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Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [animals]

動物. Japanese vocabulary for animals.

33 questions
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What's the difference between "さけ" (sake) and "しゃけ" (shake)?

Today I saw onigiri claiming to contain "しゃけ" (shake). When I asked my friend what that was, she said it was the same as "さけ" (sake), "salmon". So are these two just different readings of a kanji, regional differences, used by different generations,…
hippietrail
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Is こんこん onomatopoeia for foxes?

I mentioned こんこん to a native speaker, and he hadn't heard it before. Is こんこん the standard onomatopoeia for foxes? If not, what does the fox say?
Andrew Grimm
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18
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2 answers

Kitten: 子猫 vs 小猫 vs 仔猫

Are there any differences (nuances or usage) when using prefix 子, 小 or 仔 for denoting young animals? Examples: Kitten: 子猫 vs 小猫 vs 仔猫 Puppy: 子犬 vs 小犬 vs 仔犬 Pony: 子馬 vs 小馬 vs 仔馬 Calf: 子牛 vs 小牛 vs 仔牛 Lamb: 子羊 vs 小羊 vs 仔羊 Piglet: 子豚 vs 小豚 vs 仔豚
Lukman
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12
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2 answers

Non-distinguished animal pairs in Japanese

This is something I first noticed when I was at an aquarium in Japan (as evidenced in my examples) and continued to see ever since. There are certain pairs of animals, that while extremely similar, have certain distinguishing characteristics such…
istrasci
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11
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2 answers

When should I use「かも」 versus 「アヒル」?

My Japanese friend uses the work ｢アヒル」when referring to ducks in a public park. However, another Japanese friend uses 「鴨」（かも）in similar situations. In English, as far as my limited knowledge of the animal kingdom goes, we just have the word "duck".…
neiljohnson
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Why are dogs asked to 「おすわり」 instead of 「すわれ」

In the manga Inuyasha, the heroine Kagome acquires the ability to force the titular Dog-Yokai to fall over by saying 「おすわり」. I figured this must be a typical dog training command, but I wondered why it was not a more direct comamand such as 「すわれ」or…
Joel Roberts
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What's the difference between "マグロ" (maguro), "ツナ" (tsuna), and "シーチキン" (shiichikin)?

It seems that there are (at least) three words for "tuna" in Japanese: "マグロ" / "鮪" / "まぐろ" (maguro) - Seems to be the native name for the creature and used at least in sushi "ツナ" (tsuna) - Seems to be from English and used for canned tuna and…
hippietrail
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1 answer

When a dog in pain whines or howls, is it 「泣いている」 or 「鳴いている」?

鳴く seems to be the bark, cry, etc. of animals, and 泣く seems to be crying, weeping, etc. of humans (at any rate, associated with pain, sadness, etc.). However, when a dog in pain whines or howls, which of the two will be used?
muru
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Meaning of ギャップ in the following sentence

Context: a couple is checking out the otters while visiting an aquarium. Boy: 苗代【なえしろ】はカワウソが好きなの？ Girl: うん！動物で一番好き。食べる時とか時々ブサイクになるギャップがたまんないの。 What is the meaning of ギャップ in this sentence? Since she says "食べる時", I think maybe she is referring to…
Marco
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6
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1 answer

Why are some sharks named after birds?

Some sharks are seemingly named after birds: great white shark: hoojirozame 頬白鮫 from hoojiro (meadow bunting) sandbar shark: mejirozame 目白鮫 from mejiro (white-eye) blue shark: yoshikirizame 葦切鮫 from yoshikiri (reed warbler) Maybe a great white…
Vun-Hugh Vaw
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6
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2 answers

Does the use of 百足 as ateji for ムカデ come from calquing "centipede" (or a cognate)?

The English word "centipede" refers to basically the same type of disgusting creepy-crawly arthropod as the Japanese ムカデ. Sometimes, ムカデ is written in kanji as 百足. This is an obvious case of ateji (you would never read 百 in isolation as ム or ムカ, nor…
senshin
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What kind of organisms can be covered by 益虫, 害虫 or 虫?

I came across someone describing a Nihon yamori / gekko as a 益虫, and using "useful insect" in English. Gekkos aren't insects, but it made me curious what it actually does mean. jisho.org only describes 益虫 as meaning "useful insect". The English…
Andrew Grimm
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2 answers

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

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?
macraf
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Counters for animals: 匹 vs 頭: roughly how big is "big" and how small is "small"?

I find the distinction between 匹 and 頭 is rather tricky, because it is based on the size of the animal in question, and size is very relative and varies greatly among animals, even within the same species. And unfortunately there doesn't seem to be…
Vun-Hugh Vaw
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Can さん or 君 be used on animals?

In Mikan Enikki, the protagonist cat was referred to as ネコさん when his name was not known (e.g. Kikuko Kusanagi called him as such when she didn't know his name), and as みかん君 when someone else talked to his owners (e.g. Dr. Inagaki referred to Mikan…
Vun-Hugh Vaw
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