上野国

Japanese

Kanji in this term
上	野	国
Grade: 1	Grade: 2	くに Grade: 2
irregular		kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
上野國 (kyūjitai)

上野国 (Kōzuke no kuni): a map of Japanese provinces in 1868, with Kōzuke Province highlighted.

Etymology

From Old Japanese 上毛野 (Kami tsu Keno, literally “Upper Keno”), in turn from 上 (kami, “upper”) + つ (ancient possessive particle) + 毛野 (Keno, old name for a region corresponding to modern Gunma Prefecture and Tochigi Prefecture combined), where 毛野 (Keno, literally “hairy field”) was ateji for 食野 (Keno, literally “food field”) in reference to an imperial agricultural area. Over time, the final no in Kami tsu Keno was reanalyzed as the の (no) possessive particle and was omitted from the name, producing Kamitsuke. The mi then nasalized and caused the tsu to become voiced, producing Kaũdzuke, and then the -au- underwent a regular vowel shift to become -ō-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ko̞ːzɨᵝke̞ no̞ kɯ̟ᵝɲ̟i]

Proper noun

上野国(こうずけのくに) • (Kōzuke no Kuni) ^{←かうづけのくに (kaudukenokuni)?}

1. Kōzuke Province, corresponding to modern Gunma Prefecture