鎌倉

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 鎌倉 (Kamakura).

Pronunciation

Proper noun

鎌倉

1. (～市) Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Etymology

Originally a compound of 竈 (kama, “oven”) +‎ 鞍 (kura, “saddle”). From the way that the landscape, when viewed from the sea, looks like a saddle shape inside an oven, that is, a flat area in the mountains, surrounded by hills in the shape of an old traditional oven.^[1]

The kanji spelling appears to be an example of ateji.

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) かまくら [kàmákúrá] (Heiban – [0])^[2]
  • IPA^(key): [ka̠ma̠kɯ̟ᵝɾa̠]

Proper noun

鎌倉 (hiragana かまくら, rōmaji Kamakura)

1. a city in the southeast of Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, capital city of the Kamakura shogunate
   • 712: Kojiki

     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。

   • 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

   • c. 759, Man'yōshū (book 14, poem 3433)

     多伎木許流可麻久良夜麻能許太流木乎麻都等奈我伊波婆古非都追夜安奈牟

   • c. 759, Man'yōshū (book 20, poem 4330)

     奈尓波都尓余曾比余比弖気布能比夜伊田弖麻可良武美流波ゝ奈之尓 右一首、鎌倉郡上丁丸子連多麻呂。

   • 931–938, Wamyō Ruijushō, book 15, page 214-215:

     鎌倉郡 加末久良 按萬葉集作可麻久良 [...]

2. A surname​.

References

• Kurano, Kenji; Yūkichi Takeda (712) Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 1: Kojiki, Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 1958, →ISBN, page 224
• Minamoto, Shitagō; Kyōto Daigaku Bungakubu Kokugogaku Kokubungaku Kenkyūshitu (934–938) Shohon Shūsei Wamyō Ruijushō: Gaihen, Kyōto: Rinsen, published 1966, →ISBN, pages 203–204.
• Satake, Akihiro; Hideo Yamada; Rikio Kudō; Masao Ōtani; Yoshiyuki Yamazaki (c. 759) Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 3: Man’yōshū 3 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 2002, →ISBN.
• Satake, Akihiro; Hideo Yamada; Rikio Kudō; Masao Ōtani; Yoshiyuki Yamazaki (c. 759) Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 4: Man’yōshū 4 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 2003, →ISBN.