中文蜻蜓常用名称考

On the etymology of common dragonfly names in Chinese

在我国,蜻蜓有多种名称,目前仍在使用的有蜻蜓、蜻蛉、水虿、、豆娘等。它们当中,有些是源自蜻蜓类昆虫的体色,如“蜻、”;有些是由蜻蜓的身体形状而来,如“蜓、蛉、水虿”。而“豆娘”出现最晚,应用时间也最短。中文之“豆娘”与日文中的“豆娘”关系甚为复杂,目前尚无定论。

Various common names have been created for the odonatan insects in Chinese. Among them, several are used at present, Qing-Ting, Qing-Ling （for dragonflies）, Cong, Dou-Niang （for damselflies）, Shui-Cai （odonatan naiads）. The etymology of them show that they come from the color or shape of dragonflies or damselflies, but maybe the ＂Dou-Niang＂ was used in Japanese firstly, and we followed it. This foreign appellation appeared in modem Chinese scientific literatures only. At present, the relation of ＂Dou-Niang＂ in Chinese and it in Japanese is too complex for scholars to verdict about it.