General names
Information is based on dictionaries and other sources. Species list may not be current. Korean glosses are only tentative. Comments and corrections welcome.
The swifts are known in Japanese as アマツバメ ama-tsubame or 'rain swallows', written in Chinese characters as 雨燕. The Japanese word for 'rain' is ame 雨, which becomes ama- in combination under an ancient morphological rule. Unqualified, アマツバメ ama-tsubame refers to A. pacificus.
Other names include アマドリ ama-dori (雨鳥) 'rain bird' or アマクロツバメ ama-kuro-tsubame (雨黒燕) 'rain black swallow'.
The swifts are linguistically associated with swallows. In a possible case of borrowing, both Chinese and Japanese call the swifts 'rain swallows', written with the same characters. Although the characters are the same, however, Japanese uses the kun-reading (native Japanese reading) of the characters, suggesting that the name arose natively in Japanese. Korean has a separate name for the swifts.
The swiftlets (not found in Japan) are called by the separate name アナツバメ ana-tsubame, written 穴燕 and meaning 'hole swallows', presumably because of their nesting habits. The edible nests of the swiftlets are known as つばめのす tsubame no su (燕の巣) 'swallow's nests'.
Species names
| APODINAE | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SCIENTIFIC & WESTERN |
JAPANESE |
CHINESE |
KOREAN |
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| Hirundapus | |||||||
Latin |
Eng, Fr, Ger, Ru |
Japanese |
Other J |
Chinese |
Chinese (Taiwan) |
Other Ch |
Korean |
| Hirundapus caudacutus Hirundapus caudacuta Chaetura caudacuta  |
White-throated needletail White-throated spine-tailed swift Spinetail swift Martinet épineux Stachelschwanzsegler Иглохвостый стриж |
ハリオアマツバメ (針尾雨燕) hari-o ama-tsubame 'needle-tailed rain-swallow' |
白喉针尾雨燕 (白喉針尾雨燕) 'white-throated needle-tailed rain-swallow' |
(白喉针尾雨燕) 白喉針尾雨燕 'white-throated needle-tailed rain-swallow' Taiwan former official: (针尾雨燕) (针尾雨燕) 針尾雨燕 'needle-tailed rain-swallow' |
山燕子 (山燕子) 'mountain swallow' |
바늘꼬리칼새 baneul-kkori-kal-sae 'needle-tailed swift bird' |
|
| Apus | |||||||
Latin |
Eng, Fr, Ger, Ru |
Japanese |
Other J |
Chinese |
Chinese (Taiwan) |
Other Ch |
Korean |
| Apus pacificus |
Fork-tailed swift or Pacific swift Large white-rumped swift Larger white-rumped swift Northern white-rumped swift Martinet de Sibérie Pazifiksegler Белопоясничный стриж |
アマツバメ (雨燕) ama-tsubame 'rain-swallow' |
白腰雨燕 (白腰雨燕) 'white-rumped rain-swallow' |
(叉尾雨燕) 叉尾雨燕 'fork-tailed rain-swallow' (白腰雨燕) 白腰雨燕 'white-rumped rain-swallow' (former official name) |
칼새 kal-sae 'swift bird' |
||
| Apus nipalensis | House swift Martinet malais Haussegler Стриж домовой |
ヒメアマツバメ (姫雨燕) hime ama-tsubame 'princess rain-swallow' |
小白腰雨燕 (小白腰雨燕) 'small white-rumped rain-swallow'  Taxonomy |
(小雨燕) 小雨燕 'small rain-swallow' Taxonomy |
쇠칼새 soe-kal-sae 'small swift bird' |
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