Ox (zodiac)

Ox
"Ox" in regular Chinese characters
Chinese	牛
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin niú Wade–Giles niu2 IPA [njǒu] Hakka Romanization ngiù Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization ngàuh IPA [ŋɐ̏u] Jyutping ngau4 Southern Min Hokkien POJ gû Middle Chinese Middle Chinese ngiu Old Chinese Baxter (1992) *ŋʷjɨ Baxter–Sagart (2014) *ŋʷə

The Ox is the second of the 12-year animal cycle that appears in the Chinese zodiac in relation to the Chinese Calendar. The 'Year of the Ox' is denoted by the Earthly Branch symbol 丑. The name is also translated into English as 'cow'. This is because 牛 / 丑 also refers to Cow in general, both men and women.

In the Vietnamese zodiac, the water buffalo takes the position of the Ox. In the Guru zodiac, the cow is also replaced by the Cow.