火鼠

火鼠

1. (Chinese mythology) fire rat or mouse (a mythological creature)
2. (Taiwanese Hokkien) squirrel

Compound of Old Japanese elements 火 (hi, “fire”) +‎ 鼠 (nezumi, “rat, mouse”).^[1][2]

• (Tokyo) ひねずみ [hìnéꜜzùmì] (Nakadaka – [2])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [çine̞zɨmʲi]

火(ひ)鼠(ねずみ) • (hinezumi) 

1. a fire-rat: an imaginary creature of ancient China resembling a white rat, thought to live in the volcanoes of the South China Sea and to have fireproof fur
   • 10th century: The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter

     唐土にある、火鼠の裘を給へ

     もろこしにある、ひねずみのかわごろもをたまえ

     Morokoshi ni aru, hinezumi no kawagoromo o tamae

     Get me the fur robe of the fire-rat in China...

/kwaso/ → /kaso/

From Middle Chinese compound 火鼠 (MC xwaX syoX, literally “fire rat”). Date of borrowing unknown.

• (Tokyo) かそ [káꜜsò] (Atamadaka – [1])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [ka̠so̞]

火(か)鼠(そ) • (kaso) ^{←くわそ (kwaso)?}

1. a fire-rat (see above)

The hinezumi reading is more common.