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I am aware that animal names are generally written in katakana (although
sometimes hiragana), but kanji is sometimes used. I stumbled upon the Japanese
word クラゲ, meaning jellyfish. The dictionary said that there were two different
kanji combinations for the word: 海月 and 水母, both pronounced as クラゲ. The first
means 'sea moon', and the other, 'water mother' (possibly 'aquatic mother').
What is the difference between the two and are they interchangeable? If not,
which is more appropriate if either at all. Any dive into nuance (Why strange
words like moon and mother were used) could be useful.
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2013-02-25T04:10:42.383
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2013-08-01T07:35:46.500
2013-02-25T20:51:52.180
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question
nuances meaning homophonic-kanji
What is the difference between the two kanji pairings for 'jellyfish'?
According to [大辞林](http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E6%B0%B4%E6%AF%8D), 水母 and 海月
are 熟字訓{じゅくじくん} ways of writing the same word. (See the angle brackets? Those
indicate 熟字訓.)

熟字訓{じゅくじくん} readings are a type of 当{あ}て[字]{じ}. They're "word readings", where
an entire kanji compound is given a reading. (Usually, readings are given to
single kanji.) As
[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ateji#Related_concepts) explains,
these are _established_ word readings assigned to a group of kanji;
_established_ means, more or less, that people commonly know how to read them.
This is the opposite of 義訓（ぎくん） readings, which are not established and
usually require furigana to be read.

How is this relevant to your question? You asked about the difference between
"the two words for 'jellyfish'". But they're the same word! It's just written
more than one way. (In fact, it's also been written 水月, 久羅下, and 鏡虫.)

Look at [大辞林](http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E6%B0%B4%E6%AF%8D)'s entry again.
If they were different words, they'd have separate dictionary entries. If they
were the same word but had important differences, the dictionary would
probably make a note of that (as in the entry for
[いとこ](http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%84%E3%81%A8%E3%81%93)), or divide it
into senses and show a particular kanji where the difference matters (as in
the entry for [つく](http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%A4%E3%81%8F)). In fact,
I checked three other dictionaries, and not one mentioned a difference between
them.

So I don't believe there are any important differences. Even in the idiom
listed by 大辞林,
「[水母{くらげ}の[骨]{ほね}](http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E6%B0%B4%E6%AF%8D%E3%81%AE%E9%AA%A8)」,
it's easy to find it written online with the other kanji. Personally, I'm
going to keep writing it クラゲ.
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2013-02-25T08:52:22.157
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2013-08-01T07:35:46.500
2013-08-01T07:35:46.500
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answer