日本猿

Japanese

Kanji in this term
日	本	猿
にち > に Grade: 1	ほん Grade: 1	さる > ざる Grade: S
irregular	on'yomi	kun'yomi

Etymology

日本(にほん) (Nihon, “Japan”) + 猿(さる) (saru, “monkey”). The saru changes to zaru as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) にほんざる [nìhóńzáꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [4])
• IPA^(key): [ɲ̟ihõ̞nd͡za̠ɾɯ̟]

Noun

日(に)本(ほん)猿(ざる) or 日本猿(ニホンザル) • (nihonzaru) 

1. a Japanese macaque, Macaca fuscata

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 ニホンザル.

Descendants

• → Korean: 일본원숭이 (Ilbonwonsung'i) (calque)
• → Vietnamese: khỉ Nhật Bản (calque)