猫

See also: 貓 and 描

猫 U+732B, 猫 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-732B ← 猪 [U+732A] CJK Unified Ideographs 猬 → [U+732C]

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order (Chinese)

Stroke order (Japan)

Japanese	猫
Simplified	猫
Traditional	貓

Han character

猫 (Kangxi radical 94, 犬+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 大竹廿田 (KHTW), four-corner 4426₀, composition ⿰犭苗)

Derived characters

• 𢵝, 𫫯

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 714, character 27
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 20535
• Dae Jaweon: page 1127, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1352, character 1
• Unihan data for U+732B

Chinese

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (苗) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
貓	*mreːw, *mrew
描	*mreːw, *mrew
媌	*mreːw, *mreːwʔ
緢	*mreːwʔ, *mreːws, *mrew
苗	*mrew
猫	*mrew
庿	*mrews

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mrew) : semantic 犬 + phonetic 苗 (OC *mrew).

Definitions

For pronunciation and definitions of 猫 – see 貓 (“cat; to hide oneself; etc.”). (This character is the simplified and variant form of 貓).

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Japanese

Kanji

猫

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: みょう (myō)^{←めう (meu, historical)}
• Kan-on: びょう (byō, Jōyō)^{←べう (beu, historical)}; ぼう (bō)^{←ばう (bau, historical)}
• Kun: ねこ (neko, 猫, Jōyō)

Compounds

Compounds

• 愛(あい)猫(びょう) (aibyō): beloved cat; love for cats
• 怪(かい)猫(びょう) (kaibyō): a monster cat
• 成(せい)猫(びょう) (seibyō): fully-grown cat
• 斑(はん)猫(みょう) (hanmyō): tiger beetle
• 猫(びょう)額(がく) (byōgaku): cat's forehead, smallness as that of a cat's forehead
• 猫(びょう)睛(せい)石(せき) (byōseiseki): cat's-eye
• 霊(れい)猫(びょう) (reibyō): civet

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
猫
ねこ Grade: S
kun’yomi

⟨neko₁⟩ → /neko/

From Old Japanese. Cognate with Miyako にか (nika, “cat”, Tarama and Minna dialects) via unknown Japonic substratum.

A comparison of accent patterns between the dialects shows some confusion (see dialectal data):

• One group of dialects behaves as if <LF> was the Heian Kyoto accent pattern: many dialects with the Tokyo type accent, including the standard Japanese in Tokyo, pronounce this word with an <HL-L> pitch pattern, and in some non-mainstream Keihan type dialects as well, this word has a corresponding <LF> pitch pattern.
• Another group of dialects behaves as if <LL> was the Heian Kyoto accent pattern: the mainstream Keihan type dialects pronounce this word with an <HL> pitch pattern, and in a few of the Tokyo type dialects, this word has a corresponding <LH-L> pitch pattern.

As a result, this term is one example of words that have the same pitch accent pattern between Tokyo and Osaka/Kyoto. The confusion seems to be due to an impression that the term comes from a compound word origin.

One theory explains that neko is shortened from earlier 猫(ねこま) (nekoma) (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?), but neko has a first appearance in literature earlier than that for nekoma.

First attested in the Shin'yaku Kegonkyō Ongi Shiki of 794.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ね​こ [néꜜkò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ne̞ko̞]

• Audio

  (file)

Dialectal data

Modern dialectal data (Sapporo, Hokkaidō) /ne⸢ko⸣/ (Rebun, Hokkaidō) /ne̞⸢gô/ (Aomori, Aomori Prefecture) /ne̞⸢gô/ (Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture) /ne̞⸢gô/ (Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture) /ne̞⸣go/ (Morioka, Iwate) /ne̞⸣go/ (Ashiro (Hachimantai), Iwate) /ne̞⸢go⸣/ (Sendai, Miyagi) /ne̞go/ (Akita, Akita Prefecture) /ne̞⸣go/ (Kawabe, Akita Prefecture) /ne̞⸣go/ (Amarume (Shōnai), Yamagata) /ne̞go/ (Kōriyama, Fukushima) /ne̞go/ (Takada (Date), Fukushima) /ne̞go/ (Ibaraki, Ibaraki Prefecture) /ne̞go/ (Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture) /neko/ (Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Menuma (Kumagaya), Saitama Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Tako, Chiba Prefecture) /ne⸣go/ (Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture) /neko/ (Tokyo) /ne⸣ko/ (Okutama, Tokyo) /ne⸣ko/ (Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Niigata, Niigata Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Sado, Niigata Prefecture) /⸢neko/ (Toyama, Toyama Prefecture) /ne⸢ko⸣/ (Gokayama, Toyama Prefecture) /ne⸢ko⸣/ (Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture) /ne⸢ko/ (Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture) /ne⸢ko ~ ne⸢go/ (Fukui, Fukui Prefecture) /neko ~ nekome (vulgar)/ (Kōfu, Yamanashi Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Nagano, Nagano Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Akiyama, Akiyama Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Gifu, Gifu Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Nagoya, Aichi) /ne⸣ko/ (Ano (Tsu), Mie Prefecture) /ne⸢ko⸣/ (Nagahama-Santō (Nagahama-Maibara) Shiga Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Osaka, Osaka Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Kishiwada, Osaka Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Kakogawa, Hyōgo Prefecture) /ne⸢kô/ (Yamatokōriyama, Nara Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Totsugawa, Nara Prefecture) /ne⸢ko⸣/ (Arida, Wakayama Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Tottori, Tottori Prefecture) /ne⸣ko ~ ⸢ɲaːko (childish)/ (Izumo, Shimane Prefecture) /ne̞⸢ko⸣/ (Okayama, Okayama Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Yuki (Jinsekikōgen), Hiroshima Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Okayama, Okayama Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Tokuji (Yamaguchi), Yamaguchi Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Kagawa, Kagawa Prefecture) /ne⸢kô/ (Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture) /ne⸢ko⸣/ (Ōshū, Ehime Prefecture), /neko/ (Kochi, Kochi Prefecture) /ne⸢ko⸣/ (Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Kitagata, Saga Prefecture) /⸣neko/ (Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture) /ne⸢ko⸣/ (Fukue (Gotō), Nagasaki Prefecture) /neko/ (Kagami (Yatsushiro), Kumamoto Prefecture) /ne⸢ko⸣/ (Notsu (Usuki), Ōita Prefecture) /ne⸣ko/ (Miyazaki, Miyazaki Prefecture) /ɲeko/ (Kagoshima, Kagoshima Prefecture) /ne⸢ko⸣/ (Koshiki, Kagoshima Prefecture) /ne⸢ko⸣/ Note: The information are extracted per se, in a broad IPA transcription by the author. There may be inaccuracies in the data. For Hachijō and Ryukyuan data, see their corresponding entries. /ɯ̈/ is a described as a "central vowel", but the precise transcription is unclear. Data source (unless missing): Hirayama, Teruo (平山 照男), Ōshima Ichirō (大島 一郎), Ōno Masao (大野 眞男), Kuno Makoto (久野 眞), Kuno Mariko (久野 マリ子), Sugimura Takao (杉村 孝夫) (1992-1994) 現代日本語方言大辞典, Tokyo: Meiji Shoin (明治書院) Other dialectal data Ishikawa, Tottori ニコ (niko), Kagoshima ネゴ (nego), Chiba ネコ゚ (ne'ngo), Tokushima ネコー (nekō)

Noun

猫(ねこ) or 猫(ネコ) • (neko)  (counter 匹)

1. [from 794] a cat

   猫(ねこ)が二(に)匹(ひき)居(い)る。

   Neko ga nihiki iru.

   There are two cats.

   家(いえ)には猫(ねこ)が三匹(さんびき)います。

   Ie ni wa neko ga sanbiki imasu.

   There are three cats in the house.

   • 794, Shin'yaku Kegonkyō Ongi Shiki:

     猫狸 [...] ニ又漢云野貍、倭言上尼古、下多〻既

     Cat and raccoon dog, [...] both of them are called 野貍 (yari) in Chinese; the former is called 尼古 (⟨neko₁⟩ → neko) while the latter is called 多〻既 (⟨tatake₂⟩ → tatake) in Japanese.

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 ネコ.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 子(こ)猫(ねこ) (koneko), 仔猫(こねこ) (koneko): a kitten
• 黒(くろ)猫(ねこ) (kuroneko): a black cat
• 麝(じゃ)香(こう)猫(ねこ) (jakō neko): civet
• シュレーディンガーの猫(ねこ) (Shurēdingā no neko): Schrödinger's cat
• 猫(ねこ)手(て) (nekote)
• 猫(ねこ)間(ま) (nekoma)
• 猫(ねこ)又(また) (nekomata)
• 猫(ねこ)耳(みみ) (nekomimi): nekomimi
• 唐(から)猫(ねこ) (karaneko)
• 化(ば)け猫(ねこ) (bakeneko): a monster cat
• 招(まね)き猫(ねこ) (manekineko)
• 虎(とら)猫(ねこ) (toraneko)
• どら猫(ねこ) (doraneko)
• 山(やま)猫(ねこ) (yamaneko)
• 猫(ねこ)可愛(かわい)がり (nekokawaigari)
• 三(み)毛(け)猫(ねこ) (mikeneko): a calico cat

Idioms

Idioms

• 猫(ねこ)も杓(しゃく)子(し)も (neko mo shakushi mo)
• 猫(ねこ)の手(て)も借(か)りたい (neko no te mo karitai)
• 猫舌(ねこじた) (nekojita): "cat tongue", someone who is incapable of drinking or eating anything hot due to having an overly sensitive tongue
• 猫(ねこ)に鰹(かつお)節(ぶし) (neko ni katsuobushi)
• 猫(ねこ)に小(こ)判(はん) (neko ni kohan): pearls before swine
• 猫(ねこ)の額(ひたい) (neko no hitai)
• 借(か)りてきた猫(ねこ) (karite kita neko)
• 猫(ねこ)を被(かぶ)る (neko o kaburu): feign innocence

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
猫
ねこま Grade: S
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
猫ま

According to the 和名類聚抄 (Wamyō Ruijushō), 931–938, 猫(ねこ) (neko) is short for this word.

938, Minamoto no Shitagō, Wamyō Ruijushō, volume 7, page 56:

猫: 野王案、猫、音苗、禰古麻、下總本有和名二字興河海抄引此合、本草和名同訓、或省云禰古、新撰字鏡、狸、禰古、按狸一名猫、見本草和名、似虎而小、熊捕鼠為糧

Cat. According to Yewang, cat, sound-reading myō, [Japanese reading] nekoma; later compendiums have a two character Japanese name- perhaps the Rivers and Seas Annotations references this compilation, the Honzō wamyō [has] a kun homophone, certain omissions call it 'neko', [in the] Shinsen Jikyō 'tanuki'- [read] neko, to check 'tanuki' [as] one name [for] a cat - see the Honzō wamyō; like a tiger but small, the creature catches rats for food

One theory describes the first mora <ne> as onomatopoeia for the sound a cat makes (cf. にゃ (nya); compare English mew, meow). The last two morae <ko₁ma> might accord with 熊(くま) (kuma, “bear”) if it were from Proto-Japonic *koma (class 2.3 <LL>), in the sense of "four-legged animal". The Heian Kyoto accent of this word is <LHL>; note that in compound words for species names, the pitch pattern may be simplified to <-HL> when the final element is a 2-mora noun (e.g. 青海苔 (aonori, “green laver”, < àwònórì < *àwò-nòrì), and the presence or absence of this phenomenon could explain the accent confusion in neko. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

However, nekoma is first cited to 918 in the 本草和名 (Honzō Wamyō, the oldest surviving dictionary of medicine in Japan), while neko is first attested in 794.

c. 918, Honzō Wamyō:

家狸、一名猫、和名禰古末

A house raccoon; also called a cat; the Japanese name is nekoma.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ne̞ko̞ma̠]

Dialectal data
Other dialectal data Gifu (Hida) ねこま (nekoma, “a backpack made with the skin or straw of 檜 (hinoki, “cypress tree”)”)

Noun

猫(ねこま) • (nekoma) 

1. [918–???] (obsolete) a cat

References

• Minamoto, Shitagō with Kyōto Daigaku Bungakubu Kokugogaku Kokubungaku Kenkyūshitu (931–938) Shohon Shūsei Wamyō Ruijushō: Honbunhen (in Japanese), Kyōto: Rinsen, published 1968, →ISBN.

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 猫 (MC mjew). Recorded as Middle Korean 貓/묘 (myo) (Yale: myo) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Hanja

Wikisource

猫 (eumhun 고양이 묘 (goyang'i myo))

1. Hanja form^? of 묘 (“cat”).

Compounds

Compounds

• 가묘 (家猫, gamyo)
• 반려묘 (伴侶猫, ballyeomyo)

References

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [4]

Okinawan

Kanji

猫

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

• Kun: まやー (mayā, 猫)

Compounds

Compounds

• 赤(あか)猫(まやー) (akamayā, “red tabby cat”)
• 黒(くる)猫(まやー) (kurumayā, “black cat”)
• 白(しる)猫(まやー) (shirumayā, “white cat”)
• 猫(まやー)子(ぐゎー), 猫(まやー)小(ぐゎー) (mayāgwā, “cat; kitten”)
• まんちゃーまやー (manchāmayā, “tricolour cat”)
• 山(やま)猫(まやー) (yamamayā, “mountain cat”)

Noun

猫(まやー) (mayā) 

1. cat

References

• “まやー・まやあ【猫】” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.

Yaeyama

Kanji

猫

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Noun

猫(まやー) (mayā) 

1. cat

Yoron

Kanji

猫

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Noun

猫(みゃんか) (myanka) 

1. cat