Reconstruction:Proto-Japonic/minato

This Proto-Japonic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Japonic

Etymology

The traditional etymology that Japanese sources trace back to is a compound of mi- ("water") + -na- (genitive particle) + to ("place").[1][2][3][4][5] However, this does not correlate cleanly with *mentu (“water”).

Vovin, on the other hand suggests mi- was an honorific prefix, while -na- was the word for "water", possibly from Proto-Tai *C̬.namꟲ (“water”).[6] Compare *namita (“tears”), Old Japanese 菜葱, 水葱 (nagi, “Monochoria vaginalis”), Old Japanese 漬く (naduku, “soak in water”).

That said, there is also Old Japanese 水門・水戸 (mito1), synonymous with minato1 and composed as a simple noun + noun compound, with the mi unambiguously meaning "water".[7][8]

Noun

*minato

  1. sluice
  2. port

Descendants

References

  1. ^ “み‐な‐と 【港・湊・水門】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
  2. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. ^ “港”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎[2] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
  4. ^ Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
  5. ^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  6. ^ Vovin, Alexander (2010), “上代日本語と古代・中世韓国語の「水」と「涙」”, in 日韓言語学者会議 (in Japanese), 麗澤大学言語研究センター, pages 115-120
  7. ^ “水門”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎[3] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
  8. ^ “水門”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎[4] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
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