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Swallow in Chinese / Japanese...
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Swallow
燕 is the single-character for the swallow (bird).
If you are a zoologist, this can refer to birds of the family Hirundinidae. Sometimes used to refer to Hirundo rustica (the barn swallow).
燕 is also a surname in China that romanizes as Yan. In fact, there were also several different Yan kingdoms in the ancient history of China (which is the origin of the surname).
Great Aspirations / Ambition
This Chinese proverb implies that having great ambitions also means that others will not understand your great expectations and ideas.
Though the actual words come from a longer saying of Confucius which goes, "The little swallows living under the eaves wouldn't understand the lofty ambitions of a swan (who flies far and wide)".
This Confucius quote has led to this idiomatic expression in China that means "think big". What you'd really be saying is "The lofty ambitions of a swan".
Note that Chinese people sometimes refer to the little swallow, as one who does not "think big" but is, instead, stuck in a rut, or just leading a mundane life. Therefore, it's a compliment to be called a swan but not a good thing to be called a swallow.
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The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
| Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
| Swallow | 燕 | yasushi | yàn / yan4 / yan | yen |
| Great Aspirations Ambition | 鴻鵠之誌 鸿鹄之志 | hóng hú zhī zhì hong2 hu2 zhi1 zhi4 hong hu zhi zhi honghuzhizhi | hung hu chih chih hunghuchihchih |
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| In some entries above you will see that characters have different versions above and below a line. In these cases, the characters above the line are Traditional Chinese, while the ones below are Simplified Chinese. | ||||
Not the results for swallow that you were looking for?
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your swallow search...
| Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
燕 see styles |
yàn / yan4 yen tsubame(p);tsubakurame(ok);tsubakura(ok);tsubakuro(ok);tsubame(p) / つばめ(P);つばくらめ(ok);つばくら(ok);つばくろ(ok);ツバメ(P) |
 More info & calligraphy: (1) (kana only) swallow (bird of the Hirundinidae family); martin; (2) barn swallow (Hirundo rustica); (3) (See 若い燕) younger man involved with an older woman; boy toy; (given name) Yasushi |
吞 see styles |
tūn / tun1 t`un / tun gon |
to swallow; to take to swallow; to swallow |
呷 see styles |
xiā / xia1 hsia |
suck, swallow, drink |
嚃 see styles |
tà / ta4 t`a / ta |
to drink; to swallow |
嚥 咽 see styles |
yàn / yan4 yen |
to swallow See: 咽 |
服 see styles |
fù / fu4 fu buku / ぶく |
classifier for medicine: dose; Taiwan pr. [fu2] (1) (archaism) (See 喪服) mourning clothes; (2) mourning; period of mourning; (surname) Fukusaki Submit, serve; clothing, to wear; mourning; to swallow; a dose. |
觾 see styles |
yàn / yan4 yen |
variant of 燕, swallow |
飮 see styles |
yǐn / yin3 yin on |
variant of 飲|饮[yin3] To drink, swallow; to water cattle; to drink |
餌 饵 see styles |
ěr / er3 erh esa(p);e;esa / えさ(P);え;エサ |
pastry; food; to swallow; to lure; bait; lure (1) (animal) feed; fodder; pet food; (2) bait; lure; enticement food |
鳦 see styles |
yǐ / yi3 i |
a swallow (bird) |
鷾 see styles |
yì / yi4 i |
a swallow |
乳燕 see styles |
rǔ yàn / ru3 yan4 ju yen |
baby swallow |
併吞 并吞 see styles |
bìng tūn / bing4 tun1 ping t`un / ping tun |
to swallow up; to annex; to merge |
侵吞 see styles |
qīn tūn / qin1 tun1 ch`in t`un / chin tun |
to annex; to swallow (up); to embezzle |
包舉 包举 see styles |
bāo jǔ / bao1 ju3 pao chü |
to summarize; to swallow up; to annex; to merge |
卷裹 see styles |
juǎn guǒ / juan3 guo3 chüan kuo |
to wrap up; (fig.) to envelop; to swallow up |
吞噬 see styles |
tūn shì / tun1 shi4 t`un shih / tun shih |
to swallow; to engulf; to gobble up |
吞嚥 吞咽 see styles |
tūn yàn / tun1 yan4 t`un yen / tun yen |
to swallow; to gulp |
吞服 see styles |
tūn fú / tun1 fu2 t`un fu / tun fu |
to swallow; to take (medicine) |
吞沒 吞没 see styles |
tūn mò / tun1 mo4 t`un mo / tun mo |
to embezzle; to swallow up; to engulf |
吞精 see styles |
tūn jīng / tun1 jing1 t`un ching / tun ching |
to swallow semen |
吞聲 吞声 see styles |
tūn shēng / tun1 sheng1 t`un sheng / tun sheng |
to swallow one's cries |
呑む see styles |
nomu / のむ | (transitive verb) (1) to drink; to gulp; to swallow; to take (medicine); (2) to smoke (tobacco); (3) to engulf; to overwhelm; (4) to keep down; to suppress; (5) to accept (e.g. demand, condition); (6) to make light of; to conceal |
嗆到 呛到 see styles |
qiāng dào / qiang1 dao4 ch`iang tao / chiang tao |
to choke on (food etc); to swallow the wrong way |
嚥下 咽下 see styles |
yàn xià / yan4 xia4 yen hsia enge / えんげ enka / えんか |
to swallow; to suppress (n,vs,adj-no) (act of) swallowing; deglutition |
家燕 see styles |
jiā yàn / jia1 yan4 chia yen |
(bird species of China) barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) |
洋燕 see styles |
yáng yàn / yang2 yan4 yang yen |
(bird species of China) Pacific swallow (Hirundo tahitica) |
燕児 see styles |
enji / えんじ | (obscure) swallow chick |
燕子 see styles |
yàn zi / yan4 zi5 yen tzu enshi / えんし |
swallow (obscure) (See 燕・1) swallow |
燕鳶 see styles |
tsubametobi;tsubametobi / つばめとび;ツバメトビ | (kana only) swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forficatus) |
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