猫 (Kangxi radical 94,犬+8, 11 strokes,cangjie input大竹廿田 (KHTW),four-corner4426₀,composition⿰犭苗)

• 𢵝,𫫯,𱜎

• 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

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

(Jōyō kanji)

• 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)、ねこま(nekoma,猫)

⟨neko₁⟩ →/neko/

FromOld Japanese. Cognate withMiyakoにか(nika,“cat”,Tarama andMinna dialects) via unknown Japonic substratum.

Listed in modern references as a compound ofね(ne,onomatopoeia of the sound a cat makes; compare modern Japaneseにゃ(nya),Englishmew,meow) +‎こ(ko,diminutive noun-forming suffix).^[1][2] According to the和名類聚抄(Wamyō Ruijushō) of 931–938,neko is a shortening ofnekoma, butneko appears in texts earlier thannekoma:neko is first attested in theShin'yaku Kegonkyō Ongi Shiki of 794,^[3] whilenekoma is not attested until 918 in the本草和名(Honzō Wamyō,the oldest surviving dictionary of medicine in Japan).^[4]

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.

• (Tokyo)ねこ[néꜜkò] (Atamadaka – [1])^[5][6][7]
• IPA^(key):[ne̞ko̞]

• Audio:

  (file)

猫(ねこ)or猫(ネコ)• (neko)  (counter匹)

1. [from 794] acat

   猫(ねこ)が二(に)匹(ひき)居(い)る。

   Neko ga nihiki iru.

   There are twocats.

   家(いえ)には猫(ねこ)が三匹(さんびき)います。

   Ie ni waneko ga sanbiki imasu.

   There are threecats 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.

• As with many terms that name organisms, this term is oftenspelled inkatakana, especially inbiological contexts (where katakana is customary), asネコ.

According to the和名類聚抄(Wamyō Ruijushō) of 931–938, the term猫(neko)(neko) is a shortening ofnekoma.

938,Minamoto no Shitagō,Wamyō Ruijushō, volume 7, page56:

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 toYewang, cat, sound-reading myō, [Japanese reading]nekoma; later compendia have a two character Japanese name - perhaps theRivers and Seas Annotations references this compilation, theHonzō wamyō [has] akun 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

However,nekoma is first cited to 918 in the本草和名(Honzō Wamyō,the oldest surviving dictionary of medicine in Japan),^[4] whileneko is first attested earlier in theShin'yaku Kegonkyō Ongi Shiki of 794.^[3]

c.918,深根輔仁 [Fukane Sukehito],本草和名 [Japanese Names of Herbs,Honzō Wamyō]:

家狸、一名猫、和名禰古末

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

One theory about the derivation describes the firstmora⟨ne⟩ asonomatopoeia for the sound a cat makes, compare modern Japaneseにゃ(nya),Englishmew,meow. The last two morae⟨ko₁ma⟩ might accord with熊(kuma,“bear”) if it were from Proto-Japonic*koma(class 2.3 <LL>), in the sense of "four-legged animal".(Canthis⁽⁺⁾ etymology besourced?) However, Japanesekuma appears to have cognates in ancient Koreanic sources meaning specifically "bear" (see theJapanese熊(kuma,“bear”) entry for further details), making this theory less likely.

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 inneko.(Canthis⁽⁺⁾ etymology besourced?)

• IPA^(key):[ne̞ko̞ma̠]

猫(ねこま)• (nekoma) 

1. [918–???](obsolete) acat

• Minamoto, Shitagō with Kyōto Daigaku Bungakubu Kokugogaku Kokubungaku Kenkyūshitu (931–938)Shohon Shūsei Wamyō Ruijushō: Honbunhen (in Japanese),Kyōto: Rinsen, published1968,→ISBN.

FromMiddle Chinese猫 (MC mjew). Recorded asMiddle Korean貓/묘(mywo) (Yale:myo) inHunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Wikisource

猫 (eumhun고양이묘(goyang'i myo))

1. hanja form^? of묘(“cat”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary,전자사전／電子字典.[6]

(Jōyō kanji)

• Kun:まやー(mayā,猫)

猫(まやー) (mayā) 

1. cat

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

猫:Hán Nôm readings:miêu

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out andadd a translation, then remove the text{{rfdef}}.

(Jōyō kanji)

猫(まやー) (mayā) 

1. cat

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

(Jōyō kanji)

猫(みゃんか) (myanka) 

1. cat