海豚

Native formation, attested abundantly in the Classical era. Also 海豨 (literally “sea-pig”), 江豚 (jiāngtún, literally “river-pig”). Semantically compare English mereswine (“porpoise or dolphin”, literally “sea-pig”).

海豚

1. dolphin

• 鯆 (rare)

Unclear. One of the more likely native-Japanese theories is that this was originally a compound of Old Japanese elements 魚 (iwo, “fish”) +‎ 食 (uka, “food, something used as food”).

/iwo uka/ → /iru uka/ → /iruka/

Another possibility is that it was a borrowing from Ainu. Compare Sakhalin Ainu リク (riku), イリク (iriku), or Kuril Ainu リカ (rika, “whale”).[1] Given the unlikely sound shift required for the Old Japanese derivation, an origin from Ainu seems more likely.

The spelling 海豚, which literally means “sea pig”, is borrowed from Chinese.

• (Irregular reading)
  • (Tokyo) いるか [ìrúká] (Heiban – [0])[2][3]
  • IPA^(key): [iɾɯ̟ᵝka̠]

海豚 (hiragana いるか, katakana イルカ, rōmaji iruka)

1. a dolphin or porpoise (the mammal)

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts, as イルカ.

• 鱪 (しいら) (shīra), 鱰 (しいら) (shīra): a dolphin fish, a dorado fish

• 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan

From Middle Chinese 海豚 (xoj^X dwon, literally “sea pig”). Cognate with Okinawan 海豚 (fītu).

海豚 (hiragana ふぃとぅ, romaji fitu, hiragana ぴとぅ, romaji pitu)

1. dolphin

From Middle Chinese 海豚 (xoj^X dwon, literally “sea pig”). Cognate with Okinawan 海豚 (fītu).

海豚 (hiragana ひーとぅい, romaji hītui)

1. dolphin

From Middle Chinese 海豚 (xoj^X dwon, literally “sea + pig”). Cognate with Okinawan 海豚 (fītu).

海豚 (hiragana ふとぅ, romaji futu)

1. dolphin

From Middle Chinese 海豚 (xoj^X dwon, literally “sea pig”).

海豚 (hiragana ふぃーとぅ, romaji fītu)

1. dolphin

From Middle Chinese 海豚 (xoj^X dwon, literally “sea pig”). Cognate with Okinawan 海豚 (fītu).

海豚 (hiragana ふとぅ, romaji futu)

1. dolphin