# 蛾

| 蛾 | U+86FE, &#34558; CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-86FE |
| ← 蛽 [U+86FD] | CJK Unified Ideographs | 蛿 → [U+86FF] |

## Translingual
### Han character

蛾 (Kangxi radical 142, 虫+7, 13 strokes, cangjie input 中戈竹手戈 (LIHQI), four-corner 5315$_0$, composition ⿰虫我)

#### Derived characters

* 𠏃

#### References

* Kangxi Dictionary: page 1083, character 31
* Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 33082
* Dae Jaweon: page 1551, character 18
* Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2856, character 6
* Unihan data for U+86FE

## Chinese
### Glyph origin

| | Old Chinese |
| 莪 | *ŋaːl |
| 哦 | *ŋaːl |
| 娥 | *ŋaːl |
| 峨 | *ŋaːl |
| 峩 | *ŋaːl |
| 鵝 | *ŋaːl |
| 俄 | *ŋaːl |
| 蛾 | *ŋaːl, *ŋralʔ |
| 睋 | *ŋaːl |
| 涐 | *ŋaːl |
| 誐 | *ŋaːl |
| 硪 | *ŋaːl, *ŋaːlʔ |
| 我 | *ŋaːlʔ |
| 騀 | *ŋaːlʔ |
| 餓 | *ŋaːls |
| 義 | *ŋrals |
| 儀 | *ŋral |
| 轙 | *ŋral, *ŋralʔ |
| 檥 | *ŋral, *ŋralʔ |
| 蟻 | *ŋralʔ |
| 艤 | *ŋralʔ |
| 礒 | *ŋralʔ |
| 羛 | *ŋralʔ, *hŋral |
| 議 | *ŋrals |
| 犧 | *hŋral |
| 曦 | *hŋral |
| 羲 | *hŋral |
Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *ŋaːl, *ŋralʔ): semantic 虫 (“insect”) + phonetic 我 (OC *ŋaːlʔ).

### Etymology 1
#### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): é (e$^2$)
    (Zhuyin): ㄜˊ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): ngo$^4$
* Hakka (Sixian, PFS): ngò
* Jin (Wiktionary): ghe$^1$
* Southern Min
    (Hokkien, POJ): gô / ngô͘ / ia̍h
    (Teochew, Peng'im): ngo$^5$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: é
*** Zhuyin: ㄜˊ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: é
*** Wade–Giles: o$^2$
*** Yale: é
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: er
*** Palladius: э (e)
*** Sinological IPA : /ˀɤ³⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: ngo$^4$
*** Yale: ngòh
*** Cantonese Pinyin: ngo$^4$
*** Guangdong Romanization: ngo$^4$
*** Sinological IPA : /ŋɔː²¹/
* Hakka
** (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
*** Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ngò
*** Hakka Romanization System: ngo$^ˇ$
*** Hagfa Pinyim: ngo$^2$
*** Sinological IPA: /ŋo¹¹/
* Jin
** (Taiyuan)
*** Wiktionary: ghe$^1$
*** Sinological IPA (old-style): /ɣɤ¹¹/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: gô
*** Tâi-lô: gô
*** Phofsit Daibuun: gooi
*** IPA (Taipei, Xiamen): /ɡo²⁴/
*** IPA (Zhangzhou): /ɡo¹³/
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɡɤ²³/
** (Hokkien: Quanzhou, General Taiwanese)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ngô͘
*** Tâi-lô: ngôo
*** Phofsit Daibuun: ngoo
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /ŋɔ̃²³/
*** IPA (Quanzhou, Taipei): /ŋɔ̃²⁴/
** (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ia̍h
*** Tâi-lô: ia̍h
*** Phofsit Daibuun: iah
*** IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /iaʔ⁴/
** (Teochew)
*** Peng'im: ngo$^5$
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: ngô
*** Sinological IPA : /ŋo⁵⁵/
* Middle Chinese: nga
Rime :
| Character | 蛾 |
| Reading # | 1/2 |
| Initial (聲) | 疑 (31) |
| Final (韻) | 歌 (94) |
| Tone (調) | Level (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Open |
| Division (等) | I |
| Fanqie | 五何切 |
| Baxter | nga |
| Reconstructions ||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /ŋɑ/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /ŋɑ/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /ŋɑ/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /ŋa/ |
| Li Rong | /ŋɑ/ |
| Wang Li | /ŋɑ/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /ŋɑ/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | é |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | ngo$^4$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*ŋˤaj/
    (Zhengzhang): /*ŋaːl/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 蛾 |
| Reading # | 1/2 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | é |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ nga › |
| Old Chinese | /*ŋˁaj/ |
| English | silkworm moth [Bombyx] |
| Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary. ||
Zhengzhang system (2003) :
| Character | 蛾 |
| Reading # | 1/2 |
| No. | 13036 |
| Phonetic component | 我 |
| Rime group | 歌 |
| Rime subdivision | 1 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 莪 |
| Old Chinese | /*ŋaːl/ |
| Notes | 見荀子，說文下從二蟲 |

