Archive – Alex Rockin Japanese

Read a newer version of this post here: How to Say Butterfly in Japanese (Old Post) How to Say "Butterfly" in Japanese chou - 蝶 chouchou - 蝶々 kochou - 蝴蝶 or 胡蝶 papiyon - パピヨン batafurai - バタフライ 1. Chou - Basic Way to Say "Butterfly" in Japanese Chou (蝶) is the most basic and probably the easiest Japanese word for "butterfly". You can use the word whenever you want to talk about or refer to the animal in Japanese. While "chou" is commonly written in kanji, it can also be written in katakana only as チョウ. chou蝶butterfly Here is a song named 蝶 (chou) by the famous Japanese rock band Acid Black Cherry. You can hear the word for butterfly a few times during the song. https://open.spotify.com/track/0OE6yK59Hqrhs0ABC75s1E?si=aa84011d4e4d489f 2. Chouchou - Most Common Word for "Butterfly" Chouchou (蝶々) also means "butterfly" in Japanese and judging from my personal experience it seems to be more commonly used in daily conversations than "chou". I tried to find out the difference between the two words, but didn't get a definite answer, so I think you can use them interchangeably. chouchou蝶々butterfly Here is another song from one of my favorite Japanese bands with the title 蝶々 (chouchou). In the song they use the word "chouchou", but written as 蝶 for butterfly and the word "ga" (蛾), which is the Japanese word for "moth". https://youtu.be/nOizGbHT8tQ 3. Kochou - Arachic Word That Translates as "Butterfly" In the past, the word kochou (蝴蝶) was commonly used to say "butterfly" in Japanese. However, nowadays it is rarely used and some Japanese might even not understand what you are talking about. There are two ways to write the word in kanji 蝴蝶 and 胡蝶. The latter is sometimes used as a name. kochou蝴蝶butterfly 4. Papiyon - French Loanword Meaning "Butterfly" Papiyon (パピヨン) is a loanword and comes from the French word for butterfly which is "papillon". In Japanese, it can be used to say "butterfly", but it can also be used when referring to the Papillon, a certain dog breed also known as Continental Toy Spaniel (source). papiyonパピヨンbutterflypapillon (dog breed) 5. Batafurai - English Loanword Meaning "Butterfly" The English loanword that is sometimes used to say "butterfly" in Japanese is Batafurai (バタフライ). Similar like doggu (ドッグ), which can be used to say "dog" in Japanese, or kyatto (キャット), one of the words for "cat" in Japanese, it is rather rarely used in daily life to talk about the animal. batafuraiバタフライbutterfly Advanced Words that Mean "Butterfly" in Japanese ageha chou - アゲハチョウ kuroi chou - 黒い蝶 batafurai naifu - バタフライナイフ hana to chou - 花と蝶 Swallowtail Butterfly - Ageha Chou Ageha chou (アゲハチョウ) means "swallowtail butterfly" in Japanese. In kanji the word can be written as 揚羽蝶 (ageha chou) or as 鳳蝶 (ageha chou), but it is often written in katakana only. The shortened version ageha (揚羽) can also be used to say "swallowtail butterfly" in Japanese. ageha chouアゲハチョウ揚羽蝶鳳蝶swallowtail butterfly ageha揚羽swallowtail butterfly In case you know a lot about butterflies, the word is especially used to refer to the citrus swallowtail butterfly, which is also known as "Papilio xuthus". Black Butterfly - Kuroi Chou Kuroi chou (黒い蝶) means "black butterfly" in Japanese. The first word kuroi (黒い) means "black", and the second word chou (蝶) is the word for "butterfly" as we have discussed before. However, you can also use the expression burakku batafurai (ブラックバタフライ) in Japanese to say "black butterfly". kuroi chou黒い蝶black butterfly burakku batafuraiブラックバタフライblack butterfly One of the most beautiful butterflies in Japan is the bluish black "Alpine Black Swallowtail" or "Papilio Maackii" by the way. Its Japanese name is Miyama-Karasuageha (ミヤマカラスアゲハ). It is a really beautiful big butterfly! And, "karasu" (カラス) is the Japanese word for "crow" or "raven". Butterfly Knife - Batafurai Naifu Batafurai Naifu (バタフライナイフ) is how you say "butterfly knife" in Japanese. It consists of two English loanwords. The first one "batafurai" is, of course, the word for "butterfly" and the second one "naifu" is the word for "knife". I just included this word, because some of you asked me about it. batafurai naifuバタフライナイフbutterfly knife Flower and Buttefly - Hana to Chou If you want to say "flower and butterfly" in Japanese you can use the expression hana to chou (花と蝶). Hana (花) is the word for "flower" in Japanese. To (と) is a so-called particle that translates as "and" and is used to connect nouns. And then, we have the Japanese word for butterfly which is chou (蝶), of course. hana to chou花と蝶flower and butterfly "Flower & Butterfly" is a really beautiful pop song by the Japanese singer and songwriter Fujita Maiko (藤田麻衣子) by the way. https://open.spotify.com/track/2HUVe3pEXjgCtq9MpfsZro?si=3153e903dc8e44fd