娃娃魚

Chinese

		baby; young child	fish
trad. (娃娃魚)		娃娃	魚
simp. (娃娃鱼)		娃娃	鱼

Etymology

So named for its vocalizations, which sound like a baby crying.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wáwayú

  (Zhuyin): ㄨㄚˊ ˙ㄨㄚ ㄩˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): waa¹ waa¹ jyu^4-2
• Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): ua¹ ua¹ he⁵

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wáwayú
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄚˊ ˙ㄨㄚ ㄩˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wáwåyú
    • Wade–Giles: wa²-wa⁵-yü²
    • Yale: wá-wa-yú
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wa.uayu
    • Palladius: ваваюй (vavajuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wä³⁵ wä³ y³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: waa¹ waa¹ jyu^4-2
    • Yale: wā wā yú
    • Cantonese Pinyin: waa¹ waa¹ jy^4-2
    • Guangdong Romanization: wa¹ wa¹ yu^4-2
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /waː⁵⁵ waː⁵⁵ jyː²¹⁻³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: ua¹ ua¹ he⁵
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: ua ua hṳ̂
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ua³³⁻²³ ua³³⁻²³ hɯ⁵⁵/

Noun

娃娃魚

1. Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) (Classifier: 條／条 m c)

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 娃娃魚 (“giant salamander”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		鯢, 鯢魚, 人魚
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		大鯢
Taxonomic name		大鯢
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	娃娃魚
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	娃娃魚
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	娃娃魚
Southwestern Mandarin	Guiyang	娃娃魚
	Liuzhou	娃娃魚
Cantonese	Hong Kong	娃娃魚
Huizhou	Jixi	娃娃魚, 海狗魚
Jin	Xinzhou	娃娃魚兒