🌏 Region(s): Ryukyu (Okinawa)
なーふぁ【那覇】 : naafa | define meaning
naafa
Pronunciation: [naːɸa]
Definition
Name
- (Place) Naha; Naha City
Etymology
Cognate with Kunigami (Benoki) and Okinawan なふぁ nafa; Okinawan なーふぁ naafa; and standard Japanese なは【那覇】 naha "Naha".
Historical attestations
- おもろさうし Omoro Saushi (1531-1623) records "なは".
- Mémoire sur les Isles que les Chinois appellent isles de Lieou-Kieou, par le Pere Gaubil missionnaire de la Compagnie de Jesus à Pekin (1758), by Antoine Gaubil, records "Napa-Kiang" [= 那覇江].
- Voyage of His Majesty's Ship Alceste: Along the Coast of Corea, to the Island of Lewchew, with an Account of Her Subsequent Shipwreck (1818), by John M'Leod, records "Napa", "Napa-Kiang" and "Napa-Foo".
- Vocabulary of the language spoken at the Great Loo-Choo island in the Japan Sea (1818), by Herbert John Clifford, records "Napa".
- Biographie universelle (Michaud) ancienne et moderne (1842), Volume 32, records "Nafa".
- The Whig Almanac and United States Register for 1844 (1844), records "Nafa-Kiang".
- The Missionary Herald (1853), Volume 49, records "Napa, or Nafa, lies on the river, the mouth of which is known as Napa-kiang".
- Essay in Aid of a Grammmar and Dictionary of the Luchuan Language (1895), by Basil Hall Chamberlain, records "Nafa".
- 沖縄語典 Okinawa goten (Okinawan language dictionary) (1896), by Masayo Nakamoto, records "「なふあ、うちしま」那覇、浮島".
Notes
The name of the city was historically also written as 【那霸】.
Spelling
| Orthography | Form |
|---|---|
| Kanji | 那覇 |
| Kana | なーふぁ |
| New Okinawa Moji | なー慠 |
| Romanization | naafa |
| Pronunciation (IPA) | [naːɸa] |
意味：なは【那覇】、なはし【那覇市】
Categories:
那覇
Cite this entry: Read, Zachary. (2025, January 19). なーふぁ【那覇】 : naafa | define meaning. JLect: Japonic Languages and Dialects Database. Retrieved 2025, April 21, from https://www.jlect.com/entry/1465/naafa/.