名古屋

Chinese

		name; fame; to describe name; fame; to describe; place	ancient; old	house; room
trad. (名古屋)		名	古	屋
simp. #(名古屋)		名	古	屋

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 名古屋(なごや) (Nagoya).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): Mínggǔwū

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄍㄨˇ ㄨ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ming⁴ gu² uk¹
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): Bêng-kó͘-ok

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: Mínggǔwū
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄍㄨˇ ㄨ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: Mínggǔwu
    • Wade–Giles: Ming²-ku³-wu¹
    • Yale: Míng-gǔ-wū
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Mingguuu
    • Palladius: Мингуу (Minguu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /miŋ³⁵ ku²¹⁴⁻²¹ u⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ming⁴ gu² uk¹
    • Yale: mìhng gú ūk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ming⁴ gu² uk⁷
    • Guangdong Romanization: ming⁴ gu² ug¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɪŋ²¹ kuː³⁵ ʊk̚⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Bêng-kó͘-ok
    • Tâi-lô: Bîng-kóo-ok
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bengkofog
    • IPA (Xiamen): /biɪŋ²⁴⁻²² kɔ⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ɔk̚³²/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /biɪŋ²⁴⁻²² kɔ⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ ɔk̚⁵/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /biɪŋ¹³⁻²² kɔ⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ɔk̚³²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /biɪŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ kɔ⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ɔk̚³²/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /biɪŋ²³⁻³³ kɔ⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ ɔk̚³²/

Proper noun

名古屋

1. (～市) Nagoya (the capital city of Aichi Prefecture, in central Honshu, Japan)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
名	古	屋
な Grade: 1	こ > ご Grade: 2	や Grade: 3
kun’yomi	on’yomi	kun’yomi

Alternative spellings
那古野 (historical) 那小屋 (historical) 名護屋 (historical)

Etymology

Uncertain origins, although there are multiple theories.

• From 和や (nagoya, “mild, calm, warm”, possibly obsolete in modern usage; the stem or precursor form of modern 和やか (nagoyaka)), in reference to either the clement weather or the relative calmness of the harbor
• From a compound of 和 (nago-, “calm, mild, warm”, stem of adjectives 和し (nagoshi, “calm”, Classical) and 和やか (nagoyaka) and of verb 和む (nagomu, “to become calm”)) +‎ 谷 (ya, “valley”), in reference to the local topography.
• A sound shift from 根小屋 (negoya, literally “root huts”), in reference to the start of the town as a collection of smaller houses at the root or foot of the mountains.
• By extension from 那古 (Nago), a place in Osaka mentioned in the Man'yōshū of 759. The name "Nagoya" in reference to the geographical area of the modern city is first mentioned in the late Kamakura period (early 1300s)) as 那古野荘 (Nagoya-shō, literally “Nago Field Villa”), an agricultural estate developed earlier in the late Heian period (late 1100s).

That said, the nago portion of the placename in Osaka is in turn likely from the same adjective root as above.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) な​ごや [náꜜgòyà] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [na̠ɡo̞ja̠]

Proper noun

名(な)古(ご)屋(や) • (Nagoya) 

1. Nagoya (the capital city of Aichi Prefecture, in central Honshu, Japan)

Descendants

• Russian: Наго́я f (Nagója)

Further reading

• Entry at 日本辞典 (Nihon Jiten, “Japan Dictionary”) (in Japanese)
• Entry at 語源由来辞典 (Gogen Yurai Jiten, “Etymology Derivation Dictionary”) (in Japanese)