Howard & Moore 2003 split the Psittacidae into a number of subfamilies, including Loriculinae, Micropsittinae, Cacatuinae, Loriinae, and Psittacinae. In Japanese, the Psittacidae are known as オウム科 under Sibley & Monroe, and as インコ科 under Howard & Moore. |
1. General names
Chinese: The parrots are known in Chinese as 鹦鹉 yīngwǔ or 鹦哥 yīnggē, depending on the species (in ordinary usage, 鹦哥 yīnggē is more informal). Other names include 能言鸟 néng-yán-niǎo 'can speak bird' and 臊陀 sāotuó, from Sanskrit. |
Japanese: In Japanese, parakeets are called インコ inko, written 鸚哥 (very rarely as 音呼 'sound call'), in Chinese characters. Parrots are called オウム ōmu (written 鸚鵡 in characters). However, in ornithological usage, インコ inko tends to be extended to all the Psittacidae. |
Vietnamese: The Vietnamese name for the parrots is Vẹt. The name Kéc, which typically refers to larger parrots, is the common word for 'parrot' in Central Vietnam. Another name is Ác mỏ ('crow bill'?). |
2. Species names
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3. Notes
The distribution of the Psittacidae in East Asia can be seen at Tzung-Su Ding's Distribution of Psittaciformes in East Asia. |
4. Cultural Notes
As in English, 'parrot learning' is looked down on in CJV. Chinese uses the expression 鹦鹉学舌 yīngwǔ xuéshé, literally 'parrot learn-tongue', to refer to mechanical repetition of what someone else says. Japanese uses the word 鸚鵡返し ōmu-gaeshi 'parrot repeat' to express a similar concept. |
