国境

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 国境 – see 國境 (“border of a country”). (This term is the simplified form of 國境).

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
国	境
こく > こっ Grade: 2	きょう Grade: 5
on’yomi	goon

Alternative spelling
國境 (kyūjitai)

From Middle Chinese 國境 (MC kwok kjaengX). First attested in a portion of the Shoku Nihongi dated to 706.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) こっきょー [kòkkyóó] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ko̞k̚ʲkʲo̞ː]

Noun

国(こっ)境(きょう) • (kokkyō) ^{←こくきやう (kokukyau)?}

1. [from 706] a national border or frontier (part of a country that fronts or faces another country or an unsettled region)

   Synonyms: 国界 (kokkai), 国境 (kunizakai)

Derived terms

• 国(こっ)境(きょう)なき医(い)師(し)団(だん) (Kokkyō Naki Ishidan, “Doctors Without Borders”)
• 国(こっ)境(きょう)税(ぜい) (kokkyōzei), 国(こっ)境(きょう)関(かん)税(ぜい) (kokkyō kanzei, “border tariff”)
• 国(こっ)境(きょう)税(ぜい)関(かん) (kokkyō zeikan, “border customs house”)
• 国(こっ)境(きょう)警(けい)備(び)兵(へい) (kokkyō keibihei, “border or frontier guard”)
• 国(こっ)境(きょう)線(せん) (kokkyōsen, “border”)
• 国(こっ)境(きょう)地(ち)帯(たい) (kokkyō chitai, “region along a border”)
• 国(こっ)境(きょう)地(ち)方(ほう) (kokkyō chihō, “borderland”)
• 国(こっ)境(きょう)紛(ふん)争(そう) (kokkyō funsō, “border dispute”)
• 国(こっ)境(きょう)貿(ぼう)易(えき) (kokkyō bōeki, “border trade”)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
国	境
くに Grade: 2	さかい > ざかい Grade: 5
kun’yomi

Alternative spellings
國境 (kyūjitai) 国界

Compound of 国(くに) (kuni, “province; country”) + 境(さかい) (sakai, “border”). The sakai changes to zakai as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

First attested in 1660.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) くにざ​かい [kùnízáꜜkàì] (Nakadaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ᵝɲ̟iza̠ka̠i]

Noun

国(くに)境(ざかい) • (kunizakai) ^{←くにざかひ (kunizakafi)?}

1. [from 1660] a national or provincial border or frontier

   Synonyms: 国境 (kokkyō), 国界 (kokkai)

   信濃(しなの)と武蔵(むさし)の国(くに)境(ざかい)に

   Shinano to Musashi no kunizakai ni

   on the border between Shinano and Musashi

Usage notes

This reading is usually restricted to the context of historical Japanese geography.