狸

Eastern Han Chinese
Fangyan (book)
Guo Pu

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *rɯ): semantic 犬 (“dog”) + phonetic 里 (OC *rɯʔ). Originally an unorthodox variant (俗字) of the character 貍 (lí).
Uncertain. Here some proposals:
*Fangyan https://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=en&id=45515 and Guo Pu consider it to be one among many dialectal words for 貔 (OC *bi), which however is a different word (Schuessler, 2007) (see there).
*Zhao & Huang (1998) (apud Schuessler, 2007) connects it to Hmong pli ~ ple "cat".
*Schuessler (2007) minimally reconstructs 貍 (OC *rə) from *pʰrə ~ *pʰə-rə and proposes possible Sino-Tibetan etymology and compares it to Mru pri (“a kind of leopard”) (see also Löffler, 1966); he also sees potential cognacy with Tibetan ཞི་མི (zhi mi), ཞིམ་བུ (zhim bu), ཞུམ་བུ (zhum bu) - all meaning "cat" - if those were from *ryi-mi; additionally, པི་ཤི (pi shi, “cat”) (< *zhi?) is possibly equivalent to Old Chinese dialectal forms with initial *pʰ- (e.g. 𧳏 (pī) < LHC *pʰiə < OC *pʰrə or 𧳏貍／𧳏狸 (pīlí)); in that case, the original Chinese word might have been a compound: 貔狸 "(large) cat and small cat"; even so, see 貔 (OC *bi) for possible Indic influence on Tibetan byi ~ pi (ibid.).
*STEDT reconstructs Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-(l/r)e(y/ŋ) (“squirrel, weasel”) and proposes cognacy with 鼪 (OC *sreŋ, *sreŋs), Tibetan སྲེ་མོང (sre mong, “weasel”), Burmese ရှဉ့် (hrany., “squirrel”), etc.

zh-l

𧳏貍／𧳏狸 (pīlí)

inh

Have you not seen a wildcat or a weasel?

子獨不見狸狌乎？

子独不见狸狌乎？


貓

→ English: ngeow (via Teochew)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *mreːw, *mrew): semantic 豸 + phonetic 苗 (OC *mrew). The phonetic component perhaps points to the onomatopoeic nature of this word.
Ma Xulun suggested that 豸 was the original character of 貓.
Onomatopoeic. Compare 喵 (miāo, “meow, the onomatopoeic cry of a cat”).
Schuessler (2007) minimally reconstructs Old Chinese *mau, reasoning that 貓's place among division II syllables results from its onomatopoeic nature instead of an Old Chinese medial *-r-; onomatopoeia is also responsible for the 陰平／阴平 (yīnpíng) tone instead of the expected 陽平／阳平 (yángpíng).

zh-l

陰平／阴平 (yīnpíng)

猫
猫
猫
毛
猫
猫
猫
媌

(Mandarin, colloquial) to hang around; to stay somewhere doing nothing


貓咪

/mɑʊ̯⁵⁵ mi⁵⁵/

/maːu̯⁵⁵ miː⁵⁵/

/niãu⁴⁴⁻³³ bi²³/

/niãu⁴⁴⁻²² bi²⁴/

/niãu⁴⁴⁻²² mĩ⁴⁴/

/niãu⁴⁴⁻³³ mĩ⁴⁴/

/mɑʊ̯⁵⁵ mi⁵⁵/

/maːu̯⁵⁵ miː⁵⁵/

/niãu⁴⁴⁻³³ bi²³/

/niãu⁴⁴⁻²² bi²⁴/

/niãu⁴⁴⁻²² mĩ⁴⁴/

/niãu⁴⁴⁻³³ mĩ⁴⁴/

貓咪睡得很熟。

猫咪睡得很熟。

(colloquial, endearing) kitty; cat; kitty-cat (Classifier: 隻／只 m)


咪咪

(onomatopoeia) meow, sound of a cat, meowing

來，來，小咪咪。

来，来，小咪咪。

clarinet-like single reed wind instrument used in the folk music of Ningxia and northern Shaanxi, similar to the Qiang di (羌笛)


小貓

/ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ maʊ̯ɻʷ⁵⁵/

/siːu̯³⁵ maːu̯⁵⁵/

/ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ maʊ̯ɻʷ⁵⁵/

/siːu̯³⁵ maːu̯⁵⁵/

Eeny, meeny, miny moe, catch a tiger by the toe. (Literally, "You clap, I clap, a kitten boards a plane.")

Nǐ pāi yī, wǒ pāi yī, yī zhī xiǎomāo zuò fēijī.

