水母

Chinese

		water; river	female; mother
simp. and trad. (水母)		水	母

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Why "mother"?”)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shuǐmǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄨㄟˇ ㄇㄨˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): seoi² mou⁵
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): chúi-bú / chúi-bó

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shuǐmǔ [Phonetic: shuímǔ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄨㄟˇ ㄇㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shuěimǔ
    • Wade–Giles: shui³-mu³
    • Yale: shwěi-mǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shoeimuu
    • Palladius: шуйму (šujmu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂu̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ mu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: seoi² mou⁵
    • Yale: séui móuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: soey² mou⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: sêu² mou⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɵy̯³⁵ mou̯¹³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, variant in Taiwan)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chúi-bú
    • Tâi-lô: tsuí-bú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zuy'buo
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sui⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ bu⁴¹/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sui⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ bu⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Taipei): /t͡sui⁵³⁻⁴⁴ bu⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chúi-bó
    • Tâi-lô: tsuí-bó
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zuy'boir
    • IPA (Zhangzhou, Taipei): /t͡sui⁵³⁻⁴⁴ bo⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sui⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ bɤ⁴¹/

---

• Middle Chinese: sywijX muwX

Rime
Character	水	母
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	書 (26)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	脂 (18)	侯 (137)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open
Division (等)	III	I
Fanqie	式軌切	莫厚切
Baxter	sywijX	muwX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɕˠiuɪX/	/məuX/
Pan Wuyun	/ɕʷᵚiX/	/məuX/
Shao Rongfen	/ɕiuɪX/	/məuX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɕjwiX/	/məwX/
Li Rong	/ɕjuiX/	/muX/
Wang Li	/ɕwiX/	/məuX/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ɕwiX/	/mə̯uX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	shuǐ	mǒu
Expected Cantonese Reflex	seoi2	mau5

Noun

水母

1. jellyfish (Classifier: 隻／只; 條／条)

   《廣志》曰：水母，如羊胃，在海中常浮，聞人聲沉水底。可生切食。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
   《广志》曰：水母，如羊胃，在海中常浮，闻人声沉水底。可生切食。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

   From: 太平御覽

   “Guǎngzhì” yuē: shuǐmǔ, rú yáng wèi, zài hǎizhōng cháng fú, wén rénshēng chén shuǐdǐ. Kě shēng qiè shí. [Pinyin]

   The Guangzhi says: "Jellyfish resemble the stomach of a goat, and constantly float in the ocean. When it hears the voice of people, it sinks to the bottom of the water. It can be sliced and eaten raw."

Synonyms

• 海蜇 (hǎizhé)
• (Cantonese) 白鮓／白鲊
• (Hokkien) 海䖳, 石鏡／石镜
• (Leizhou Min) 海母

Derived terms

• 僧帽水母 (sēngmào shuǐmǔ)
• 水母目蝦 / 水母目虾 (shuǐmǔ mù xiā)
• 海月水母 (hǎiyué shuǐmǔ)
• 海蛇水母

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (水母):

• → Japanese: 水(すい)母(ぼ) (suibo)

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
水	母
くらげ
Grade: 1	Grade: 2
jukujikun

Alternative spelling
海月

⟨kurage₁⟩ → */kuraᵑɡʲe/ → /kuraɡe/

From Old Japanese. The kanji is an example of jukujikun (熟字訓).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) くらげ [kùrágé] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ɾa̠ɡe̞]

Noun

水母(くらげ) or 水母(クラゲ) • (kurage) 

1. a jellyfish, medusa

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

• 行(アン)灯(ドン)水母(クラゲ) (andon kurage)
• 瓜(ウリ)水母(クラゲ) (urikurage)
• 帯(オビ)水母(クラゲ) (obikurage)
• 銀(ギン)貨(カ)水母(クラゲ) (ginka kurage)
• 櫛(クシ)水母(クラゲ) (kushikurage)
• 象(ゾウ)水母(クラゲ) (zōkurage)
• 電(デン)気(キ)水母(クラゲ) (denki kurage)
• 鉢(ハチ)水母(クラゲ) (hachikurage)
• 花(ハナ)笠(ガサ)水母(クラゲ) (hanagasa kurage)
• 備(ビ)前(ゼン)水母(クラゲ) (Bizen kurage)
• 水(ミズ)水母(クラゲ) (mizukurage)

Idioms

• 水母(くらげ)の骨(ほね) (kurage no hone, “jellyfish bones → something exceedingly rare; something that one would not expect to exist”)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
水	母
すい Grade: 1	ぼ Grade: 2
kan'on

From Middle Chinese 水母 (MC sywijX muwX).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) すいぼ [súꜜìbò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [sɨibo̞]

Noun

水(すい)母(ぼ) • (suibo) 

1. a jellyfish

Korean

Hanja in this term
水	母

Noun

水母 • (sumo) (hangeul 수모)

1. hanja form^? of 수모 (“jellyfish”)