鎌倉

Chinese

Wikipedia has an article on:

• 鎌倉市

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 鎌倉 (Kamakura).

Pronunciation

Proper noun

鎌倉

1. (～市) Kamakura (a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan)

Japanese

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

鎌倉

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Kamakura

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Old Japanese 鎌倉 (Kamakura).

Originally a compound of 竈 (kama, “oven”) +‎ 鞍 (kura, “saddle”), from the way that the landscape as viewed from the sea looks like a saddle inside an oven, that is, a flat area in the mountains, surrounded by hills in the shape of an old traditional oven.

The kanji spelling appears to be an example of ateji (当て字), literally “sickle warehouse”.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) かまくら (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Proper noun

鎌(かま)倉(くら) • (Kamakura) 

1. a placename, especially:
   1. Short for 鎌倉市 (Kamakura-shi): A city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan the capital city of the Kamakura shogunate
   2. Short for 鎌倉郡 (Kamakura-gun): A district in central Sagami Province, today part of Kanagawa Prefecture
      • 938, Minamoto no Shitagō, Wamyō Ruijushō, volume 15, pages 214-215:

        鎌倉郡 加末久良 按萬葉集作可麻久良...

        Kamakura District (read as 加末久良 ka-ma-ku-ra). In the Man'yōshū, it is spelled as 可麻久良 kamakura.

2. a surname

Derived terms

References

Further reading

• Entry at Nihon Jiten (in Japanese)

Old Japanese

Etymology

Originally a compound of 竈 (kama, “oven”) +‎ 鞍 (kura, “saddle”), from the way that the landscape as viewed from the sea looks like a saddle inside an oven, that is, a flat area in the mountains, surrounded by hills in the shape of an old traditional oven.

Proper noun

鎌倉 (Kamakura) (kana かまくら)

1. a placename on the southeastern part of modern Kanagawa Prefecture
   • 711–712, Kojiki, middle volume (Yamatotakeru no mikoto):

     足鏡別王者、【鎌倉之別、小津、石代之別、漁田之別祖也。】次息長田別王之子、杙俣長田子王。

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 14, poem 3365 :

     可麻久良乃美胡之能佐吉能伊波久叡乃伎美我久由倍伎己許呂波母多自

     Kamakura no₂ Mi₁go₁si-no₂-saki₁ no₂ ipakuye no₂ ki₁mi₁ ga kuyube₂ki₁ ko₂ko₂ro₂ pa motazi

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 20, poem 4330 :

     奈爾波都爾余曾比余比弖氣布能比夜伊田弖麻可良武美流波波奈之爾　右一首、鎌倉郡上丁丸子連多麻呂。

     Nanipa-tu ni yo₂so₂pi₁ yo₂so₂pi₁te ke₂pu no₂ pi₁ ya idete-makaramu mi₁ru papa nasi ni (Hidari isshu, Kamakura-gun jōtei Maroko no Muraji Ōmaro)

     Today in Naniwa Bay, adorned , I depart without a mother seeing me off (by the leader Maroko no Ōmaro from the district of Kamakura).

Derived terms

• 鎌倉山 (Kamakura-yama)

Descendants

• Japanese: 鎌倉 (Kamakura)

References