水母

Chinese

		water; river	female; mother
simp. and trad. (水母)		水	母

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Why "mother"?”)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shuǐmǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄨㄟˇ ㄇㄨˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): seoi² mou⁵
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): chúi-bú / chúi-bó

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shuǐmǔ [Phonetic: shuímǔ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄨㄟˇ ㄇㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shuěimǔ
    • Wade–Giles: shui³-mu³
    • Yale: shwěi-mǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shoeimuu
    • Palladius: шуйму (šujmu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂu̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ mu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: seoi² mou⁵
    • Yale: séui móuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: soey² mou⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: sêu² mou⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɵy̯³⁵ mou̯¹³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, variant in Taiwan)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chúi-bú
    • Tâi-lô: tsuí-bú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zuy'buo
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sui⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ bu⁴¹/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sui⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ bu⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Taipei): /t͡sui⁵³⁻⁴⁴ bu⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chúi-bó
    • Tâi-lô: tsuí-bó
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zuy'boir
    • IPA (Zhangzhou, Taipei): /t͡sui⁵³⁻⁴⁴ bo⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sui⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ bɤ⁴¹/

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• Middle Chinese: sywijX muwX

Rime
Character	水	母
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	書 (26)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	脂 (18)	侯 (137)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open
Division (等)	III	I
Fanqie	式軌切	莫厚切
Baxter	sywijX	muwX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɕˠiuɪX/	/məuX/
Pan Wuyun	/ɕʷᵚiX/	/məuX/
Shao Rongfen	/ɕiuɪX/	/məuX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɕjwiX/	/məwX/
Li Rong	/ɕjuiX/	/muX/
Wang Li	/ɕwiX/	/məuX/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ɕwiX/	/mə̯uX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	shuǐ	mǒu
Expected Cantonese Reflex	seoi2	mau5

Noun

水母

1. jellyfish (Classifier: 隻／只; 條／条)

   《廣志》曰：水母，如羊胃，在海中常浮，聞人聲沉水底。可生切食。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
   《广志》曰：水母，如羊胃，在海中常浮，闻人声沉水底。可生切食。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

   From: 太平御覽

   “Guǎngzhì” yuē: shuǐmǔ, rú yáng wèi, zài hǎizhōng cháng fú, wén rénshēng chén shuǐdǐ. Kě shēng qiè shí. [Pinyin]

   The Guangzhi says: "Jellyfish resemble the stomach of a goat, and constantly float in the ocean. When it hears the voice of people, it sinks to the bottom of the water. It can be sliced and eaten raw."

Synonyms

• 海蜇 (hǎizhé)
• (Cantonese) 白鮓／白鲊
• (Hokkien) 海䖳, 石鏡／石镜
• (Leizhou Min) 海母

Derived terms

• 僧帽水母 (sēngmào shuǐmǔ)
• 水母目蝦／水母目虾 (shuǐmǔ mù xiā)
• 海月水母 (hǎiyué shuǐmǔ)
• 海蛇水母

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (水母):

• → Japanese: 水(すい)母(ぼ) (suibo)

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
水	母
くらげ
Grade: 1	Grade: 2
jukujikun

Alternative spelling
海月

⟨kurage₁⟩ → */kuraᵑɡʲe/ → /kuraɡe/

From Old Japanese. The kanji is an example of jukujikun (熟字訓).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) くらげ [kùrágé] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ɾa̠ɡe̞]

Noun

水母(くらげ) or 水母(クラゲ) • (kurage) 

1. a jellyfish, medusa

Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as クラゲ.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 行(アン)灯(ドン)水母(クラゲ) (andon kurage)
• 瓜(ウリ)水母(クラゲ) (urikurage)
• 帯(オビ)水母(クラゲ) (obikurage)
• 銀(ギン)貨(カ)水母(クラゲ) (ginka kurage)
• 櫛(クシ)水母(クラゲ) (kushikurage)
• 象(ゾウ)水母(クラゲ) (zōkurage)
• 電(デン)気(キ)水母(クラゲ) (denki kurage)
• 鉢(ハチ)水母(クラゲ) (hachikurage)
• 花(ハナ)笠(ガサ)水母(クラゲ) (hanagasa kurage)
• 備(ビ)前(ゼン)水母(クラゲ) (Bizen kurage)
• 水(ミズ)水母(クラゲ) (mizukurage)

Idioms

• 水母(くらげ)の骨(ほね) (kurage no hone, “jellyfish bones → something exceedingly rare; something that one would not expect to exist”)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
水	母
すい Grade: 1	ぼ Grade: 2
kan'on

From Middle Chinese 水母 (MC sywijX muwX).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) すいぼ [súꜜìbò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [sɨibo̞]

Noun

水(すい)母(ぼ) • (suibo) 

1. a jellyfish

Korean

Hanja in this term
水	母

Noun

水母 • (sumo) (hangeul 수모)

1. hanja form^? of 수모 (“jellyfish”)