1. General names
| Chinese: The Chinese term for swallows in general is 燕 yàn, but does not usually occur as a word on its own. The most common type of swallow, Hirundo rustica, is known as a 燕子 yànzi. |
| Japanese: The Japanese word for swallows in general is ツバメ tsubame, which in scientific use refers to Hirundo rustica. Regional words for 'swallow' (also found in poetry) include つばくらめ tsubakurame, つばくら tsubakura, and つばくろ tsubakuro. The Chinese character 燕 can be used to represent all these names. |
| Vietnamese: The official Vietnamese name for the swallow is Nhạn. Another common word for swallow is Én, derived from the Chinese word 燕 yàn. |
2. Species names
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3. Notes
The distribution of the Hirundinidae in East Asia can be seen at Tzung-Su Ding's Distribution of Hirundinidae in East Asia. |
1. Delichon urbica and Delichon dasypus have been split, leaving some confusion as to the identity of locally occurring species. |
2. Note that the terms 'rock swallow' and 'cliff swallow' relate to different birds in Japanese and Chinese. |
3. Vietnamese: Vietnamese word Nhạn is derived from Chinese 雁 yàn, meaning 'wild goose'. This is also the original meaning of the word in Vietnamese, but it has since undergone a change in the spoken language and means 'swallow' in modern Vietnamese. Many Vietnamese dictionaries (including the online dictionary at KSVN) still give the meaning as 'wild goose'. Even dictionaries that give 'swallow' as the primary meaning list literary expressions that preserve the older meaning. For instance, Bui Phong's 'Vietnamese-English Dictionary' gives 'swallow, hirundo' for Nhạn, but also quotes two expressions from 18th century Vietnamese literature (the 'Story of Kieu') in which the word Nhạn means 'goose'. |
4. Cultural Notes
1. In Japanese haiku, the swallow or 燕 tsubame (or つばくろ tsubakuro or つばくらめ tsubakarame) is a season word for mid-spring. (The word tsubame is also written 乙鳥 based on an old Chinese name for the swallow.) However, in expressions like 燕帰る tsubame kaeru 'swallows return (to the south)', 去ぬ燕 inu tsubame 'departing swallows', or 残る燕 nokoru tsubame 'remaining swallows', the swallow becomes a season word for mid-autumn. |
2. The character 燕 yàn is a favourite with the Chinese, being especially popular in girl's names. |
3. The word tsubame in Japanese refers to an older woman's young lover. |
