三亞

See also: 三亚

Chinese

three second; inferior; Asia
trad. (三亞) 三 亞
simp. (三亚) 三 亚

Etymology

First attested in 1521 in 正德瓊台志.

Wang (2014) suggests that 三亞 is borrowed from a Hlai word meaning "field with crows".

  • 三 (Hainanese /ta¹/) is borrowed from Hlai dax (“field; farmland”) (Heitu dialect: /naː²/).
  • 亞/亚 (Hainanese /a¹/) is likely borrowed from Hlai eek (“crow”) (Heitu dialect: /ʔaːʔ⁹/).

Note that toponyms with 三 as the first character are common in southern Hainan where the Hlai (Li) people live.

Originally referring to the area around Sanya Harbor (三亞港), it replaced 崖縣/崖县 (Yáxiàn, “Ya County”) in 1984 to refer to the entire prefecture-level city.

Pronunciation


Proper noun

三亞

  1. (~市) Sanya (a prefecture-level city in Hainan, China)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (三亞):
  • → Vietnamese: Tam Á (三亞)

other

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.