< Reconstruction:Proto-Japonic

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”).

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, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”) ‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here (Note: Dialectal meanings, etymological theories, pronunciation including modern, dialectal, and historical information, Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai, historical dictionaries containing this word, and the kanji spellings in those dictionaries have been omitted.)
  2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. “港”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
  4. Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: 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, Tōkyō: 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
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