#### Definitions

蛾
* moth (insect of the order Lepidoptera)
    From: The Book of Han, circa 1st century CE
    Qiū bāyuè, yǒu bái é qúnfēi bìrì, cóng dōng dōu mén zhì zhǐdào. [Pinyin]
    In the eighth month of autumn, a swarm of white moths obscured the sun from the eastern capital gate up to Orange Road.
    From: 《石州集/석주집》, 1631
    Chocho wol chim yu, soso pung jin ga. Gwansim sip nyeon sa, jwa su bak deung a. [Sino-Korean]
    The silent moonlight seeps through the window, The desolate wind tilts at the branches. My mind entangled in the past ten years, I sit and count the moths hitting the lamp.
* Short for 蛾眉 (éméi).
* a surname

##### Synonyms

* (moth):
* 撲棱蛾子 / 扑棱蛾子 (pūlēng'ézi) (Northern China, dialectal Mandarin)
* 白翼仔 (Hakka)
* 翼 (Teochew)
* 蛾子 (ézi)
* 蝶仔 (Hokkien)
* 飛蛾 / 飞蛾 (fēi'é)

#### Compounds

* 卷葉蛾 / 卷叶蛾
* 夜蛾 (yè'é)
* 天蛾 (tiān'é)
* 天蠶蛾 / 天蚕蛾
* 尺蠖蛾
* 巴蛾
* 撲燈蛾 / 扑灯蛾
* 斜紋夜蛾 / 斜纹夜蛾
* 月形天蠶蛾 / 月形天蚕蛾 (yuèxíng tiāncán'é)
* 海蛾魚 / 海蛾鱼
* 淡掃蛾眉 / 淡扫蛾眉
* 煙夜蛾 / 烟夜蛾
* 燈蛾 / 灯蛾
* 燈蛾撲火 / 灯蛾扑火
* 畫黛彎蛾 / 画黛弯蛾 (huàdàiwān'é)
* 皓齒蛾眉 / 皓齿蛾眉
* 紅粉青蛾 / 红粉青蛾
* 綠慘雙蛾 / 绿惨双蛾
* 羽蛾 (yǔ'é)
* 自然蛾眉
* 蛾妝 / 蛾妆
* 蛾子 (ézi)
* 蛾眉 (éméi)
* 蛾眉月 (éméiyuè)
* 蛾眉班
* 蛾眉皓齒 / 蛾眉皓齿
* 蛾眉螓首
* 蛾眉豆
* 蛾綠 / 蛾绿 (élǜ)
* 螢蛾 / 萤蛾
* 螟蛾 (míng'é)
* 螓首蛾眉
* 蠶蛾 / 蚕蛾 (cán'é)
* 衣蛾
* 雙蛾 / 双蛾
* 顰蛾眉 / 颦蛾眉
* 飛蛾 / 飞蛾 (fēi'é)
* 飛蛾投火 / 飞蛾投火
* 飛蛾投焰 / 飞蛾投焰
* 飛蛾撲火 / 飞蛾扑火 (fēi'épūhuǒ)
* 飛蛾赴火 / 飞蛾赴火
* 飛蛾赴焰 / 飞蛾赴焰
* 飛蛾赴燭 / 飞蛾赴烛
* 鳳蛾 / 凤蛾 (fèngé)
* 黛蛾

### Etymology 2

* For pronunciation and definitions of 蛾 – see 蟻 (“ant; foam or sediment in wine; lees; etc.”). (This character is a variant form of 蟻).

## Japanese
### Kanji

(Hyōgai kanji)

#### Readings

* Go-on: が (ga)、ぎ (gi)
* Kan-on: が (ga)、ぎ (gi)
* Kun: まゆげ (mayuge)、あり (ari)

### Etymology 1

* Kanji in this term
* 蛾
* が Hyōgai
* on'yomi
From Middle Chinese 蛾 (ŋɑ).

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) が [gà] (Heiban – [0])
* IPA: [ɡa̠]
* Homophone: 我

#### Noun

蛾(が) or 蛾(ガ) • (ga)
* a moth (insect similar to a butterfly)

#### See also

* 蝙蝠(こうもり)蛾(が) (kōmoriga, “swift moth”)
* 蝶(ちょう) (chō)
* 毛(け)虫(むし) (kemushi)

### Etymology 2

* Kanji in this term
* 蛾
* ひいる Hyōgai
* kun'yomi
For pronunciation and definitions of 蛾 – see the following entry. :
| 【ひいる】 | [noun] (archaic) moth |
(This term, 蛾, is an alternative spelling of the above term.) :

### References

* ↑ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

## Korean
### Hanja

蛾 • (a) (hangeul 아, revised a, McCune–Reischauer a, Yale a)
* moth

## Okinawan
### Kanji

(Hyōgai kanji)

### Etymology

Cognate with Japanese 蛾(が) (ga).

### Noun

蛾(がー) (gā)
* moth

## Vietnamese
### Han character

蛾: Hán Việt readings: nga
蛾: Nôm readings: ngài
* Alternative form of 𧍋 (“chữ Nôm form of ngài (“moth”).”)

### References

* ↑ Hồ (1976).