遠江

Japanese

Kanji in this term
遠	江
とお Grade: 2	とうみ Grade: S

Etymology

⟨to₂po tu apa umi₁⟩ → */təpo tu apa umij/ → ⟨to₂po tu apumi₁⟩ → */topotapumi/ → */towotawumi/ → */toːtɔːmi/ → /toːtoːmi/

Originally from Old Japanese 遠淡海国 (To₂po tu apa umi no₂ kuni, “To₂potuapaumi Province”), where 遠淡海 (to₂po tu apa umi) literally means "far freshwater lake"; a compound of 遠 (to₂po, “far, distant”) + つ (tu, “genitive or possessive marker”) + 淡 (apa, “faint, light, tasteless”) + 海 (umi, “sea, lake”) (compare modern Japanese reflexes 遠(とお) (tō), 淡(あわ)い (awai), 海(うみ) (umi)). The resulting vowel clusters /-tua-/ and /-pau-/ were reduced into /-ta-/ and /-pu-/ and the word went through regular sound shifts from Old Japanese to Modern Japanese, resulting in its modern form.

The intermediate form 等保都安布美 (to₂po tu apumi₁) was recorded in Man'yōshu Book 14, poem 3429.

See the etymology of 近江(おうみ) (ōmi) and 淡海(おうみ) (ōmi) for more details.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [to̞ːto̞ːmʲi]

Proper noun

遠(とお)江(とうみ) • (Tōtōmi) ^{←とほたふみ (Tofotafumi)?}

1. (historical) Tōtōmi Province, present-day western part of Shizuoka prefecture

Synonyms

• 遠州(えんしゅう) (enshū)