# 大鹿
## Chinese
### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): dàlù
    (Zhuyin): ㄉㄚˋ ㄌㄨˋ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): daai$^6$ luk$^{6-2}$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: dàlù
*** Zhuyin: ㄉㄚˋ ㄌㄨˋ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: dàlù
*** Wade–Giles: ta$^4$-lu$^4$
*** Yale: dà-lù
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dahluh
*** Palladius: далу (dalu)
*** Sinological IPA : /tä⁵¹⁻⁵³ lu⁵¹/
*** Homophones: [Show/Hide]$^{edit}$大路 大陸 / 大陆 大鹿
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: daai$^6$ luk$^{6-2}$
*** Yale: daaih lúk
*** Cantonese Pinyin: daai$^6$ luk$^{9-2}$
*** Guangdong Romanization: dai$^6$ lug$^{6-2}$
*** Sinological IPA : /taːi̯²² lʊk̚²⁻³⁵/

### Noun

大鹿
* any kind of large deer
* moose; elk

## Japanese
### Etymology 1

Kanji in this term :
| 大 | 鹿 |
| おお Grade: 1 | しか > じか Grade: 4 |
| kun'yomi ||
* Alternative spelling
* 麋
From Old Japanese. Analyzable as a compound of 大 (ō, “big”) +‎ 鹿 (shika, “deer”). The shika changes to jika as an instance of rendaku (連濁).
First attested in the Nihon Shoki of 720, with the literal sense of large deer.
The moose or elk (Alces alces) is not native to Japan, and that sense is not attested until much later, in 1884.
And, similar to the confusion in usage of English elk as to whether this refers to Alces alces or Cervus canadensis (also known as the wapiti), the Japanese term too might refer to either.

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) おおじか [òójíká] (Heiban – [0])
* IPA: [o̞ːʑika̠]

#### Noun

大(おお)鹿(じか) or 大鹿(オオジカ) • (ōjika)
* [from 720] a large deer
* [from 1884] a moose, an elk: Alces alces
    Synonyms: (more common term) 篦鹿 (herajika), ムース (mūsu), エルク (eruku)
* [after 1884] a wapiti, an elk: Cervus canadensis
    Synonyms: アメリカ赤鹿 (Amerika akashika), ワピチ (wapichi), エルク (eruku)

##### Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as オオジカ. Not to be confused with 牡鹿 (ojika, “male deer: stag, buck”).

#### Proper noun

大(おお)鹿(じか) • (Ōjika)
* a district in Itami, Hyōgo Prefecture

### Etymology 2

Kanji in this term :
| 大 | 鹿 |
| おお Grade: 1 | しか Grade: 4 |
| kun'yomi ||
Compound of 大 (ō, “big”) +‎ 鹿 (shika, “deer”). Appears to be a variation from the ōjika reading.

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) おおしか [òóshíká] (Heiban – [0])
* IPA: [o̞ːɕi̥ka̠]

#### Proper noun

大(おお)鹿(しか) • (Ōshika)
* A village in Nagano Prefecture
* a surname
* [from 1884] (uncommon) a moose, an elk: Alces alces
    Synonyms: (more common term) 篦鹿 (herajika), ムース (mūsu), エルク (eruku)

### Etymology 3

Kanji in this term :
| 大 | 鹿 |
| だい Grade: 1 | ろく Grade: 4 |
| goon | on'yomi |
Probably coined in Japan from Middle Chinese-derived components, as a compound of 大 (dai, “great”) +‎ 鹿 (roku, “stag, male deer”).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [da̠iɾo̞kɯ̟]

#### Noun

大(だい)鹿(ろく) • (dairoku)
* (shogi) the great stag, a piece in 大局将棋 (taikyoku shogi, a huge chess variant, played on a 36×36 grid)

##### See also

* 山鹿 (sanroku, “mountain stag”), the starting piece, which promotes to the dairoku
* 奔鹿 (honroku, “free stag”), to which the dairoku promotes

### References

* 1 2 3 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
* 1 2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third 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