蛟

蛟 U+86DF, 蛟 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-86DF ← 蛞 [U+86DE] CJK Unified Ideographs 蛠 → [U+86E0]

Translingual

Han character

蛟 (Kangxi radical 142, 虫+6, 12 strokes, cangjie input 中戈卜金大 (LIYCK), four-corner 5014₈, composition ⿰虫交)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1081, character 37
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 33009
• Dae Jaweon: page 1550, character 6
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2851, character 11
• Unihan data for U+86DF

Chinese

simp. and trad.		蛟

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (交) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
烄	*keːws, *kreːwʔ
礮	*pʰreːws
交	*kreːw
郊	*kreːw
茭	*kreːw, *kreːwʔ, *ɡreːwʔ
蛟	*kreːw
鮫	*kreːw
鵁	*kreːw
咬	*kreːw, *ŋɡreːwʔ, *qreːw
鉸	*kreːw, *kreːwʔ, *kreːws
佼	*kreːw, *kreːwʔ, *ɡreːwʔ
詨	*kreːw, *qʰreːws, *ɡreːws
絞	*kreːwʔ
狡	*kreːwʔ
姣	*kreːwʔ, *ɡreːw
筊	*kreːwʔ, *ɡreːw
校	*kreːws, *ɡreːws
珓	*kreːws
跤	*kʰreːw
頝	*kʰreːw
骹	*kʰraːw
齩	*ŋɡreːwʔ
洨	*ɡreːw
胶	*ɡreːw
效	*ɡreːws
効	*ɡreːws
傚	*ɡreːws
皎	*keːwʔ
恔	*keːwʔ
晈	*keːwʔ
窔	*qeːws
駮	*pqreːwɢ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *kreːw): semantic 虫 (“creature”) + phonetic 交 (OC *kreːw).

Etymology

Possibly connected with Burmese ခြူး (hkru:, “a type of beast”) and Tibetan ཀླུ (klu, “serpent, naga”) (Schuessler, 2007). However, Schuessler (2007) notices phonological differences between Old Chinese and Written Tibetan.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jiāo (jiao¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄠ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gaau¹
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): kâu

  (Hailu, HRS): gau^ˋ

• Eastern Min (BUC): gău
• Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): gao¹
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): kau

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jiāo
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄠ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jiao
    • Wade–Giles: chiao¹
    • Yale: jyāu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jiau
    • Palladius: цзяо (czjao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong–Macau)
    • Jyutping: gaau¹
    • Yale: gāau
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gaau¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: gao¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kaːu̯⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kâu
    • Hakka Romanization System: gau^ˊ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: gau¹
    • Sinological IPA: /kau̯²⁴/
  • (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
    • Hakka Romanization System: gau^ˋ
    • Sinological IPA: /kau⁵³/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: gău
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kau⁵⁵/
• Puxian Min
  • (Putian)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: gao¹
    • Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: gau
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kau⁵³³/
  • (Xianyou)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: gao¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kau⁵⁴⁴/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kau
    • Tâi-lô: kau
    • Phofsit Daibuun: kaw
    • IPA (Xiamen): /kau⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kau³³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /kau⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /kau⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /kau⁴⁴/

---

• Middle Chinese: kaew

Rime
Character	蛟
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	肴 (90)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	II
Fanqie	古肴切
Baxter	kaew
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kˠau/
Pan Wuyun	/kᵚau/
Shao Rongfen	/kau/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kaɨw/
Li Rong	/kau/
Wang Li	/kau/
Bernhard Karlgren	/kau/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	jiāo
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gaau1

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*kreːw/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	蛟
Reading #	1/1
No.	6299
Phonetic component	交
Rime group	宵
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	交
Old Chinese	/*kreːw/

Definitions

蛟

1. (～龍) (Chinese mythology) mythical flood dragon
2. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) aquatic reptile, including the soft-shelled turtle and the alligator
3. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 鮫 / 鲛 (jiāo, “shark”)

Compounds

• 出蛟
• 蛟龍 / 蛟龙 (jiāolóng)

References

• 莆田市荔城区档案馆 [Putian City Licheng District Archives], editor (2022), “蛟”, in 莆仙方言文读字汇 [Puxian Dialect Literary Reading Dictionary] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), page 107.

Japanese

Kanji

蛟

(Hyōgai kanji)

1. A Water Spirit, generally portrayed as a dragon.

Readings

• On (unclassified): こう (kō)、きょう (kyō)
• Kun: みずち (mizuchi)

References

• “^▲蛟”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎ (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2025

Korean

Hanja

蛟 • (gyo) (hangeul 교, revised gyo, McCune–Reischauer kyo, Yale kyo)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Vietnamese

Han character

蛟: Hán Nôm readings: giao

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.