大羊駝 / 大羊驼
dàyángtuo
The English word llama is translated into Chinese as 大羊駝 / 大羊驼 (dàyángtuo). If unsure, use 大羊駝 / 大羊驼. Wiktionary also lists 駱馬 / 骆马 (luòmǎ) and 駝羊 / 驼羊 (tuóyáng).
Meaning: South American mammal of the camel family, Lama glama (noun)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 大羊駝 / 大羊驼 | dàyángtuo |
| 駱馬 / 骆马 | luòmǎ |
| 駝羊 / 驼羊 | tuóyáng |
| 無峰駱駝 / 无峰骆驼 | wúfēngluòtuo |
| 家羊駝 / 家羊驼 | jiāyángtuo |
The characters 羊 (yáng) mean sheep and 驼 (tuó) mean camel in the word for llama. For example, the word 美洲驼 (měizhōutuó) translates to 'American camel'.
What does it mean word for word?
The term 大羊駝 literally means 'big sheep-camel', consisting of 大 (big), 羊 (sheep/lamb) and 駝 (camel/llama).
Which one should you use?
While 大羊駝 is the most common general term for a llama, 駝羊 is also frequently used in biological or descriptive contexts.
How do you pronounce it?
dàyángtuo
Did you know?
- The term 駱馬 (luòmǎ) was created using phono-semantic matching, where the characters were chosen both for their sound and for their meaning as 'camel' and 'horse'.
- A Chinese speaker might use the word 駝 (tuó) as a verb meaning 'to carry' or 'to lug', which is the same character used in the llama's name.
- The term 無峰駱駝 (wú fēng luòtuo) literally means 'unhumped camel', focusing on the physical absence of a hump rather than the animal's species name.
Examples in context
- 这是一只羊驼。This is a llama.
- 我喜欢美洲驼，它们很可爱。I like llamas, they are very cute.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “llama” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 駱馬, CC BY-SA 4.0.
