Chinese

Japanese

蝦蟇 (gama, gamagaeru): a Japanese common toad.

Etymology 1

Appears to be from borrowing from Middle Chinese 蝦蟇 ‎(/ɣa ma/, “toad”, literally “shrimp, prawn + toad”).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• (Tokyo) が​ま [gáꜜmà] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1]
• (Tokyo) がま [gàmá] (Heiban - [0])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ɡa̠ma̠]

Alternative forms

• 蟇

Noun

蝦蟇 ‎(hiragana がま, katakana ガマ, romaji gama)

1. a toad

Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana in biological contexts, as ガマ.

Synonyms

• 蟇 (ひき)蛙 (がえる) ‎(hikigaeru)

Etymology 2

Appears to be a compound of 蟇 ‎(gama, “toad”) +‎ 蝦 ‎(kaeru, “frog”). The kaeru changes to gaeru as an instance of rendaku (連濁). . The kanji in this term are reversed as jukujikun (熟字訓) to match the Chinese spelling of the borrowed term gama (see above).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) がまが​える [gàmágáꜜèrù] (Nakadaka - [3])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ɡa̠ma̠ɡ̃a̠e̞ɾ̠ɯᵝ]

Noun

蝦蟇 ‎(hiragana がまがえる, romaji gamagaeru, historical hiragana がまがへる)

1. a toad

References

1. 1 2 3 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9