井蛙

Chinese

		warn; well	frog
simp. and trad. (井蛙)		井	蛙
alternative forms		井鼃

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jǐngwā

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄥˇ ㄨㄚ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zeng² waa¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jǐngwā
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄥˇ ㄨㄚ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jǐngwa
    • Wade–Giles: ching³-wa¹
    • Yale: jǐng-wā
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jiingua
    • Palladius: цзинва (czinva)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕiŋ²¹⁴⁻²¹ wä⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zeng² waa¹
    • Yale: jéng wā
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzeng² waa¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: zéng² wa¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sɛːŋ³⁵ waː⁵⁵/

Noun

井蛙

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

   • 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

     Jǐngwā 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.

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

Derived terms

• 井蛙之見 / 井蛙之见 (jǐngwāzhījiàn)