{"id":24651,"date":"2026-07-03T14:49:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T14:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/?p=24651"},"modified":"2026-07-03T14:49:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T14:49:32","slug":"roaring-waves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/?p=24651","title":{"rendered":"Roaring Waves"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One word that came up in my Cantonese lessons recently was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/cantonese\/hoisiu.mp3\">\u6d77\u562f<\/a> (hoi\u00b2 siu\u00b3), which means  <strong>tsunami<\/strong>. This surprised me, as I would have guessed that the Japanese word <a href=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/japanese\/tsunami.mp3\">\u6d25\u6ce2<\/a> (tsunami) would have been borrowed into Chinese and given a Chinese pronunciation. Apparently not.<\/p>\n<p><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/cioran_diaz\/25121492455\/in\/photolist-EgUdug-73Ycb8-qXias1-743Szh-73zqYp-73DfZY-73YkCF-a1nss4-73Z8Ag-73DjR1-73Zc8Z-73DUpL-73zBsx-743JnW-73DRvA-8ucDYN-73Z516-743ff9-743L7A-743VfG-73zahv-73DaT1-73DvKq-73zdzx-23K3CkU-5mM62K-743YEQ-73DmBJ-73DHJs-73zf8k-743dzJ-73DBDh-73ztPF-73ZaeB-ezRZ-awzVDQ-ATEpj-73DKa3-73z7hv-3avkkQ-9puCnD-743bLh-6KoivC-73Z1xX-73DG6N-73z8S8-8rUC8f-73DxeN-73DLEj-8rRwPn\" title=\"Tsunami\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/1664\/25121492455_1bf30c74d7_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"302\" alt=\"Tsunami\"\/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u6d77\u562f<\/strong> [\u6d77\u5578] is also found in Mandarin, means the same thing, and is pronounced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/mandarin\/haixiao.mp3\"><em>h\u01ceixi\u00e0o<\/em><\/a>. The first character, <strong>\u6d77<\/strong> (hoi\u00b2 \/ h\u01cei) means ocean, sea or a great number of people or things, while the second character, <strong>\u562f<\/strong> [\u5578] (siu\u00b3 \/ xi\u00e0o) means to hiss or whistle in Cantonese, and to whistle, screech, howl or roar in Mandarin. So <strong>\u6d77\u562f<\/strong> [\u6d77\u5578] could be translated literally as &#8216;ocean whistle&#8217;, &#8216;ocean roar&#8217;, &#8216;sea hiss&#8217;, and so on [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/%E6%B5%B7%E5%98%AF\">source<\/a>]. <\/p>\n<p>Related words include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u5927\u6d77\u562f<\/strong> [\u5927\u6d77\u5578] (daai\u2076 hoi\u00b2 siu\u00b3 \/ d\u00e0h\u01ceixi\u00e0o) = megatsunami (an extremely large tsunami-like wave caused by an avalanche or landslide displacing large amounts of water very quickly)<\/il>\n<li><strong>\u6c23\u8c61\u6d77\u562f<\/strong> [\u6c14\u8c61\u6d77\u5578] (hei\u00b3 zoeng\u2076 hoi\u00b2 siu\u00b3 \/ q\u00ecxi\u00e0ng h\u01ceixi\u00e0o) = meteotsunami (a tsunami-like wave of meteorological origin)<\/il>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u562f<\/strong> [\u5578] (siu\u00b3 \/ xi\u00e0o) also appears in <strong>\u547c\u562f<\/strong> [\u547c\u5578] (fu\u00b9 siu\u00b3\/ h\u016b\u200bxi\u00e0o) = to whistle, scream, whiz; and <strong>\u9577\u562f<\/strong> [\u957f\u5578] (coeng\u2074 siu\u00b3\/ \u200bch\u00e1ngxi\u00e0o) = to let out a long, loud and clear cry [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/%E5%91%BC%E5%98%AF#Chinese\">source<\/a>]. <\/p>\n<p>The word <a href=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/japanese\/kaishou.mp3\">\u6d77\u562f<\/a> (kaish\u014d) also exists in Japanese, and means a tidal bore, a tsunami or a tidal wave [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/%E6%B5%B7%E5%98%AF#Japanese\">source<\/a>]. <\/p>\n<p>The