Species names cont.
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SCIENTIFIC & ENGLISH |
CHINESE |
JAPANESE |
VIETNAMESE |
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| Latin | English | Chinese (Mainland) | Chinese (Taiwan) | Other Ch | Japanese | Other J | Vietnamese | Other V |
Pavo muticus |
Green peafowl | 绿孔雀 lǜ kǒng-què 'green peafowl' (literally 'green kong sparrow/finch'. Kong is a surname - that of Confucius.) |
孔雀 kǒng-què 'peafowl' 爪哇孔雀 Zhǎowā kǒng-què 'Javanese peafowl' |
クジャク (孔雀) kujaku 'peafowl' (from Chinese) |
マクジャク (真孔雀) ma-kujaku 'true peafowl' |
Công or Cuông 'peafowl' |
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| Falcipennis falcipennis/ Dendragapus falcipennis |
Siberian grouse Sickle-winged grouse (Cheng) Siberian spruce grouse |
镰翅鸡 lián-chì jī 'sickle-winged fowl' |
カマバネライチョウ (鎌羽雷鳥) kama-bane raichō 'sickle-winged thunder bird' |
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| Latin | English | Chinese (Mainland) | Chinese (Taiwan) | Other Ch | Japanese | Other J | Vietnamese | Other V |
| Lagopus lagopus |
Willow grouse or Red grouse Willow ptarmigan (Cheng) |
柳雷鸟 liǔ lěi-niǎo 'willow thunder bird' (ZGM, Cheng, ZGMCh, M&P, Atlas) 雷鸟 lěi-niǎo 'thunder bird' (ChengW. Alternative in Cheng, Atlas) |
柳鸡 liǔ-jī 'willow fowl' 苏衣尔 sūyī'ěr 'suyi-er' (northeast China; foreign loanword) |
カラフトライチョウ (樺太雷鳥) Karafuto raichō 'Sakhalin thunder bird' |
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| Lagopus mutus/ muta |
Rock ptarmigan | 岩雷鸟 yán lěi-niǎo 'rock thunder bird' |
雪鸡 xuě-jī 'snow fowl' |
ライチョウ (雷鳥) raichō 'thunder bird' |
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| Tetrao tetrix/ Lyrurus tetrix |
Eurasian black grouse Black grouse (Cheng) |
黑琴鸡 hēi qín jī 'black zither fowl' |
黑野鸡 hēi yě-jī 'black wild fowl' 斗鸡 dòu jī (?) 'fighting fowl' 乌鸡 wū-jī 'black fowl' |
クロライチョウ (黒雷鳥) kuro raichō 'black thunder bird' |
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| Tetrao urogallus | Western capercaillie Capercaillie |
松鸡 sōng-jī 'pine fowl' (ZGM, ChengW, Cheng, ZGMCh, Atlas) 西方松鸡 Xīfāng sōng-jī 'western pine fowl' (M&P. Alternative in ChengW, Cheng) |
林鸡 lín-jī 'forest fowl' |
ヨーロッパオオライチョウ (ヨーロッパ大雷鳥) Yōroppa ō raichō 'European large thunder bird' |
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| Tetrao parvirostris |
Black-billed capercaillie (Cheng) Spotted capercaillie |
黑嘴松鸡 hēi-zuǐ sōng-jī 'black-billed pine fowl' |
细嘴松鸡 xì-zuǐ sōng-jī 'thin-billed pine fowl' 林鸡 lín-jī 'forest fowl' 树鸡 shù-jī 'tree fowl' 乌鸡 wū-jī 'black fowl' |
オオライチョウ (大雷鳥) ō raichō 'large thunder bird' |
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| Bonasa bonasia/ Tetrastes bonasia |
Hazel grouse | 花尾榛鸡 huā-wěi zhēn-jī 'flower-tailed hazel fowl' |
飞龙 fēi lóng 'flying dragon' 榛鸡 zhēn-jī 'hazel fowl' 包日-苏衣尔 bāorì sūyī'ěr 'baor suyi'er' (northeast, foreign loanword, cf Lagopus lagopus) |
エゾライチョウ (蝦夷雷鳥) Ezo raichō 'Hokkaido thunder bird' |
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| Bonasa sewerzowi/ Tetrastes sewerzowi |
Severtsov's hazel grouse Chinese grouse Chinese hazel grouse (Cheng) |
斑尾榛鸡 bān-wěi zhēn-jī 'stripe-tailed hazel fowl' |
ミヤマエゾライチョウ (深山蝦夷雷鳥) mi-yama Ezo raichō 'deep mountain Hokkaido thunder bird' |
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| Latin | English | Chinese (Mainland) | Chinese (Taiwan) | Other Ch | Japanese | Other J | Vietnamese | Other V |
3. Notes
The distribution of the Phasianidae in East Asia can be seen at Tzung-Su Ding's Distribution of GALLIFORMES in East Asia. |
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1. Chinese naming: The 'common names' in Chinese have been regularised to accord with the scientific genera. Given the large variety of Phasianidae in China, such drastic regularisation was probably unavoidable, resulting in a gap between Chinese and Japanese usage: 鷓鴣
竹鶏
雷鳥
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2. The Taiwanese names tend to follow Japanese usage, eg. Bambusicola thoracica is tekkei (竹鶏) or 'bamboo fowl' in Japanese and 竹雞 zhú-jī in Taiwan. |
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3. Although the word 绶鸡 shòu-jī is not found in Mainland China, the Japanese word jukei (綬鶏) most likely originated in Chinese. An alternative Chinese name for Cabot's tragopan is 寿鸡 shòu-jī 'longevity fowl', written with different characters but pronounced the same. Interchangeability between these two characters read shòu is not unusual, e.g., see the paradise flycatchers. Another alternative name for Cabot's tragopan is 吐绶鸟 tǔ-shòu-niǎo and, interestingly, one name for the turkey in Chinese is 吐绶鸡 tǔ-shòu-jī. Note: 綬雞 shòu-jī is used for Blyth's tragopan in Taiwan, whereas in Japan the unmarked form jukei (綬鶏) refers to Cabot's tragopan. |
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4. Vietnamese naming : Vietnamese usage, as usual, diverges from both Chinese and Japanese. Although many Vietnamese names contain Gà for fowl, the remaining elements in some of the names are not clear to me. The name 'thunder fowl' is tantalisingly close to 'thunder bird' 雷鸟, but the birds referred to are quite different (Vietnamese refers to the Tragopan and Lophura, Sino-Japanese / refers to the grouse and ptarmigan). |
4. Cultural Notes
1. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China, several members of the Phasianidae were depicted in 'Mandarin Squares' (known as 补子 bǔzi) attached to official uniforms of high-ranking bureaucrats. They were:
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| 2. In Japanese haiku, the Common pheasant 雉 kiji or きぎす kigisu, is a season word for spring. |
3. The word 鸡 jī 'fowl' (or 野鸡 yě-jī 'wild fowl') is a Chinese slang word for 'prostitute'. |
