ผีเสื้อ
Thai
Etymology
From ผี (pǐi, “spirit”) + เสื้อ (sʉ̂ʉa, “tutelar”).
As for the second sense of "butterfly", the insects got their name due to the old belief that they embody ancestral or tutelar spirits.[1]
As for the third sense of "butterflyfish", the fish got their name probably due to their appearance or colors that look like butterflies.
Pronunciation
| Orthographic | ผีเสื้อ pʰ ī e s ụ̄ ˆ ɒ | |
|---|---|---|
| Phonemic | ผี-เซื่อ pʰ ī – e z ụ̄ ˋ ɒ | |
| Romanization | Paiboon | pǐi-sʉ̂ʉa |
| Royal Institute | phi-suea | |
| (standard) IPA(key) | /pʰiː˩˩˦.sɯa̯˥˩/(R) | |
Noun
ผีเสื้อ • (pǐi-sʉ̂ʉa)
- (classifier ตน) tutelar spirit.
- (zoology) (classifier ตัว) butterfly: insect of the order Lepidoptera.
- (zoology) (classifier ตัว) butterflyfish: fish of the family Chaetodontidae, except โนรี (noo-rii), Heniochus spp.
Derived terms
- ผีเสื้อกลางคืน (pǐi-sʉ̂ʉa-glaang-kʉʉn)
- ผีเสื้อน้ำ
- ผีเสื้อเมือง
- ผีเสื้อยักษ์
- ผีเสื้อราตรี (pǐi-sʉ̂ʉa-raa-dtrii)
- ผีเสื้อสมุทร
References
Further reading
- “ผีเสื้อ” in Thai Dictionary Project (TDP) (UC Berkeley 1964) (plus additional data from the Royal Institute of Thailand (RI) and NECTEC's LEXITRON project (LEX)). Searchable online at SEAlang.net.