly obsolete) a frog (amphibious animal)

蛙 (hiragana あ, rōmaji a)

1. frog (amphibious animal)

• 蟇 (ひき)蛙 (がえる) (hikigaeru, “toad”)
• 御 (お)玉 (たま)杓 (じゃく)子 (し) (otamajakushi, “tadpole”)

蛙 • (wa, wae) (hangeul 와, 왜, revised wa, wae, McCune–Reischauer wa, wae, Yale wa, way)

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

蛙 (oa)

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