麒麟

Chinese
male unicorn female unicorn
trad. (麒麟) 麒 麟
simp. #(麒麟) 麒 麟
alternative forms 騏驎 obsolete
麒麐／麒麟 obsolete
麒麟 (qilin)

Etymology

Qilin was a propitious beast in ancient Chinese mythology, with the shape of a deer, tail of an ox, a single horn and scales all over its body. Old Chinese pronunciation for this word was *g(ɯ)-rin (Zhengzhang), and in pre-Qin times the beast was also referred to as

  • 麟 (OC *rin),
  • 麐 (OC *m·rin, *m·rins),
  • 𪊓, or
  • 蔽 (OC *peds),

the last two having been attested in the oracle bone script already. There is much debate as to what animal the qilin beast was; some maintain that the qilin was a beast only found in mythology, even though it may have been based on some animal in pre-historic times, and some argue that the qilin was in reality the river deer, the ox or cow, or the Indian rhinoceros (Wang, 2009).

During the Song–Ming Dynasties, the giraffe was introduced to China, either by envoys from other Asian or African countries, or through Zheng He who commanded multiple expeditionary voyages to Asia and Africa (Zhang, 2007). Besides using the transcription 祖剌法 (zǔlàfǎ) (from Arabic زُرَافَة (zurāfa, “giraffe”)) to name the animal, the Chinese also referred to it as qilin, believing it was the prototype of the mythological beast qilin. Such association may be due to the phonological similarity of the words for “giraffe” in North African languages, to the pronunciation of 麒麟 at the time (i.e. a phono-semantic matching) (Zhang, 2007). Compare:

Somali geri (“giraffe”), Sango kôlo, Amharic ቀጭኔ (ḳäč̣ne), Kazakh керік (kerık), Mursi kirin[1] and Arabic زَرَافَة (zarāfa), زُرَافَة (zurāfa) (whence English giraffe).

The “giraffe” sense of 麒麟 is obsolete in most varieties of modern Chinese, but is preserved in the Sinoxenic loanwords in Japanese (麒(き)麟(りん) (kirin)) and Korean (기린). In modern Vietnamese (kì lân), this word refers to the beast qilin, as well as the western mythological beast unicorn.

Janhunen (2011) tentatively compares 麒麟 (OC *ɡɯ rin) to a Northeast Asian etymon *kalimV, which denotes either "whale" or "mammoth"; however, he cautiously remarks that "[t]he formal and semantic similarity between *kilin < *gilin ~ *gïlin 'unicorn' and *kalimV 'whale' (but also Samoyedic *kalay- 'mammoth') is sufficient to support, though perhaps not confirm, the hypothesis of an etymological connection". He also notes a possible connection between Old Chinese and Mongolian (*)kers ~ (*)keris ~ (*)kiris "rhinoceros" (> Khalkha Mongolian хирс (xirs)).

Pronunciation

Rime
Character 麒 麟
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Initial (聲) 群 (30) 來 (37)
Final (韻) 之 (19) 眞 (43)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division (等) III III
Fanqie 渠之切 力珍切
Baxter gi lin
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /ɡɨ/ /liɪn/
Pan
Wuyun		 /ɡɨ/ /lin/
Shao
Rongfen		 /ɡie/ /ljen/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /gɨ/ /lin/
Li
Rong		 /ɡiə/ /liĕn/
Wang
Li		 /ɡĭə/ /lĭĕn/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /gi/ /li̯ĕn/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 qí lín
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex		 kei4 lan4
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 麒 麟
Reading # 1/1 1/1
No. 9956 8201
Phonetic
component		 其 粦
Rime
group		 之 眞
Rime
subdivision		 0 1
Corresponding
MC rime		 其 㷠
Old
Chinese		 /*ɡɯ/ /*rin/

Noun

麒麟

  1. (Chinese mythology) qilin (propitious mythological beast) (Classifier: 隻／只 m c mn)
  2. (figurative, literary) outstanding person; man of ability
  3. (literary or Taiwanese Hokkien) giraffe (ruminant of the genus Giraffa) (Classifier: 隻／只 mn)

Synonyms
  • (outstanding person):
  • (giraffe):
Dialectal synonyms of 長頸鹿 (“giraffe”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 長頸鹿
Taxonomic name 長頸鹿
Mandarin Beijing 長脖兒鹿
Taiwan 長頸鹿
Ürümqi 長脖兒鹿
Liuzhou 長頸鹿
Singapore 長頸鹿
Cantonese Hong Kong 長頸鹿
Hakka Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua) 長頸鹿
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 長頸鹿
Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) 長頸鹿
Pingtung (Wuluo, Ligang; S. Sixian) 長頸鹿仔
Kaohsiung (Meinong; S. Sixian) 長頸鹿
Kaohsiung (Shanlin; S. Sixian) 長頸鹿
Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) 長頸鹿
Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) 長頸鹿
Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) 長頸鹿
Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) 長頸鹿
Southern Min Xiamen 長頸鹿, 長頷鹿
Zhao'an 長頸鹿
Taipei (Wanhua) 長頭鹿
New Taipei (Tamsui) 長頭鹿
Kaohsiung 長頷鹿, 麒麟仔
Kaohsiung (Cijin) 長頷頸
Kaohsiung (Dalinpu, Siaogang) 長頸鹿, 長鹿仔
Yilan 長頷鹿
Yilan (Luodong) 躼跤鹿仔
Yilan (Toucheng) 躼跤鹿仔
Changhua (Lukang) 麒麟鹿
Taichung 麒麟
Taichung (Wuqi) 麒麟鹿
Tainan 長頷鹿
Taitung 長頷鹿
Hsinchu 長頷鹿
Penghu (Magong) 長頷鹿
Penang (Hokkien) 麒麟鹿, 長頸鹿
Singapore (Hokkien) 麒麟鹿, 長跤鹿, 長頸鹿
Singapore (Teochew) 長頸鹿

