奈良

Chinese

		orthographic borrowing
trad. (奈良)		奈良
simp. ^#(奈良)		奈良

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 奈良 (Nara).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): Nàiliáng
(Zhuyin): ㄋㄞˋ ㄌㄧㄤˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): noi⁶ loeng⁴
Min Nan (POJ): Nāi-liông

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: Nàiliáng
  - Zhuyin: ㄋㄞˋ ㄌㄧㄤˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: Nàiliáng
  - Wade–Giles: Nai⁴-liang²
  - Yale: Nài-lyáng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Nayliang
  - Palladius: Найлян (Najljan)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /naɪ̯⁵¹ ljɑŋ³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: noi⁶ loeng⁴
  - Yale: noih lèuhng
  - Cantonese Pinyin: noi⁶ loeng⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: noi⁶ lêng⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /nɔːi̯²² lœːŋ²¹/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Nāi-liông
  - Tâi-lô: Nāi-liông
  - Phofsit Daibuun: naixlioong
  - IPA (Taipei): /nãi³³⁻¹¹ liɔŋ²⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /nãi³³⁻²¹ liɔŋ²³/

Proper noun

奈良

(～縣) Nara (a prefecture of Japan)
(～市) Nara (a city in Nara Prefecture, Japan)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
奈	良
な Grade: 4 (ateji)	ら Grade: 4 (ateji)
goon	nanori

Alternative spellings
寧楽平城

Etymology

From Old Japanese. Attested from at least the early 700s.[1] The kanji are ateji (当て字).

Various ancient spellings suggest forms ending in -ku or -ki. This latter element is not attested past the Old Japanese stage:

奈羅, 那羅, 楢, 儺羅名良, 奈良, 那良那楽, 寧楽平城 → ⟨nara⟩ ⟨nara⟩ ⟨naraku⟩ ⟨naraki₂⟩ → /nara/ */naraᵑ/ */narakʉ/ */narakɨ/ → /nara/

According to the Nihon Shoki (720 CE), the placename is derived from the Japanese verb 均す, 平す (narasu, “to flatten”).[2] In The Study of Place Names, Kunio Yanagida stated, “Nara stands for ‘flatland’.”[3]

However, an analysis of Old Japanese phonetic spellings (man'yōgana) reveals that the city name was often spelled with a final -ku or -ki element, which makes it phonologically unlikely that the city name derives directly from the verb narasu. The root from which the verb itself derives, nar-, appears in various terms related to “flat” or “flatness”, a fitting descriptor for the local geography. The final -ku or -ki element in the ancient spellings may be Old Japanese 城 (ki₂ → ki, “palisade, stronghold, fortress, castle”), as also suggested in the alternative kanji spelling 平城 (literally “flat stronghold”). See also the discussion of the city name's etymology on Wikipedia.

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) なら [náꜜrà] (Atamadaka – [1])[4]
IPA^(key): [na̠ɾa̠]
Audio (file)

Proper noun

奈(な)良(ら) • (Nara)

a placename, especially:
1. Short for 奈良県 (Nara-ken): Nara Prefecture
2. Short for 奈良市 (Nara-shi): the capital city of Nara in northern Nara Prefecture
a surname

Derived terms

奈良(なら)団扇(うちわ) (Nara uchiwa)
奈良(なら)絵(え)本(ほん) (Nara Ehon)
奈良(なら)一(いっ)刀(とう)彫(ぼり) (Nara ittōbori)
奈良(なら)街(かい)道(どう) (Nara kaidō)
奈良(なら)刀(がたな) (naragatana)
奈良(なら)県(けん) (Nara-ken)
奈良(なら)公(こう)園(えん) (Nara Kōen)
奈良(なら)金(こん)剛(ごう) (Nara kongō)
奈良(なら)坂(ざか) (Narazaka)
奈良(なら)酒(ざけ) (Nara-zake)
奈良(なら)晒(ざらし) (Nara-zarashi)
奈良(なら)三(さん)作(さく) (Nara Sansaku)
奈良(なら)時(じ)代(だい) (Nara jidai)
奈良(なら)線(せん) (Nara-sen)
奈良(なら)草履(ぞうり) (Nara zōri)
奈良(なら)大(だい)衆(しゅ) (Nara daishu)
奈良(なら)茶(ちゃ) (Nara-cha)
奈良(なら)茶(ちゃ)飯(めし) (Nara chameshi)
奈良(なら)茶(ちゃ)碗(わん) (Nara chawan)
奈良(なら)朝(ちょう) (Nara-chō)
奈良(なら)漬(づ)け (narazuke)
奈良(なら)人(にん)形(ぎょう) (Nara ningyō)
奈良(なら)の大(だい)仏(ぶつ) (Nara no Daibutsu)
奈良(なら)の都(みやこ) (Nara no miyako)
奈良(なら)派(は) (Nara-ha)
奈良(なら)版(ばん) (Nara-ban)
奈良(なら)奉(ぶ)行(ぎょう) (Nara bugyō)
奈良(なら)風炉(ぶろ) (Nara-buro)
奈良(なら)法(ほう)師(し) (Nara hōshi)
奈良(なら)盆(ぼん)地(ち) (Nara bonchi)
奈良(なら)彫(ぼり) (narabori)
奈良(なら)物(もの) (naramono)
奈良(なら)山(やま) (Nara-yama)

References

“奈良・平城・寧楽”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000, →ISBN
On the tenth year of Emperor Sujin's reign, Water Rat day of the ninth month, “then, leading selected soldiers, (the rebels) went forward, climbed Nara-yama (hills lying to the north of Heijō-kyō) and put them in order. Now the imperial forces gathered and flattened trees and plants. Therefore, the mountain is called Nara-yama.”
柳田国男 YANAGIDA Kunio (1936), 『地名の研究』 (The Study of Place Names), 古今書院, pp.217-219
1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN

Old Japanese

Alternative forms

寧樂, 平城

Etymology

From the Nihon Shoki (720 CE):

則率_二精兵_一、進登_二那羅山_一而軍之。時官軍屯聚、而蹢_二跙草木_一。因以號_二其山_一曰_二那羅山_一。〈蹢跙、此云_二：布瀰那羅須_一〉

The selected soldiers went forward, climbed Nara-yama, and put them in order. Now the imperial forces gathered and flattened trees and plants. Therefore, the mountain is called Nara-yama (“Flattened” is read as fuminarasu).

However, analysis of phonetic spellings reveals that the placename was often spelled with a final -ku or -ki₂ element.

Proper noun

奈良 (Nara) (kana なら)

a placename in 大和 (Yamato₂, “Yamato Province”), the seat of power of the ancient Yamato court

Derived terms

奈良坂 (Narazaka)
奈良の都 (Nara no₂ mi₁yako₁)
奈良山 (Nara-yama)

Descendants

Japanese: 奈良 (Nara)