Can そばかす be used to describe a pattern on dog face?

Question

Are these 斑{ぶち} or そばかす?

Are freckles (そばかす) in Japanese limited to human? Would it be a mistake to describe a pattern on dog's face as そばかす?

naruto · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-23T08:35:48.957

6

I haven't seen そばかす used for animals.

In this case, possible expressions include 「ぶち模様の犬」「顔にぶちのある犬」「まだら模様の犬」「ぶち毛の犬」「ぶち犬」.

edited Sep 23 '15 at 08:35

answered Sep 23 '15 at 08:15

naruto

What about 斑点{はんてん}? Looks like a synonym of ぶち, but an image search for 斑点犬 returns almost only Dalmatians and examples here http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/thsrs/11203/m0u/ suggest also wild cats (and states that 斑点 is used for patterns not only on animals). Is there a nuance that 斑点 is more "regular"? – macraf Sep 23 '15 at 11:33
2

Technically, 「そばかす」 is only used for humans, but unless one is discussing animals scientifically or academically, it would be **perfectly** acceptable to use the word in casual chats about a particular dog. I see no problems at all in sayng things like 「（ウチの犬は）顔にそばかすみたいな斑点がある。」. – Sep 23 '15 at 11:43
@macraf There's no such word as 斑点犬, but you can use 斑点 to describe what ぶち means. Since you already know ぶち, I think you no longer have to descriptively say 顔に斑点のある犬. – naruto Sep 23 '15 at 12:13
@naruto Yes, I wondered if Japanese people differentiate between black spots like those https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle#/media/File:Cow_female_black_white.jpg and those https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalmatian_(dog)#/media/File:Dalmatiner_2.jpg (the latter look like points, that's why I asked if 斑点 is limited to spots like on Dalmatian breed) – macraf Sep 23 '15 at 12:33

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 23 '15 at 08:52

-1

I don't think so. I never saw this expression has been used for animal.

answered Sep 23 '15 at 08:52

Reza

2 Answers2