你拍一，我拍一，一隻小貓坐飛機。

你拍一，我拍一，一只小猫坐飞机。

你拍一，我拍一，一隻小貓坐飛機 / 你拍一，我拍一，一只小猫坐飞机

nǐ pāi yī, wǒ pāi yī, yī zhī xiǎomāo zuò fēijī


貓兒

→ Mongolian: муур (muur)

/maːu̯⁵⁵ jiː²¹⁻⁵⁵/

/mau¹¹ əɻ¹¹/

/maːu̯⁵⁵ jiː²¹⁻⁵⁵/

/mau¹¹ əɻ¹¹/

/mɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ˀɤɻ³⁵/

/maːu̯⁵⁵ jiː²¹/

/mɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ˀɤɻ³⁵/

/maːu̯⁵⁵ jiː²¹/


三毛貓

/sän⁵⁵ mɑʊ̯³⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/sän⁵⁵ mɑʊ̯³⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/


斑貓

/pän⁵⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/pan⁴⁴⁻²² niãu⁴⁴/

/pan⁴⁴⁻²² niãu⁴⁴/

/pan⁴⁴⁻³³ niãu⁴⁴/

/pan⁴⁴⁻³³ niãu⁴⁴/

/pän⁵⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/pan⁴⁴⁻²² niãu⁴⁴/

/pan⁴⁴⁻²² niãu⁴⁴/

/pan⁴⁴⁻³³ niãu⁴⁴/

/pan⁴⁴⁻³³ niãu⁴⁴/


野貓

/jɛ²¹⁴⁻²¹ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/jɛː¹³ maːu̯⁵⁵/

/i̯a²⁴⁻¹¹ mi̯au̯⁵⁵/

/ia³³⁻²¹ ma⁵³/

/ia⁴⁵³⁻¹³ mɒ¹³/

/ia³³²⁻⁵⁵ mɒ¹³/

/ia⁵³⁻⁴⁴ niãu⁴⁴/

/ia⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ niãu³³/

/ia⁵³⁻⁴⁴ niãu⁴⁴/

/ia⁵³⁻⁴⁴ niãu⁴⁴/

/ia⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ niãu⁴⁴/

/ɦia²² mɔ⁴⁴/

/jɛ²¹⁴⁻²¹ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/jɛː¹³ maːu̯⁵⁵/

/i̯a²⁴⁻¹¹ mi̯au̯⁵⁵/

/ia³³⁻²¹ ma⁵³/

/ia⁴⁵³⁻¹³ mɒ¹³/

/ia³³²⁻⁵⁵ mɒ¹³/

/ia⁵³⁻⁴⁴ niãu⁴⁴/

/ia⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ niãu³³/

/ia⁵³⁻⁴⁴ niãu⁴⁴/

/ia⁵³⁻⁴⁴ niãu⁴⁴/

/ia⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ niãu⁴⁴/

/ɦia²² mɔ⁴⁴/

Mustela sibirica
Mustela sibirica#Translingual

(Eastern Min) Siberian weasel (Mustela sibirica)


叢林貓

ㄘㄨㄥˊ ㄌㄧㄣˊ ㄇㄠ

/t͡sʰʊŋ³⁵ lin³⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰʊŋ³⁵ lin³⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/


喵星人

/mi̯ɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ɕiŋ⁵⁵ ʐən³⁵/

/miːu̯⁵⁵ sɪŋ⁵⁵ jɐn²¹/

/mi̯ɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ɕiŋ⁵⁵ ʐən³⁵/

/miːu̯⁵⁵ sɪŋ⁵⁵ jɐn²¹/


鏟屎官

/ʈ͡ʂʰän²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ ku̯än⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰaːn³⁵ siː³⁵ kuːn⁵⁵/

/ʈ͡ʂʰän²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ ku̯än⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰaːn³⁵ siː³⁵ kuːn⁵⁵/

(neologism, humorous, self-deprecatory) cat owner


郎貓

/lɑŋ³⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/lɔːŋ²¹ maːu̯⁵⁵/

/lɒ̃¹¹ mau¹¹/

/lɑŋ³⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/lɔːŋ²¹ maːu̯⁵⁵/

/lɒ̃¹¹ mau¹¹/

(chiefly Mandarin, Jin, colloquial) male cat; tomcat


小貓兒

/ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ maʊ̯ɻʷ⁵⁵/

/siːu̯³⁵ maːu̯⁵⁵ jiː²¹/

/ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ maʊ̯ɻʷ⁵⁵/

/siːu̯³⁵ maːu̯⁵⁵ jiː²¹/

(Mandarin) Erhua form of 小貓／小猫 (xiǎomāo, “kitten”).


