Chinese

Japanese

Etymology 1

From Middle Chinese 國內 (/kwok nwojH/, “country inside”). Compare modern Chinese 国内 ‎(guónèi).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• (Tokyo) こく​ない [kòkúꜜnàì] (Nakadaka - [2])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ko̞kɯ̃ᵝna̠i]

Noun

国内 ‎(hiragana こくない, romaji kokunai)

1. inside the country, domestic

Antonyms

• 国外 (こくがい) ‎(kokugai): outside of the country, overseas

Etymology 2

Originally a compound of Old Japanese 国 ‎(kuni, “country”) +‎ 内 ‎(うち, “inside”). Already appears in the abbreviated form in the Man'yōshū.

/kuni uchi/ > /kunuchi/

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [kɯᵝnɯᵝt͡ɕi]

Alternative forms

• 国中

Noun

国内 ‎(hiragana くぬち, romaji kunuchi)

1. (archaic) the interior of a country; within a country's borders

References

1. ↑ 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