海豹

海豹

1. earless seal (Classifier: 隻／只 m c)

• 海狗 (hǎigǒu, “fur seal”)

Originally a compound of Old Japanese elements 痣 (aza, “bruise”) +‎ 等 (ra, “lots of”, a pluralizer) +‎ 獣 (shi, “beast”, especially one used for meat). The bruise meaning was in reference to the spotted coat. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

The kanji are jukujikun (熟字訓), from Chinese 海豹 (hǎibào, literally “sea leopard”).

• (Tokyo) あざらし [àzáꜜràshì] (Nakadaka – [2])^[1][2][3]
• IPA^(key): [a̠za̠ɾa̠ɕi]

海豹(あざらし) or 海豹(アザラシ) • (azarashi) 

1. a seal, specifically the earless seal or true seal

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

Note the distinction between 海豹 (azarashi) for seal, which has no external ear flaps, and 海驢 (ashika) for sea lion, which does have external ear flaps.

• 海驢(あしか) (ashika): a sea lion

/kaipeu/ → /kaifeu/ → /kaiheu/ → /kaihjoː/

From Middle Chinese 海豹 (hʌi^X pˠau^H, literally “sea + leopard”).

• (Tokyo) かいひょー [kàíhyóó] (Heiban – [0])^[2][1][3]
• IPA^(key): [ka̠iço̞ː]

海(かい)豹(ひょう) • (kaihyō) ^{←かいへう (kaifeu)?}

1. a seal, specifically the earless seal or true seal

The kaihyō reading appears to be much less common than azarashi above.

• 海(かい)豹(ひょう)島(とう) (Kaihyōtō): “Seal Island” → Tyuleny Island, off the eastern coast of Sakhalin