蝴蝶

From Middle Chinese *ɦuo dep (first syllable unstressed), from Old Chinese *ɡaː l'eːb, derived from a proto-form of *kʰleːp ~ *ɦleːp, a prefixed form of the root *lep (“butterfly”), which was also the source of

• Tibetan ཕྱེ་མ་ལེབ (phye ma leb, “butterfly”) and
• Burmese လိပ်ပြာ (lippra, “butterfly”).

Variants of 胡蝶 / 蝴蝶, representing different developments from the proto-form, including disyllabification, fricativisation of the voiceless initial, etc.:

蝶 (OC *l'eːb), 蜨 (OC *seːb), 胡蜨 / 蝴蜨 (OC *ɡaː seːb), 蛺蝶 (OC *keːb l'eːb), 蛺蜨 (OC *keːb seːb).

There are different theories regarding the original meaning of the root *lep:

• Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ljap (“thin; flat; flat object”), represented by the phonetic element 枼 (OC *leb) in Chinese. Related to 葉 (OC *hljeb, *leb, “leaf”), 牒 (OC *l'eːb, “official document < plank”), Tibetan ལེབ་ལེབ (leb leb, “flat; level”), ལེབ་མོ (leb mo, “flat”) and Burmese လှပ် (hlap, “thin”). See 枼 for more.
• Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ljap (“lightning; flash; glitter”) (Matisoff, 2003), whence also 燁 (OC *ɢʷab, *ɢʷɯb, “gleaming”), 熠 (OC *ɢrub, *lub, “flashing”) and Burmese လျှပ် (hlyap, “(of light) to strike; to shine; lightning”). Compare Malay kerlap (“to flash; to glisten, as the wings of flying butterflies”).

Alternatively, Sun (1999) proposes that 蝴蝶 is a fission reduplication of two cognate bases, the former being more likely:

• 挾 (OC *ɡeːb, “to press from both sides; to carry something under one's arms”), alluding to the flapping motion of the butterfly's wings, or
• 夾 (OC *kreːb, “pincers”), from the way the butterfly holds its wings erect when not flying.

Compare Proto-Austronesian *kali-, *qali- (prefix for words with a sensitive reference to the spirit world, including “butterfly”).

蝴蝶

1. butterfly (Classifier: 隻／只)

   • 昔者莊周夢為胡蝶，栩栩然胡蝶也，自喻適志與！ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     昔者庄周梦为胡蝶，栩栩然胡蝶也，自喻适志与！ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

     Xī zhě Zhuāng Zhōu mèng wéi húdié, xǔxǔrán húdié yě, zìyù shìzhì yú! [Pinyin]

     Formerly, I, Zhuang Zhou, dreamt that I was a butterfly, a butterfly flying about, feeling that it was enjoying itself.

• 蛾 (é, “moth”)
• 毛毛蟲／毛毛虫 (máomaochóng, “caterpillar”)

蝴蝶 (hiragana こちょう, rōmaji kochō, historical hiragana こてふ)

1. Alternative spelling of 胡蝶 (“butterfly”)