The origin of 鲨 and 胎

[Luoman]

I want to ask if the Chinese words 鲨 and 胎 are phonetical translations of the English "shark" and "tyre". Or maybe the origin is not what I think?

Thanks a lot.

[Mugi]

鲨 has existed before Chinese had any contact with English, although it didn't always refer to a "shark". I think similarities in pronunciation are probably coincidental.

胎 however is a well-known loan word (from the English "tyre", as you suspected). 胎 usually means "embryo" or "fetus."