鮎

鮎 (Kangxi radical 195, 魚+5, 16 strokes, cangjie input 弓火卜口 (NFYR), composition ⿰魚占)

• 占

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1468, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 46070
• Dae Jaweon: page 2001, character 16
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 7, page 4680, character 14
• Unihan data for U+9B8E

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *neːm): semantic 魚 (“fish”) + phonetic 占 (OC *ʔljem, *tjems).

鮎

1. catfish (fishes in order Siluriformes), especially Amur catfish (Silurus asotus)

Rarely used in Chinese. The variant form 鯰／鲶 is more often used for the word catfish.

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

1. ayu, sweetfish
2. catfish

• Go-on: ねん (nen)^{←ねん (nen, historical)←ねむ (nemu, ancient)}
• Kan-on: でん (den)^{←でん (den, historical)←でむ (demu, ancient)}
• Kun: あい (ai, 鮎)、あゆ (ayu, 鮎)、なまず (namazu, 鮎)^{←なまづ (namadu, 鮎, historical)}

From Old Japanese of uncertain derivation.

• One commonly encountered etymology suggests that ayu may derive from 饗 (ae, “hosting someone to a meal”), in reference to the way that this fish may be used in Shinto offerings.^[1] However, this would have been pronounced ape in ancient times, and while this ape did later become ahe, and a shift from -he to -ye did occur in many terms during the Muromachi period,^[2] the word ayu in reference to the fish appeared in the Nihon Shoki (720 CE), and is thus too old for this shift to have occurred.
• Another common etymology states that ayu may be from extinct Old Japanese term 落ゆ (ayu, “to fall, as nuts from a tree; to flow down, as liquid in a stream”), in reference to the way that ayu swim downstream to spawn in the autumn.^[1] Some references^[3] suggest that this is not very eventful and that this etymology is therefore unlikely. However, there are terms specific to the ayu downstream migration, such as 落鮎 (ochiayu, “ayu migrating downstream to spawn”) and 鮎落つ (ayuotsu, “ayu migrating downstream to spawn”), suggesting that this event has been culturally important enough that the 落ゆ (ayu) derivation may be plausible.
• Alternatively, this term may be borrowed from Ainu アイ (ay, “arrow”) in reference to how fast the fish moves. See also obsolete Japanese reading ai below.

The kanji spelling 鮎 in reference to sweetfish is specific to Japan, probably in reference to the way the fish (魚) stakes out its territory (占). There is another tale wherein Empress Jingū caught an ayu and thereby prophesied (also spelled 占) the outcome of a battle, but this is likely a folk etymology. In China and elsewhere, the 鮎 character refers instead to catfish.^[2]

The kanji spelling 年魚 is in reference to the common one-year lifespan of this fish.^[2][4]

The kanji spelling 香魚 is in reference to its sweet-tasting flesh.^[4]

• (Tokyo) あゆ [áꜜyù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[4][5]
• IPA^(key): [a̠jɯ̟]

• Audio:

  (file)

鮎(あゆ) or 鮎(アユ) • (ayu) 

1. ayu or sweetfish (Plecoglossus altivelis)
   • 720, Nihon Shoki (poem 126/129)

     美曳之弩能(み𛀁しのの)曳之弩能(𛀁しのの)阿喩(あゆ)阿喩(あゆ)舉曾播(こそは)施麻倍母曳岐(しまへも𛀁き)愛俱流之衛(えくるしゑ)奈疑能母縢(なぎのもと)制利能母縢(せりのもと)阿例播俱流之衛(あれはくるしゑ) [Man'yōgana]

     み吉(えし)野(の)の吉(えし)野(の)の鮎鮎(あゆあゆ)こそは島(しま)辺(べ)も良(え)きえ苦(くる)しゑ水葱(なぎ)の本(もと)芹(せり)の本(もと)あれは苦(くる)しゑ [Modern spelling]

     mi-Eshino no Eshino no ayu ayu koso wa shimabe mo eki e kurushie nagi no moto seri no moto are wa kurushie

     (please add an English translation of this example)

   Synonyms: 香魚 (kōgyo), 年魚 (nengyo)

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

Obsolete variant of ayu pronunciation. May have been the original pronunciation.

• IPA^(key): [a̠i]

• Audio:

  (file)

鮎(あい) • (ai) 

1. (obsolete) ayu or sweetfish (Plecoglossus altivelis)

Found in some compounds. Generally not used on its own.

The kanji spelling 鮎 in reference to sweetfish is specific to Japan. In China and elsewhere, the 鮎 character refers instead to catfish.^[2] See the 鯰 entry for more detail about the Japanese term namazu.

鮎 • (jeom) (hangeul 점, revised jeom, McCune–Reischauer chŏm, Yale cem)

1. (메기) catfish, sheatfish

• 鰋 (언, eon)

鮎: Hán Nôm readings: niêm, chẻm, niềm, nhương

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.