大蛇

Japanese[edit]

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

大蛇

/woro₂ti/ → */worəti/ → /woroti/ → /orotɕi/

Possibly from 尾ろ (woro₂, “tail”) +‎ 霊 (chi, “spirit”). The kanji are jukujikun (熟字訓).

大蛇(おろち) • (orochi) ^{←をろち (woroti)^?}

(literal) a large snake
- 938, Minamoto no Shitagō, Wamyō Ruijushō, volume 8, page 55:
  虵 [...] 一名久知奈波、日本紀私記云、虵、乎路知 [...] 毒虫也 [...]
  Serpent [...] One name is kuchinawa, the Nihongi Private Records call it serpent,　orochi[...]. It is a venomous creature [...]

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

大(だい)蛇(じゃ) • (daija)

^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN

Minamoto, Shitagō with Kyōto Daigaku Bungakubu Kokugogaku Kokubungaku Kenkyūshitu (931–938) Shohon Shūsei Wamyō Ruijushō: Honbunhen (in Japanese), Kyōto: Rinsen, published 1968, →ISBN.