Chinese

Proper noun

奈良

1. Nara, Japan

Japanese

Etymology

According to the ancient Japanese book Nihon Shoki, the name "Nara" derived from the Japanese verb 平す ‎(narasu, “to flatten”)^[1]. Kunio Yanagida stated, in "The Study of Place Names", Nara stands for flatland.^[2].

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• (Tokyo) な​ら [náꜜrà] (Atamadaka - [1])^[3]
• IPA^(key): [na̠ɾ̠a̠]

Proper noun

奈良 ‎(hiragana なら, romaji Nara)

1. Nara, a city in central Japan
2. Nara, a prefecture in central Japan
3. A surname​.

Derived terms

• 奈良県 (ならけん, ​Nara ken)

References

1. ↑ In September in the tenth year of Emperor Sujin, "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."
2. ↑ 柳田国男 YANAGIDA Kunio (1936), 『地名の研究』 (The Study of Place Names), 古今書院, pp.217-219
3. ↑ 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3