Derived terms

Descendants
Sino-Xenic (麒麟):

Others:

Proper noun

麒麟

  1. (～區) Qilin District (district in Qujing, Yunnan province, China)
  2. (～鎮) Qilin (a town in Zongyang, Tongling, Anhui, China)

References
  1. David Turton, Mozes Yigezu, Oilsarali Olibui, Mursi-English-Amharic Dictionary, 2009

Japanese
FWOTD – 27 December 2021
Kanji in this term
麒 麟
き
Jinmeiyō		 りん
Jinmeiyō
kan’on on’yomi
Alternative spellings
騏驎 (general use)
キリン (giraffe, beer)

Etymology

From Old Japanese, in turn from Middle Chinese 麒麟 (MC gi lin). First cited in Japanese to the Nihon Shoki of 720.[1]

The giraffe sense was probably based on a superficial resemblance between certain depictions of the mythical beast and the patterning and body shape of the real animal: a tailed, hoofed, and horned quadruped with a vaguely leopard-like spot pattern. First cited in Japanese to a text from 1798.[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

麒(き)麟(りん) or 麒麟(キリン) • (kirin) 

  1. [from 720] 麒麟, 騏驎: (mythology, Chinese mythology) a qilin
    • 2010 May 23, Gosho Aoyama, “ＦＩＬＥ(ファイル).５(ご)　[青](せい)[龍](りゅう) ([青](せい)[龍](りゅう)) [FILE 5: Azure Dragon]”, in 名(めい)探(たん)偵(てい)コナン (名(めい)探(たん)偵(てい)コナン) [Legendary Detective Conan], volume 68 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN:
      それは動(どう)物(ぶつ)のキリン！問(もん)題(だい)の麒(き)麟(りん)は…全(ぜん)身(しん)が黄(き)色(いろ)い鱗(うろこ)で覆(おお)われていて、姿(すがた)は鹿(しか)、牛(うし)の尾(お)と馬(うま)の蹄(ひづめ)を持(も)ち、龍(りゅう)に似(に)た頭(あたま)から１(いっ)本(ぽん)角(つの)が生(は)えてる…中(ちゅう)国(ごく)の伝(でん)説(せつ)上(じょう)の神(しん)獣(じゅう)だよ！
      Sore wa dōbutsu no kirin! Mondai no kirin wa… Zenshin ga kiiroi uroko de ōwarete ite, sugata wa shika, ushi no o to uma no hizume o mochi, ryū ni nita atama kara ippon tsuno ga haete ru… Chūgoku no densetsu jō no shinjū da yo!
      That’s giraffe(kirin) the animal! The qilin(kirin) we’re talking about… has a deer-like body covered in golden scales, with a cow’s tail and a horse’s hooves, and with a single horn growing from its dragonish head… It’s a mythical beast from Chinese legends!
  2. [date unknown] 麒麟, 騏驎: (shogi) the kirin, a piece in chūshōgi and larger shogi variants
  3. [from 1798] 麒麟, 騏驎, キリン: a giraffe (mammal)
    Synonym: ジラフ (jirafu)
    • 2010 May 23, Gosho Aoyama, “ＦＩＬＥ(ファイル).５(ご)　[青](せい)[龍](りゅう) ([青](せい)[龍](りゅう)) [FILE 5: Azure Dragon]”, in 名(めい)探(たん)偵(てい)コナン (名(めい)探(たん)偵(てい)コナン) [Legendary Detective Conan], volume 68 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN:
      それは動(どう)物(ぶつ)のキリン！問(もん)題(だい)の麒(き)麟(りん)は…全(ぜん)身(しん)が黄(き)色(いろ)い鱗(うろこ)で覆(おお)われていて、姿(すがた)は鹿(しか)、牛(うし)の尾(お)と馬(うま)の蹄(ひづめ)を持(も)ち、龍(りゅう)に似(に)た頭(あたま)から１(いっ)本(ぽん)角(つの)が生(は)えてる…中(ちゅう)国(ごく)の伝(でん)説(せつ)上(じょう)の神(しん)獣(じゅう)だよ！
      Sore wa dōbutsu no kirin! Mondai no kirin wa… Zenshin ga kiiroi uroko de ōwarete ite, sugata wa shika, ushi no o to uma no hizume o mochi, ryū ni nita atama kara ippon tsuno ga haete ru… Chūgoku no densetsu jō no shinjū da yo!
      That’s giraffe(kirin) the animal! The qilin(kirin) we’re talking about… has a deer-like body covered in golden scales, with a cow’s tail and a horse’s hooves, and with a single horn growing from its dragonish head… It’s a mythical beast from Chinese legends!

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 キリン.

Derived terms
Derived terms

See also

References
  1. “麒麟・騏驎”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000
  2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN
  4. Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean
Hanja in this term
麒麟

Noun

麒麟 • (girin or McCune-Reischauer: kirin or Yale: kilin) (hangeul 기린)

  1. Hanja form? of 기린 (“giraffe; qilin”).

Vietnamese
chữ Hán Nôm in this term
麒麟

Noun

麒麟

  1. chữ Hán form of kì lân (“qilin”).
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