鳥貝

Japanese

Kanji in this term
鳥	貝
とり Grade: 2	かい > がい Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Etymology

Compound of 鳥(とり) (tori, “bird”) + 貝(かい) (kai, “shellfish”). So called in part because the foot of the mollusc looks a bit like a bird's foot, and because the flavor is similar to chicken.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) とりがい [tòríꜜgàì] (Nakadaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [to̞ɾʲiɡa̠i]

Noun

鳥(とり)貝(がい) or 鳥貝(トリガイ) • (torigai) ^{←とりがひ (torigafi)?}

1. a Japanese cockle, an egg cockle: an edible marine bivalve mollusc of family Cardiidae, species Fulvia mutica

Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary).