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:
Note: 鼃 is an ancient character for frog. In modern times, it has often been replaced with 蛙 (wā).
Pronunciation
Idiom
井底之蛙
- 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.]
- From: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, circa 14th 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!
汝乃井底之蛙，安知玄奥乎！ [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]- 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.]
- From: Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber, mid-18th 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.
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.]
Synonyms
Dialectal synonyms of 井底之蛙 (“a person of very limited outlook and experience”) [map]
| Variety | Location | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Classical Chinese | 井蛙 | |
| Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | 井底之蛙, 井底蛙 | |
| Mandarin | Taiwan | 井底之蛙 |
| Singapore | 井底之蛙 | |
| Cantonese | Hong Kong | 井底之蛙 |
| 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 | |
Descendants
Others:
- → Japanese: (calque) 井の中の蛙大海を知らず (i no naka no kawazu taikai o shirazu), 井の中の蛙 (i no naka no kawazu), 井底の蛙 (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)
Japanese
| Kanji in this term | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 井 | 底 | 之 | 蛙 |
| せい Grade: 4 |
てい Grade: 4 |
の Jinmeiyō |
かわず Hyōgaiji |
| kan’on | kun’yomi | ||
| For pronunciation and definitions of 井底之蛙 – see the following entry. | ||
| ||
| (This term, 井底之蛙, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) |
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