井底之蛙

Chinese

FWOTD – 5 April 2019

		warn; well	background; bottom; base background; bottom; base; (possessive part.); (subor. part.)	's; him/her/it; this	frog
trad. (井底之蛙)		井	底	之	蛙
simp. #(井底之蛙)		井	底	之	蛙
Literally: “a frog at the bottom of a well (who can only see a small part of the sky through the opening)”.

Etymology

From Zhuangzi:

井鼃不可以語於海者，拘於虛也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

井鼃不可以语于海者，拘于虚也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE

Jǐng wā bù kěyǐ yù yú hǎi zhě, jū yú xū yě. [Pinyin]

A frog in a well cannot be talked with about an ocean - it is confined to its own narrow place.

Note: 鼃 is an ancient character for frog. In modern times, it has often been replaced with 蛙 (wā).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jǐngdǐzhīwā

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄥˇ ㄉㄧˇ ㄓ ㄨㄚ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zeng² dai² zi¹ waa¹
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): chéng-té-chi-oa

  (Teochew, Peng'im): zên² doin² ze¹ ua¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jǐngdǐzhīwā [Phonetic: jíngdǐzhīwā]
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄥˇ ㄉㄧˇ ㄓ ㄨㄚ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jǐngdǐjhihwa
    • Wade–Giles: ching³-ti³-chih¹-wa¹
    • Yale: jǐng-dǐ-jr̄-wā
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jiingdiijyua
    • Palladius: цзиндичжива (czindičživa)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕiŋ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ti²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ wä⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zeng² dai² zi¹ waa¹
    • Yale: jéng dái jī wā
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzeng² dai² dzi¹ waa¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: zéng² dei² ji¹ wa¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sɛːŋ³⁵ tɐi̯³⁵ t͡siː⁵⁵ waː⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chéng-té-chi-oa
    • Tâi-lô: tsíng-té-tsi-ua
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zefngdefci'oaf
    • IPA (Xiamen): /t͡siɪŋ⁵³⁻⁴⁴ te⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡si⁴⁴⁻²² ua⁴⁴/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: zên² doin² ze¹ ua¹
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tséⁿ tóiⁿ tsṳ ua
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sẽ⁵²⁻³⁵ tõĩ⁵² t͡sɯ³³⁻²³ ua³³/

Idiom

井底之蛙

1. a “frog in a well”, a person of very limited outlook and experience

   • 汝乃井底之蛙，安知玄奧乎！ [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     汝乃井底之蛙，安知玄奥乎！ [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, circa 14^th century CE

     Rǔ nǎi jǐngdǐzhīwā, ān zhī xuán'ào hū! [Pinyin]

     You're (like) a frog at the bottom of a well (who can only see part of the sky), how would you know about anything that is profound!

   • 可知我井底之蛙，成日家只說現在的這幾個人是有一無二的。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     可知我井底之蛙，成日家只说现在的这几个人是有一无二的。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber, mid-18^th century CE

     Kě zhī wǒ jǐngdǐzhīwā, chéngrìjia zhǐ shuō xiànzài de zhè jǐ ge rén shì yǒuyīwú'èr de. [Pinyin]

     [You] can tell that I am a frog at the bottom of a well; all day, all [I] talk about is that these several people are so unique.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 井底之蛙 (“a person of very limited outlook and experience”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		井蛙
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		井底之蛙, 井底蛙
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	井底之蛙
	Singapore	井底之蛙
Cantonese	Hong Kong	井底之蛙
	Yangjiang	井底蛙
Hakka	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	井肚蛤蟆, 井肚個蛤蟆, 山狗仔
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	井肚蛤蟆, 井肚個蛤蟆, 山狗仔
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	井肚蛤蟆, 井肚個蛤蟆, 山狗仔
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	井肚蛤蟆, 井肚個蛤蟆, 山狗
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	井肚蛤蟆, 井肚個蛤蟆, 山狗子
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	井底𧊅子, 井底個𧊅子
Southern Min	Xiamen	涵空龜, 井底水雞
	Zhangzhou	涵空龜
	Tainan	涵空龜
	Jieyang	井底水雞

Related terms

• 坐井觀天／坐井观天 (zuòjǐngguāntiān)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (井底之蛙):

• → Korean: 정저지와(井底之蛙) (jeongjeojiwa)

Others:

• → Japanese: (calque) 井(い)の中(なか)の蛙(かわず)大(たい)海(かい)を知(し)らず (i no naka no kawazu taikai o shirazu), 井(い)の中(なか)の蛙(かわず) (i no naka no kawazu), 井(せい)底(てい)の蛙(かわず) (seitei no kawazu) (calque)
• → Korean: 우물 안 개구리 (umul an gaeguri) (calque; more common than the Sino-Korean form)
• → Vietnamese: ếch ngồi đáy giếng (calque)

See also

• 夏蟲不可語冰／夏虫不可语冰 (xiàchóng bùkě yǔ bīng)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
井	底	之	蛙
せい Grade: 4	てい Grade: 4	の Jinmeiyō	かわず Hyōgai
kan'on		kun'yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 井底之蛙 – see the following entry.

【井底せいていの蛙かわず】 [idiom] a person of very limited outlook and experience

(This term, 井底之蛙, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)