Anatidae

The geese, swans, and ducks are familiar and distinctive birds that have provided the source of two types of domesticated fowl in Asian countries. A large variety of local and dialect terms exists for the most common members of this family, especially the geese and ducks.

Chinese:

Swans: The swans are known as 天鹅 tiān-é, meaning 'sky goose' or 'heaven goose'. They are called 鹄 hú in the written language, a word with an ancient lineage still used in the scientific names in Taiwan.

Geese: Geese in the wild are known as 雁 yàn. The Swan goose, 鸿 hóng or 鸿雁 hóng-yàn, is the ancestor of the domesticated goose in China (in the West it was the Greylag goose).

Ducks: Ducks in the wild are known as 野鸭 yě-yā (colloquially 野鸭子 yě yāzi or 野鸭儿 yě-yār), or 水鸭 shuǐ-yā 'water duck'. They are known as 凫 fú in written Chinese.

These names are sometimes applied narrowly to the Mallard or 绿头鸭 lǜ-tóu yā ('green-headed duck'), which was the wild ancestor of the domestic duck.

The Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) is known as 鸳鸯 yuān-yang, a word that has been borrowed into both Japanese and Vietnamese.

Japanese:

Swans: The swans are known in Japanese as ハクチョウ haku-chō, written 白鳥 ('white bird'). Other names are スワン suwan (from the English) and しらとり shira-tori (also meaning 'white bird' and written but read with the native kun reading). For the curious, black swans are officially known as コクチョウ (黒鳥) koku-chō or 'black birds', but are just as likely to be called burakku suwan.

Geese: Wild geese are generally called ガン gan, a Chinese borrowing written 雁 in characters. Other terms are the native words カリ kari (also written 雁) which originated in imitation of the birds' cry, and カタイトドリ kata-ito-dori, written 片糸鳥 and meaning 'yarn thread bird'. In Japanese poetry, the kari are traditionally identified with autumn.

Ducks: The ducks are known as カモ kamo, written with the Chinese characters 鴨 or 鳧. Alternative names are カモドリ kamo-dori (鴨鳥 = 'duck-bird') and アシガモ ashi-gamo (葦鴨 = 'reed duck'). In combinations, カモ kamo becomes ガモ -gamo.

The Mandarin duck is known as the オシドリ oshi-dori, written 鴛鴦 as in Chinese.

The merganser are known as アイサ aisa, written 秋沙 ('autumn sand').

Vietnamese:

Swans: Swans do not occur naturally in Vietnam. Dictionaries give several names for them, several of which mean 'sky duck'. The most accurate term is probably the Chinese loan word Thiên nga (i.e. 天鹅 'sky goose').

Geese: Geese are known as Ngỗng in Vietnamese (sometimes Ngổng). Another name for wild geese is Hồng (from Chinese 鸿 hóng).

Ducks: The general word for 'duck' is Vịt.

Wild ducks are known as Vịt trời 'wild duck' or Vịt nước 'water duck', also called variously Mòng két, Le, Le le , and Le te. The latter are used for several types of teal.

The word Ngan is used for the White-winged duck or Wood duck, Cairina scutulata, and other members of the genus.