狗？犬？

[Melanie1989]

Wasn't sure where to post this, but could someone please explain to this idiot (me), the difference between 狗 gou3, and 犬 quan3? I should have learned this a long time ago, i know, but there doesn't seem to be anything that explains the difference between the two. They both mean dog, right? I checked the dictionary and the closest thing, it seems, is that 狗 might be more offensive. Eg. 狗娘养的 gou3 niang2 yang3 de, son of a bitch, but then i have seen lists of Chinese menus that have 狗肉 on the menu.

 

Is there a difference between the two, or is one just older, more casual etc? If someone could please let me know, i'd be very grateful. Thanks.

[garthberry]

Hi,

 

犬 is a radical and is more commonly used idioms and names. 狗 is used day-to-day.

[Demonic_Duck]

“狗” is colloquial, “犬” is formal. As far as I know, “犬” is never used as a word on its own in modern Chinese, but you'll see it in compound words such as “犬类” canine, “警犬” police dog, “猎犬” hunting dog etc.

 

“狗” can be just as offensive as "dog" is in English, and is seen in expressions such as “狗屁” (literally "dog farts", idiomatically "bullshit"), but “狗” on its own isn't intrinsically offensive.

[Melanie1989]

Ah right, thanks! it'd occured to me after i posted that maybe it was just a radical, as i have noticed it used in many other characters, but that's good to know.

[Hofmann]

犬 was the original word for "dog". 狗 has supplanted 犬 in modern Mandarin as the word for "dog", while 犬 is used in certain compounds (and as part of animal-related characters like 狗).

[Carl Chen]

In Taiwan, it is impossible to see 狗肉 on the menu. That's illegal.

If it were legal, people still don't eat because we think that dog is our best friend rather than food.

 

-------------------------------

 

Word usage:

 

狗 equals to 犬.

And there is no negative meaning in this word.

If it does, that depends on usages.

 

狗 is used in everyday conversation

For example,

我想養狗

那隻狗好可愛

狗是人類最好的朋友

 

犬 is used in classical Chinese, idioms, formal way, or used in specific terms

For example,

小犬沒給您添麻煩吧 (小犬 means son)

雞犬不寧

雞犬升天

獵犬

聖伯納犬 (Saint Bernard)

[Melanie1989]

Carl Chen, i wouldn't know about Taiwan, i was referring to menus from the mainland. I would like to add though, for anyone else who might be reading, i have heard that dog meat is still highly unpopular in even mainland China. I think it's mostly poor people and apparently there are lots of Chinese who are offended by it being sold. Just don't want to be encouraging that stereotype, it was just for reference. 

 

Thank you all for clearing this up, it helps.

[Carl Chen]

Since I have never been to China, I was shocked when you mentioned that you saw 狗肉 on the menu. haha...

Perhaps that is the difference between Taiwan and China though we speak the same language.

[Melanie1989]

Oh i haven't been either yet, but i found a site a while ago when i first began learning that showed Chinese menus. I think it was about bad translations  and i noticed it had 狗肉 on a few of them. But i don't want people to think it's "the norm" and that ALL Chinese people dogs, i believe it was quite old anyway.

[Demonic_Duck]

I've never once seen it on a menu in Beijing, but I believe it's somewhat popular in certain regions (I know there's a yearly dog meat festival somewhere in Guangxi, which always provokes controversy).

[Melanie1989]

demonicduck, yeah i have seen videos on that and it's not all that nice. Though, in fairness, i don't see why people have such a big problem with it when we eat so many other animals, it's not all that different to me. I'm more upset at knowing so many people in the west eat bunnies, but then i'm a hypocrite. Though, the dog meat festival........from what little i know, the treatment of them is extremely bad.

 

Anyway. Dog meat stereotype is just that -a stereotype. Chinese i bet eat less dog meat than certain other countries, but either way, why would anyone get their knickers in a twist at what other people eat? I don't know.

[ultranal]

In mainland,Though not plenty of people like it, it is common and almost everyone have eaten it at least once.

在大陆狗肉还是比较常见的，大多数人都有曾经吃过狗肉的经历。

并且,“花江狗肉”还是名菜。(HuāJiāng Gǒuròu)

And, "Huajiang Dog Meat" is a famous dish in mainland.

前几天还有关于“狗肉节”的新闻。

there are some news about "dog meat festival" some days ago.

[OneEye]

Carl Chen, have you not seen 香肉 in Taiwan? It's just a euphemism for 狗肉. And yes, it's illegal, but when did that stop anybody in Taiwan? I've only been in Taipei for three years and I've seen at least one place that sells it.

[Carl Chen]

I have not seen 香肉 in Taiwan. 

Perhaps you can tell me, then I am glad to report it to the police, haha

[OneEye]

If I could remember where I was when I saw it, I would!

[hedwards]

As far as I know, dog is mostly eaten in the South. By the time I got to northern Hunan there seemed to be mixed opinions about it. And I don't recall having seen it as an option anywhere north of Guangxi. Literally one of the women in the car thought it was the tastiest meat ever and the other was pretty much disgusted by it.

 

I had an easier time tracking down dog than I did cat though. I saw cat for sale, but I never saw it on the menu at any of the restaurants I went to.

[Silent]

 

i have heard that dog meat is still highly unpopular in even mainland China. I think it's mostly poor people and apparently there are lots of Chinese who are offended by it being sold.

In 2012 I've seen it in many restaurants in the north east and many of those were definitely not aimed at poor people. But then, there are a lot of Koreans there, so maybe they're aiming at Koreans. At least some of the restaurants I've seen it were Korean restaurants. In Korea I was explicitly pointed out that they don't eat pets but specially for consumption reared dogs, which is mostly imported from China.

 

I think I've once been told that there are different words for dog as pet and as food. I think that I see 狗 used in both contexts and it's the only one word I know. Someone know more about different words for pets, food or other contexts like star sign, etc ?

[Lu]

Wasn't sure where to post this, but could someone please explain to this idiot (me), the difference between 狗 gou3, and 犬 quan3? I should have learned this a long time ago, i know,

Please try to never think this way again. We all have gaps in our Chinese that we feel stupid about once we finally learn them (perhaps we should start a thread on that). The wrong way to approach such gaps is by feeling embarrassed and stupid about them and hardly dare ask; the right way is to just ask/look it up and once you know be happy that you learned it. This is somewhat relevant.

[Gharial]

I can't remember quite which dictionaries (I have a stack) actually mention that 犬 is formal and 狗 informal, but after quickly checking through some of the more popular/less obscure ones (and in the free version of Pleco) and drawing several blanks, I finally found the label wr. (writing, wenyan, shumianyu) at the entry for 犬 in the C-E half of the ABC ECCE at least. Might be worth buying a copy, as it's not too expensive and a pretty good resource generally. 

[Takeshi]

In Korean at least I heard that 犬 is the term for respectable dogs used as pets, while 狗 is the not respectable term for dogs used as meat.