海馬

See also: 海马

Chinese

		ocean; sea	horse; surname
trad. (海馬)		海	馬
simp. (海马)		海	马

Etymology

sea horse

So named as its shape is similar to horse's head. First used in the Tang dynasty-era 《本草拾遺》 (Supplements to the Compendium of Materia Medica).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): hǎimǎ

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄞˇ ㄇㄚˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hoi² maa⁵
• Eastern Min (BUC): hāi-mā
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): hái-bé / hái-bée

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: hǎimǎ [Phonetic: háimǎ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄞˇ ㄇㄚˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: hǎimǎ
    • Wade–Giles: hai³-ma³
    • Yale: hǎi-mǎ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: haemaa
    • Palladius: хайма (xajma)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xaɪ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: hoi² maa⁵
    • Yale: hói máh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hoi² maa⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: hoi² ma⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɔːi̯³⁵ maː¹³/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: hāi-mā
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hai³³⁻³⁵ ma³³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Singapore)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hái-bé
    • Tâi-lô: hái-bé
    • Phofsit Daibuun: hay'bea
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /hai⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ be⁴¹/
    • IPA (Singapore): /hai⁴²⁻²⁴ be⁴²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /hai⁵³⁻⁴⁴ be⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Penang)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hái-bée
    • Tâi-lô: hái-bée
    • IPA (Penang): /hai⁴⁴⁵⁻³³ bɛ⁴⁴⁵/

---

• Middle Chinese: xojX maeX

Rime
Character	海	馬
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	曉 (32)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	咍 (41)	麻 (98)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	II
Fanqie	呼改切	莫下切
Baxter	xojX	maeX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/hʌiX/	/mˠaX/
Pan Wuyun	/həiX/	/mᵚaX/
Shao Rongfen	/xɒiX/	/maX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/həjX/	/maɨX/
Li Rong	/xᴀiX/	/maX/
Wang Li	/xɒiX/	/maX/
Bernard Karlgren	/xɑ̆iX/	/maX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	hǎi	mǎ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	hoi2	maa5

Noun

海馬

1. sea horse (Classifier: 隻／只 m c; 尾 mn)
2. (obsolete) walrus
3. (obsolete) frog
4. Short for 海馬體／海马体 (hǎimǎtǐ, “hippocampus”).

Synonyms

• (sea horse):

Dialectal synonyms of 海馬 (“sea horse”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		海馬
Mandarin	Taiwan	海馬
	Singapore	海馬
Cantonese	Hong Kong	海馬
Southern Min	Penang (Hokkien)	海馬
	Singapore (Hokkien)	海馬
Wu	Wenzhou	海龍兒

Derived terms

• 海馬回／海马回 (hǎimǎhuí)
• 海馬體／海马体 (hǎimǎtǐ)

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (海馬):

• → Japanese: 海(か​い)馬(ば) (ka​iba)
• → Korean: 해마(海馬) (haema)
• → Vietnamese: hải mã (海馬)

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
海	馬
うみ Grade: 2	うま Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
海馬 (kyūjitai)

海馬 (umiuma, kaiba): a sea horse.

Compound of 海(うみ) (umi, “ocean, sea”) + 馬(うま) (uma, “horse”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) うみうま [ùmíúmá] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) うみ​うま [ùmíꜜùmà] (Nakadaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [ɯ̟ᵝmʲiɯ̟ᵝma̠]

Noun

海(うみ)馬(うま) or 海馬(ウミウマ) • (umiuma) 

1. Synonym of 竜の落とし子 (tatsu no otoshigo, “sea horse”) (fish)

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 ウミウマ.

Derived terms

• 大(オオ)海(ウミ)馬(ウマ) (ōumiuma)
• 黒(クロ)海(ウミ)馬(ウマ) (kurōmiuma)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
海	馬
かい Grade: 2	ば Grade: 2
on’yomi

Alternative spelling
海馬 (kyūjitai)

海馬 (kaiba): a walrus.

From Middle Chinese 海馬 (xoj^X mæ^X, literally “sea + horse”). Compare Mandarin 海馬／海马 (hǎimǎ), Cantonese 海馬／海马 (hoi2 maa5), Min Nan 海馬／海马 (hái-bé).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) か​いば [káꜜìbà] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ka̠iba̠]

Noun

海(かい)馬(ば) or 海馬(カイバ) • (kaiba) 

1. (rare) Synonym of 竜の落とし子 (tatsu no otoshigo, “sea horse”) (fish)
2. (rare) Synonym of 海象 (seiuchi, “walrus”)
3. (anatomy) the hippocampus (a part of the brain)

   Synonym: 海馬体 (kaibatai)

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 カイバ.

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
海	馬
Grade: 2	Grade: 2
irregular

Alternative spellings
海馬 (kyūjitai) 胡獱

海馬 (todo): a female and male Steller sea lion.

From Ainu トド (todo), トト (toto, “sea lion”). The kanji is jukujikun (熟字訓).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) と​ど [tóꜜdò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [to̞do̞]

Noun

海馬(とど) or 海馬(トド) • (todo) 

1. a Steller sea lion

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 トド. The kanji spellings are rare. When written in kanji, the 胡獱 spelling may be more common, likely to avoid confusion with the alternate readings of the 海馬 spelling of umiuma and kaiba.

Korean

Hanja in this term
海	馬

Noun

海馬 • (haema) (hangeul 해마)

1. Hanja form^? of 해마 (“seahorse; walrus”).

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
海	馬

Noun

海馬

1. chữ Hán form of hải mã (“seahorse; walrus”).