General Sanskrit Animal Names

 General Sanskrit Animal Names

This blog post is not going to too deep, rather it is going to assign Sanskrit names to common animals without going too much into taxonomy. This is merely to provide a framework for when we do coin more specific taxonomic names later on. The way this works is if there is a specific species of a generic animal group, say Indian carp of the carp family, then the specifici Sanskrit word for the species becomes the generic name. To specify the specific Indian species, we add the word "Indian" (भारतीय​). I will also actively borrow from other languages if I can't find a Sanskrit name for the bird. Other times I will make up a name. 

Dr.Raghu Vira has done a great job in coining Sanskrit terms for Zoology and for other STEM disciplins, and I may have unknowlingly derived from him. However, I want to improve upon his works by either being more simple, more accurate, or reducing ambiguity. For example, he renders "lemur" as "night primate", which is ambigious as it can also refer to some monkeys, lorises, and tarsiers. I chose "gidru", from Malagasy, not only to honor the indigenous people of the island but also to have an unambiguous term for lemur. In the future, I may plan on replacing some of the suffixes like "मय​" or  "आत्मक​" for "वंशिन्" or "अनुवंशिन्", just so it more precise. 

I prefer if we accept learned borrowings from indigenous languages. This is to honor those cultures and also to avoid the struggle of coining a taxonomically accurate name.  To reiterate, the rule is no borrowing from Latin, Greek, English, or any modern major European languages.  

Fish

Carp: कातल-मीन,  शफर-मीन 
Trout/Salmon: लक्समीन​ (From Old Norse: lax)
Perch: पेर्क​-मीन (From Greek: Perke via Latin: Perca )​
Eel: धीर्गमीन (or जलव्याल​?)​
Swamp Eel: ब्रह्मि-मीन,  कुचिक-मीन
Oarfish: आयतिमीन​
​Shark: सोर-मीन
Ray: सङ्कुच
Tuna: तून​-मीन (from Arabic: al-tun, altumately from Greek: thunnos)
Mackerel: भङ्ग्ड​-मीन or भङ्ग्र​-मीन (Based on Konkani: Bangdo, Gujurati: Bangdi, Marathi: Bangda)​​​​
Sea Horse: हयग्रीवमीन or हयमीन or अश्वमीन​
Pike: गेद्द​-मीन​ (from Old Norse: geddan)

Birds:

​Thrush: सारिक
Tanager: टङ्गर​
Finch: कलविङ्क
Wren: चिकुर
Ostrich: उष्ट्रपक्षिन्
Cassowarie: कस्वरि-पक्षिन् (From Malay: kasuari)
Emu: उपकस्वरि-पक्षिन् (Literally "sub-cassowary bird")
Penguin: हिमचरवि ("Snow walking bird") or हैमचरवि ("cold walking bird")
Turkey: पीरुकुक्कुट or पीरुविष्किर [Literally "Peruvian chicken" and "Peruvian gallinaceous bird"]​
New World Vulture: अपगृध्र​ (away from vultures (clade)), सुवीन्तु (Quechua borrowing)

Mammals:

Moose: मूस​-हरिण​ (Inspired by Eastern Algonqian language)
Weasel: कशीक (feminine: कशीका), विस्र​ (Raghu Vira), अपार्क्ष (away from bear (clade))
Wolverine: क्रूरकशीक​ (literally: terrible weasel)
Coyote: क्षेत्रवृक or क्षेत्रशुनक
​Warthog: ग्रन्थिवराह
​Aardvark: मुहङ्गाखुः or मुहङ्गखन​ (From Swahlili: muhanga + Sanskrit: Akhu/khana)
Lemur: गीद्रु (Malagasy borrowing)
Kangaroo: गङ्गुरु
Armadillo: किर्किञ्चु (From Quechua: kirkinchu) 
Seal: जलकशीक (water weasel), उपकशीक (next to mustelids), जलापार्क्ष, जलश्वान​, जलशौन​ (water dog)
Walrus: जलद्विरद​ (water two tusker), मोर्श​​​ (Sami borrowing), ह्रोस्स्वल​ (Norse borrowing), रद​(जल)अपार्क्ष​ (seal with tusks)
Hippopotamus: जलापवराह (water (living) away from boars (clade)), जलोपतिमि​​ (water (living) next to whales (clade)), किबोकु (kiSwahili borrowing)


Llama: ल्याम (Quechua borrowing)
Alpaca: पखोच​ , पहोच​ (Quechua borrowing) 
Vicuña: विकूञ (Quechua borrowing) 
[for the above three, feel free to add उष्ट्र​ (camel) to show they are camelids]


Puma, Mountain Lion: पूम​ (quechua borrowing) 

Chinchilla: वसूल्यु (Quechua borrowing)

Amphibians

Salamander: समन्दरः (from Persian: samandar)\

    Ambystoma: वङ्क्रिलक्ष (lit. "having ribs as its marker", refering to how they can be identifid by their ribs showing)
        Spotted Salamander: पृषत​-समन्दर​
        Jefferson Salamander: मषिवर्ण-समन्दर
        Blue Spotted Salamander: नील​-पृक्ष​-समन्दर​
        Marbled Salamander: कालश्वेत​-समन्दर​
        Tiger Salamander: राजि-समन्दर (राजीव​-समन्दर​)
        Dusky Salamander: पिङ्ग​-सामन्दर​
        
    Eurycea: जलगुहकामि (lit "loving water or caves", as these include salamaders that prefer to live in water bodies or in caves. )
        Two Lined Salamanders: द्विराजि-समन्दर​
        Eastern Long Tailed Salamander: प्राच्य-दीर्घपुच्छ​-समन्दर​
        Northern Spring Salamander: उत्तर​-कपिल​-समन्दर​
        Four Toed Salamander: चतुरङ्गुलि-समन्दर​
        Mud Puppy: पङ्क(वासि)-समन्दर​
        Red Spotted Newt: कपिल​-पृक्ष​-समन्दरक​
        Eastern Red Backed Salamander: प्राच्य​-कपिलपृष्ठ​-समन्दर​
        Northern Slimy Salamander: उत्तर​-पिच्छल​-समन्दर​
        Wehrle's Salamander: काषाय-समन्दर​?
        Northern Red Salamander: उत्तर-अग्निवर्णि-समन्दर​


        ​
    
Axalotl: आशोलौः or आशोलुः (from Nahuatl: Axolotl)
Caecilians: अपसमन्दरः, दीर्घतनु, सर्पानुकर ("distant relative to slamander", "long bodied", "imitating a snake")
​


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