# What is the Chinese word for (the beast) 'mammoth?' **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 4, 2020, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-chinese-word-for-the-beast-mammoth/855046 "2020-06-04T15:02:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-chinese-word-for-the-beast-mammoth/855046/1 "2020-06-04T15:02:38Z")
The English word ‘mammoth’ has its origins in word in some Siberian native language that more or less translated to ‘earth’ or ‘underground.’ In a 1957 documentary “Letter from Siberia,” the narrator says that the ancient Siberians and Chinese thought that these great ‘underground’ bones must have belonged to a giant mole! The narrator further says that in \*Chinese the word for mammoth is (phonetically) ‘troo-moo,’ which means ‘mother of mice’ (OK to the ancients, I guess moles were just burrowing mice). Anyway. . . From what cursory Googling, it appears the most likely word for ‘mammoth’ in Chinese translates to ‘hairy elephant.’ Fair enough. The GQs: Does something phonetically akin to ‘troo-moo’ in [a] Chinese [language] translate to ‘mother of mice?’ Can it be verified that that was indeed a local name for mammoths (or at least the burrowing beast thought to have left the bones behind) at one time ? \*The narration did not specify which Chinese language. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-chinese-word-for-the-beast-mammoth/855046/2 "2020-06-04T18:57:00Z")
> **[Yin Shu](https://abookofcreatures.com/2016/09/26/yin-shu/)** > > Variations: Tien-schu, Tin-schu, Tyn-schu, Yn-schu In Siberia, mammoth fossils were seen as the remains of giant mole-like creatures that lived and moved underground. These subterannean monsters to… > [@](#): > > Variations: Tien-schu, Tin-schu, Tyn-schu, Yn-schu, Yin-Shu > In Siberia, mammoth fossils were seen as the remains of giant mole-like creatures that lived and moved underground. These subterannean monsters tore up riverbanks as they tunneled, but died in broad daylight. > > In China, numerous sources, including the treatise Ly-Ki, tell of the Yin Shu, the “Hidden Rodent” or “Hidden Mouse” that dwells in dark caves. The yin shu grows from the size of a buffalo to as big as an elephant in Manchurian manuscripts, but otherwise looks mouselike. It has a no tail (or a short tail), is dark in color, and has short legs, a short neck, and small eyes. Yin shu are dim-witted, slow, and extremely powerful, digging out caves in areas with the roots of the fu-kia plant. They have shown up when rivers flooded plains, and die instantly when exposed to sunlight. > > Until recently, mammoth bones in drugstores were labeled as yin shu. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-chinese-word-for-the-beast-mammoth/855046/3 "2020-06-04T20:32:30Z")
“moo” or “mu” is one of many ways to say “mother” in Mandarin. Parents 父母 Fu Mu (Father & Mother). ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-chinese-word-for-the-beast-mammoth/855046/4 "2020-06-06T01:49:49Z")
Edit: If your narrator is Siberian, it is probably something entirely differently. Sorry, I don’t know how to phonetically type Chinese, but maybe “troo” could be “shǔ”? If so, that’d make it 鼠母, literally “rat mother” or maybe “rat matriarch” as an honorific. You can [hear it here](https://translate.google.com/#view=home&op=translate&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&text=%E9%BC%A0%E6%AF%8D) in Mandarin. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-chinese-word-for-the-beast-mammoth/855046/5 "2020-06-06T02:14:41Z")
I just listened to the doc again, and it sounded more like ‘chu mu,’ which is close enough. Thanks, all!