Japanese word <a href=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/japanese\/tsunami.mp3\">\u6d25\u6ce2<\/a> (tsunami) means tsunami or tidal wave. <strong>\u6d25<\/strong> (tsu \/ shin) means harbour, port or ferry. It appears in words such as <strong>\u6d25\u6db2<\/strong> (shineki &#8211; saliva, spit, spittle), and <strong>\u6d25\u3005<\/strong> (shinshin &#8211; gushing, overflowing, everlasting, unfailing, endless) [<a href=\"https:\/\/jisho.org\/search\/%E6%B4%A5\">source<\/a>]. <\/p>\n<p><strong>\u6ce2<\/strong> (nami \/ ho) means wave, billow, ripple break, swell, ups and downs, advancing step by step, surging forward unopposably, succession of changes, tendency or (new) wave [<a href=\"https:\/\/jisho.org\/search\/%E6%B3%A2\">source<\/a>]. <\/p>\n<p>It appears in words such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u6ce2\u6253\u3064<\/strong> (namiuchi) = to dash against, billow, roll, wave, heave, pound, undulate)<\/il>\n<li><strong>\u6ce2\u98a8<\/strong> (namikaze) = wind and waves, discord, trouble, strife, hardships)<\/il>\n<li><strong>\u6ce2\u7acb\u3064<\/strong> (namidachi) = to be choppy, rough, swell, beat fast, be in turmoil)<\/il>\n<li><strong>\u6ce2\u982d<\/strong> (namigashira \/ hot\u014d) = wave crest, white caps<\/il>\n<li><strong>\u6ce2\u9577<\/strong> (hoch\u014d) = wavelength<\/il>\n<li><strong>\u6ce2\u9577<\/strong> (hoch\u014d) = wavelength<\/il>\n<li><strong>\u6ce2\u7d0b<\/strong> (homon) = ripple, ring on the water, repercussions<\/il>\n<li><strong>\u6ce2\u4e71<\/strong> (horan) = disturbance, trouble, commotion, uproar, turmoil, ups and downs (of live) vicissitudes, small and large waves<\/il>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The characters <strong>\u6d25<\/strong> and <strong>\u6ce2<\/strong> are both used in Chinese, but not together. <strong>\u6d25<\/strong> (j\u012bn) means saliva, sweat, a ferry crossing or a ford (river crossing), and appears in the name of <strong>\u5929\u6d25<\/strong> (Ti\u0101n\u200bj\u012bn), a city in the northeast of China; while <strong>\u6ce2<\/strong> (b\u014d) means wave, ripple, storm or surge, and appears in <strong>\u6ce2\u5170<\/strong> [\u6ce2\u862d] (B\u014d\u200bl\u00e1n), the Chinese name for Poland [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mdbg.net\/chinese\/dictionary?page=worddict&#038;email=&#038;wdrst=0&#038;wdqb=%E6%B4%A5%E6%B3%A2\">source<\/a>]. <\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- Blog horizontal --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"1685480124\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One word that came up in my Cantonese lessons recently was \u6d77\u562f (hoi\u00b2 siu\u00b3), which means tsunami. This surprised me, as I would have guessed that the Japanese word \u6d25\u6ce2 (tsunami) would have been borrowed into Chinese and given a Chinese pronunciation. Apparently not. \u6d77\u562f [\u6d77\u5578] is also found in Mandarin, means the same thing, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[270,95,104,129,10,78],"tags":[416,164,649,546,138,281,648,647,163],"class_list":["post-24651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cantonese-","category-chinese","category-english","category-japanese","category-language","category-words-and-phrases","tag-chinese","tag-english","tag-harbour-wave","tag-japanese","tag-language","tag-omniglot","tag-tidal-wave","tag-tsunami","tag-words"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24651"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24658,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24651\/revisions\/24658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}