上野国
Japanese
| Kanji in this term | ||
|---|---|---|
| 上 | 野 | 国 |
| Grade: 1 | Grade: 2 | くに Grade: 2 |
| irregular | kun’yomi | |
| Alternative spelling |
|---|
| 上野國 (kyūjitai) |
上野国 (Kōzuke no kuni): a map of Japanese provinces in 1868, with Kōzuke Province highlighted.
Etymology
From Old Japanese 上毛野 (Kami tsu Keno, literally “Upper Keno”), in turn from 上 (kami, “upper”) + つ (ancient possessive particle) + 毛野 (Keno, old name for a region corresponding to modern Gunma Prefecture and Tochigi Prefecture combined), where 毛野 (Keno, literally “hairy field”) was ateji for 食野 (Keno, literally “food field”) in reference to an imperial agricultural area. Over time, the final no in Kami tsu Keno was reanalyzed as the の (no) possessive particle and was omitted from the name, producing Kamitsuke. The mi then nasalized and caused the tsu to become voiced, producing Kaũdzuke, and then the -au- underwent a regular vowel shift to become -ō-.[1][2]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ko̞ːzɨᵝke̞ no̞ kɯ̟ᵝɲ̟i]
Proper noun
上野国 • (Kōzuke no Kuni) ←かうづけのくに (kaudukenokuni)?
- Kōzuke Province, corresponding to modern Gunma Prefecture
References
- 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
- 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN