What's the difference between 子羊 and 小羊, if there is one? They're both listed as lamb. - Feed Post by RovkirHexus
What's the difference between 子羊 and 小羊, if there is one? They're both listed as lamb.
posted by RovkirHexus
Comments 21
I've always seen 小羊 used for lamb. 羊 means sheep. I'm not sure, but I would assume 子羊 would take the meaning of baby sheep since 子犬 means puppy and 子猫 means kitten and 子牛 means calf. The only word I can think off the top of my head that uses 小 as part of a compound for an animal is 小鳥, which to the best of my knowledge means small bird, not an actual baby bird. I'm going to ask a native speaker about this because I'm curious now.- Okay I'm confused now. I did a google image search and they pull up pretty much the same thing.
- I'm looking up other words for baby and small animals and I see some other inconsistencies so I think we are going to need the authority of a native speaker on this one.
It could be that 小羊 means small sheep, and that's often just interpreted as lamb, and that 子羊 actually means sheep. I'm not an expert though, so that's just a theory. <.<;- I meant lamb* instead of that second sheep, I'm sorry.
lamb and small sheep different pronunciations for both. A baby sheep is a lamb. Google them!- 小羊、子羊、羊
a small sheep, a lamb, a sheep
- I guess it would be like 小猫/子猫 small cat/kitten.
- I guess it would be like 小猫/子猫 small cat/kitten.
@JACKBOSMA, What did you mean by "different pronunciations"? And how do you go about Googling such a thing? A dictionary might be better. Here's what the デジタル大辞泉 says:
Headword: こ‐ひつじ【小羊／子羊】
Definition: 「小さな羊。また、羊の子。」
http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/81377/meaning/m0u/
Which translates to something like "Small lamb. Also, the young of a sheep."- Oops, meant to write "Small sheep. Also, the young of a sheep."
- @JACKBOSMA, Those two links don't look very helpful, especially the link to JCJP's dictionary search considering the OP already stated "They're both listed as lamb [on here]". And they both go against what you said earlier, about the words having "different pronunciations" and about how one means small sheep while the other means lamb. (?)
- 小羊、子羊、羊
a small sheep, a lamb, a sheep
Shōyō(pronounced differently) kohitsuji, hitsuji
Mmm, I think both 小羊 and 子羊 are pronounced こひつじ (kohitsuji)- @aledda You are correct but Shōyō can also be used for 小羊.
Thanks for the responses. I think I get it. So basically lamb and small sheep are the same thing?- Yes
- @JACKBOSMA, "Shōyō"? Where did you hear that? Many Japanese dictionaries list alternate/obscure/archaic readings of words. If しょうよう really is another way of saying 小羊 for "small sheep", then I don't understand why this is not mentioned in any of the dictionaries I've checked?
As far as I'm aware, the only time 小羊 might be read as しょうよう is if it's used as a name and the person want's it pronounced that way, such as this guy's pen name:
http://www.townnews.co.jp/0112/2014/05/22/237030.html
Or if it needed to be pronounced improperly to make it fit in a pun/joke, such as in this case:
http://www.geocities.co.jp/WallStreet/1471/06/060401sukuji.htm
I doubt しょうよう is ever used properly to refer to a sheep that is small. It would always be something like 小さな羊. - @RovikHexus, These links have Japanese people giving interesting answers to similar questions to your one. ^^
http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q10149662765
http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1055830795
