How to Say "Sheep" in Chinese

羊

yáng/jɑŋ³⁵/

The English word sheep can be translated into Chinese as 羊 (yáng).

Meaning: animal (noun)

Ways to say it

“sheep” in Chinese
Chinese	Romanization (Wiktionary)	IPA	Note
羊	yáng	/jɑŋ³⁵/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Sinological IPA) /jɑ̃ɻ³⁵/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Erhua, Sinological IPA, 羊兒 / 羊儿)
綿羊 / 绵羊	mî-iûⁿ		Hokkien
羊	iûⁿ	/iũ²³/ (Min Nan, Hokkien, Xiamen, Quanzhou, Jinjiang, Nan'an, Zhangpu, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Yilan, Lukang, Kinmen, Singapore, Philippines, Sinological IPA, Sanxia, Magong, Hsinchu, Yongchun) /iũ²¹³/ (Min Nan, Hokkien, Xiamen, Quanzhou, Jinjiang, Nan'an, Zhangpu, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Yilan, Lukang, Kinmen, Singapore, Philippines, Sinological IPA, Sanxia, Magong, Hsinchu, Yongchun)	Hokkien
羊仔	iûⁿ-á	/iũ²⁴⁻³³ a⁵³/ (Min Nan, Hokkien, Sinological IPA, Taipei, General Taiwanese) /iũ²³⁻³³ a⁴¹/ (Min Nan, Hokkien, Sinological IPA, Kaohsiung, General Taiwanese)	Hokkien

The word 羊 is a generic term that can refer to both sheep and goats.

In Dungan, you can use мянён (mianion) or ён (ion). In Hokkien, the terms 綿羊 / 绵羊 (mî-iûⁿ) and 羊 (iûⁿ) are used.

In Hokkien, you can create a diminutive form meaning a lamb or young sheep by adding the suffix 仔 to the word, resulting in 羊仔.

The romanization is iûⁿ and the IPA is /jɑŋ³⁵/.

The character 羊 is a building block for the character 美, which means 'beautiful', suggesting that a sheep's features were once a standard of beauty.
The character 羊 is also found inside the character 義, meaning 'righteousness' or 'justice', historically implying the fair sharing of a sheep during a sacrifice.
In Chinese culture, the 羊 is often associated with filial piety and luck, making it a popular symbol in traditional art and architecture.

我有很多綿羊。
I have a lot of sheep.
This sentence shows how to use 羊 to express possession of many sheep.
Tatoeba #9545046 by verdastelo9604, translation #6666824 by CK
他為羊隻修剪羊毛。
He clipped the sheep.
This sentence uses 羊 to describe the act of clipping sheep.
Tatoeba #1368341 by tsayng, translation #304518 by CM
绵羊提供我們羊毛。
Sheep provide us with wool.
This sentence illustrates how 羊 is used when discussing the wool provided by sheep.
Tatoeba #2624120 by egg0073, translation #34763 by CM
我喜欢羊的绵软毛发。
I like the soft wool of sheep.
新西兰的绵羊种类繁多。
New Zealand has various breeds of sheep.
14 more sentences on Tatoeba

Jun Jie and Xiao Wen are walking through a countryside farm.

俊杰 Junjie

你看，那邊有很多羊。
Nǐ kàn, nàbiān yǒu hěnduō yáng.
Look, there are many sheep over there.
晓雯 Xiaowen

那些羊看起來很可愛。
Nàxiē yáng kàn qǐlái hěn kě'ài.
Those sheep look very cute.
俊杰 Junjie

我想去餵牠們。
Wǒ xiǎng qù wèi tāmen.
I want to go feed them.
晓雯 Xiaowen

好啊，我們走吧。
Hǎo a, wǒmen zǒu ba.
Okay, let's go.

Sources

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