奈良

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 奈良 (Nara).

奈良

1. (～縣) Nara (a prefecture of Japan)
2. (～市) Nara (a city in Nara Prefecture, Japan)

From Old Japanese. Attested from at least the early 700s.^[1] The kanji are ateji (当て字).

Various ancient spellings suggest forms ending in -ku or -ki. This latter element is not attested past the Old Japanese stage:

奈羅, 那羅, 楢, 儺羅 名良, 奈良, 那良 那楽, 寧楽 平城 →  ⟨nara⟩  ⟨nara⟩  ⟨naraku⟩  ⟨naraki₂⟩ →   /nara/  */naraᵑ/  */narakʉ/  */narakɨ/ → /nara/

According to the Nihon Shoki (720 CE), the placename is derived from the Japanese verb 均す, 平す (narasu, “to flatten”).^[2] In The Study of Place Names, Kunio Yanagida stated, “Nara stands for ‘flatland’.”^[3]

However, an analysis of Old Japanese phonetic spellings (man'yōgana) reveals that the city name was often spelled with a final -ku or -ki element, which makes it phonologically unlikely that the city name derives directly from the verb narasu. The root from which the verb itself derives, nar-, appears in various terms related to “flat” or “flatness”, a fitting descriptor for the local geography. The final -ku or -ki element in the ancient spellings may be Old Japanese 城 (ki₂ → ki, “palisade, stronghold, fortress, castle”), as also suggested in the alternative kanji spelling 平城 (literally “flat stronghold”). See also the discussion of the city name's etymology on Wikipedia.

• (Tokyo) なら [náꜜrà] (Atamadaka – [1])^[4]
• IPA^(key): [na̠ɾa̠]

• Audio:

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奈(な)良(ら) • (Nara) 

1. a placename, especially:
   1. short for 奈良県 (Nara-ken): Nara (a prefecture of Japan)
   2. short for 奈良市 (Nara-shi): Nara (the capital city of Nara Prefecture)
2. a surname

• 平(へい)城(じょう)京(きょう) (Heijō-kyō)
• 青(あお)丹(に)よし (aoni yoshi), pillow word alluding to Nara

• 寧樂, 平城

From the Nihon Shoki (720 CE):

則率_二精兵_一、進登_二那羅山_一而軍之。時官軍屯聚、而蹢_二跙草木_一。因以號_二其山_一曰_二那羅山_一。〈蹢跙、此云_二：布瀰那羅須_一〉

The selected soldiers went forward, climbed Nara-yama, and put them in order. Now the imperial forces gathered and flattened trees and plants. Therefore, the mountain is called Nara-yama (“Flattened” is read as fuminarasu).

However, analysis of phonetic spellings reveals that the placename was often spelled with a final -ku or -ki₂ element.

奈良 (Nara) (kana なら)

1. a placename in 大和 (Yamato₂, “Yamato Province”), the seat of power of the ancient Yamato court

• 奈良坂 (Narazaka)
• 奈良の都 (Nara no₂ mi₁yako₁)
• 奈良山 (Nara-yama)

• Japanese: 奈良 (Nara)

• 靑丹よし (awoni yo₁si), pillow word alluding to Nara