象海豹

Japanese
象海豹 (zō azarashi): male and female elephant seals, showing the pronounced proboscis of the male.
Kanji in this term
象 海 豹
ぞう
Grade: 4		 Grade: 2 Jinmeiyō
Irregular

Etymology

From 象 (zō, “elephant”) +‎ 海豹 (azarashi, “earless seal”).[1][2] The 海豹 spelling is jukujikun (熟字訓).

Pronunciation
  • (Irregular reading)
    • (Tokyo) ぞーあざ​らし [zòó ázáꜜràshì] (Nakadaka – [4])[2]
    • IPA(key): [d͡zo̞ː a̠za̠ɾa̠ɕi]

Noun

象海豹 (hiragana ぞうあざらし, katakana ゾウアザラシ, rōmaji zō azarashi, historical hiragana ざうあざらし)

  1. an elephant seal

Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts, as ゾウアザラシ.

Not to be confused with 海象 (seiuchi, “walrus”, literally “sea elephant”).

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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