雄貓

/ɕi̯ʊŋ³⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/hʊŋ²¹ maːu̯⁵⁵/

/ɦioŋ²² mɔ⁴⁴/

/ɕi̯ʊŋ³⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/hʊŋ²¹ maːu̯⁵⁵/

/ɦioŋ²² mɔ⁴⁴/


公貓

/kʊŋ⁵⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/kʊŋ⁵⁵ maːu̯⁵⁵/

/kʊŋ⁵⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/kʊŋ⁵⁵ maːu̯⁵⁵/


貓奴

/mɑʊ̯⁵⁵ nu³⁵/

/mɑʊ̯⁵⁵ nu³⁵/

(neologism, slang, self-deprecatory) cat-owner


黑貓

/xeɪ̯⁵⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/hɐk̚⁵ maːu̯⁵⁵/

/həʔ³³ mɔ⁴⁴/

/xeɪ̯⁵⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/hɐk̚⁵ maːu̯⁵⁵/

/həʔ³³ mɔ⁴⁴/


暹羅貓

/ɕi̯ɛn⁵⁵ lu̯ɔ³⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰiːm³³ lɔː²¹ maːu̯⁵⁵/

/ɕi̯ɛn⁵⁵ lu̯ɔ³⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰiːm³³ lɔː²¹ maːu̯⁵⁵/


兒貓

/əɻ¹¹ mau¹¹/

/əɻ¹¹ mau¹¹/


公貓兒

/koŋ⁵⁵ mɚ⁵⁵/

/koŋ⁵⁵ mɚ⁵⁵/


貓公子

/mɒu̯³³ kʊŋ³³ t͡sz̩³/

/mɒu̯³³ kən³³ t͡sz̩³/

/mɒu̯³³ kʊŋ³³ t͡sz̩³/

/mɒu̯³³ kən³³ t͡sz̩³/


貓貓

/niãu⁴⁴⁻³³ ba²⁴/

/niãu⁴⁴⁻³³ ba²³/

/niãu⁴⁴⁻²² ba²⁴/

/niãu⁴⁴⁻³³ ba²⁴/

/niãu⁴⁴⁻³³ ba²³/

/niãu⁴⁴⁻²² ba²⁴/

猫猫
猫猫
貓媌
猫猫
媌貓

(Yongchun Hokkien) Siberian weasel (Mustela sibirica)


美短

/meɪ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ tu̯än²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

/meɪ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ tu̯än²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

美國短毛貓 美國短毛貓#Chinese

美国短毛猫 美国短毛猫#Chinese

Short for 美國短毛貓／美国短毛猫 (měiguó duǎnmáomāo, “American Shorthair”).


眯囝

/mi⁵⁵⁻⁵³ ⁽ᵏ⁻⁾iaŋ³³/

/mi⁵⁵⁻⁵³ ⁽ᵏ⁻⁾iaŋ³³/


貓婆子

/mɒu̯³³ po¹³ t͡sz̩³/

/mɒu̯³³ po¹³ t͡sz̩³/

(Pingxiang Gan, Xiang) tabby; female cat


貓婆

/mɑʊ̯⁴⁴⁵ b̥o¹¹/

/mɑʊ̯⁴⁴⁵ b̥o¹¹/

(Southwestern Mandarin, Gan, Hengyang Xiang) tabby; female cat


貓娃子

/mɔ²⁴ va⁵¹ t͡sz̩²⁴/

/mɔ²⁴ va⁵¹ t͡sz̩²⁴/


貓砂盆

/mɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ʂä⁵⁵ pʰən³⁵/

/maːu̯⁵⁵ saː⁵⁵ pʰuːn²¹/

/mɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ʂä⁵⁵ pʰən³⁵/

/maːu̯⁵⁵ saː⁵⁵ pʰuːn²¹/


貓砂

/mɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ʂä⁵⁵/

/maːu̯⁵⁵ saː⁵⁵/

/mɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ʂä⁵⁵/

/maːu̯⁵⁵ saː⁵⁵/


烏貓

/ɔ⁴⁴⁻³³ niãu⁴⁴/

/ɔ⁴⁴⁻³³ niãu⁴⁴/


野貓子

/i̯a̠⁴¹ mɒu̯³³ t͡sz̩³/

/i̯a̠⁴¹ mɒu̯³³ t͡sz̩³/


橘貓

/t͡ɕy³⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡ɕy³⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/


三花貓

/sän⁵⁵ xu̯ä⁵⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/sän⁵⁵ xu̯ä⁵⁵ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/


三色貓

/sän⁵⁵ sɤ⁵¹ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

/sän⁵⁵ sɤ⁵¹ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵/


貓婆娘

/mɑʊ̯⁴⁴⁵ b̥o¹¹ n̠ʲi̯an¹¹/

/mɑʊ̯⁴⁴⁵ b̥o¹¹ n̠ʲi̯an¹¹/

(Hengyang Xiang) female cat (that has given birth)