Etymology of 武蔵


What is the etymology of the old province and Japanese name 武蔵?

[Wikipedia claims](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musashi_Province) that it is
non-Yamato vocabulary from an Ainu language. Even if this is true, why were
these characters (military/weapon + store) chosen as ateji?




## Etymology

There are numerous theories about this.

**Japanese:**

  * The theories restricted to Japanese origins all revolve around the ideas of some larger geographic area that was split into "upper" ( _-kami_ or _-gami_ ) and "lower" ( _-shimo_ ) halves. The main theories listed at [the JA Wikipedia article on 武蔵国](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AD%A6%E8%94%B5%E5%9B%BD) ( _Musashi no Kuni_ ) and at [the Nihon Jiten page here](http://nihonjiten.com/data/115152.html) revolve around an ancient province named _Musa_ or _Munza_ (or possibly even _Fusa_ ). After the ostensible split, there would have been _Musa-gami_ and _Musa-shimo_ , and the theory goes that the name _Musa-gami_ lost the leading _mu_ to become _Sagami_ , while _Musa-shimo_ lost the trailing _mo_ to become _Musashi_.  
→ This seems a little strained and unlikely, however.

Other theories look beyond just Japanese for the origins of the name, and find
possibilities in Ainu, as mentioned in [the EN Wikipedia
article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musashi_Province#cite_ref-2), and maybe
even Korean, as mentioned in [the Nihon Jiten
entry](http://nihonjiten.com/data/115152.html).

**Ainu:**

  * Per [Vovin's paper](http://shikon.nichibun.ac.jp/dspace/handle/123456789/1482) mentioned in the EN Wikipedia article: Japanese _musashi_ , from older _muzashi_ , from yet older _munzashi_ , from Ainu _mun_ ("grass, weeds") _sa_ ("open, exposed; a plain, a wide-open area") _-hi_ (third-person possessive suffix), with Ainu _hi_ becoming Japanese _shi_ (as observed in other likely terms). So _mun_ _sa-hi_ would ostensibly mean "grassy or weedy plain".  
→ This holds together reasonably well. However, I cannot find any mention of
this _-hi_ possessive suffix in [Batchelor's seminal Ainu
dictionary](https://archive.org/details/ainuenglishjapan00batcuoft). I do find
another _-hi_ , used as a nominalizing suffix for verbs and adjectives. I also
see mention of _-i_ , again used as a nominalizing suffix for verbs and
adjectives. This is also used to indicate demonstrative pronouns, and to
indicate direction to or from a place.  
I find this gap in Vovin's etymology rather odd, especially as the paper
explicitly cites Batchelor's dictionary as the source for the Ainu word _sa_ ,
and as Batchelor's work also lists Ainu _mun_ as "grass, weeds" in agreement
with Vovin's etymology.

  * Per [the Nihon Jiten entry](http://nihonjiten.com/data/115152.html), Japanese _musashi_ , then probably from much older possible _mushashi_ (see **Spelling** below), from Ainu _mo_ ("sluggish, quiet, gentle") _casi_ ("fort, castle; enclosure", where Ainu _ca_ is read similarly to Japanese ちゃ).  
→ This doesn't seem very likely.

**Korean:**

  * Per [the Nihon Jiten entry](http://nihonjiten.com/data/115152.html), マル (probably [말 _mal_ , "great"](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%EB%A7%90#Etymology_4)) + チャチ (probably 차지 _chaji_ , part of compound verb [차지하다 _chaji-hada_ "to hold, occupy, take, have"](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%EC%B0%A8%EC%A7%80%ED%95%98%EB%8B%A4)), together meaning something like "great holding, great occupation".  
→ This theory also seems unlikely.

**Conclusion:**

We don't know where _musashi_ really comes from, or what it might have
originally meant. All the theories I've read so far have holes in them, and
none seem conclusive. From my personal perspective, Vovin's Ainu derivation
seems the closest to convincing, but that hypothesized final _-hi_ remains
unexplained.

## Spelling

From the JA Wikipedia article, specifically the section at
<https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AD%A6%E8%94%B5%E5%9B%BD#.E5.9B.BD.E5.90.8D>
(my additions in [square brackets]):

>
> 表記については、飛鳥京・藤原宮木簡に「无耶志国」と見え、7世紀頃までの武蔵は「无射志」(ムザシ)や「牟射志」(ムンザシ)と表記されていた記録も見つかっている[1]。他にも「牟佐志[2]」、「無邪志[3]」といったの表記があるが、いずれも訓に字を当てたものと考えられている。  
>  For the spelling, we find 无耶志国 [probably _mu ya shi kuni_ , maybe _mu sha
> shi kuni_ ] in the Asuka wooden fragments [see [this EN Wikipedia
> article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%27y%C5%8Dsh%C5%AB#Mokkan) for
> more], and there are also records that show spellings of 无射志 ( _muzashi_ )
> and 牟射志 ( _munzashi_ ) until around the 7th century. Additional spellings
> include 牟佐志 and 無邪志, but all of these are thought to be reading-based
> _ateji_.

As for your specific question, " _why were these characters (military/weapon +
store) chosen as ateji_ ", I have not yet found any sources stating specific
reasons, though presumably the use of 武 had something to do with the military
importance of the area.




## Etymology

There are numerous theories about this.

**Japanese:**

  * The theories restricted to Japanese origins all revolve around the ideas of some larger geographic area that was split into "upper" ( _-kami_ or _-gami_ ) and "lower" ( _-shimo_ ) halves. The main theories listed at [the JA Wikipedia article on 武蔵国](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AD%A6%E8%94%B5%E5%9B%BD) ( _Musashi no Kuni_ ) and at [the Nihon Jiten page here](http://nihonjiten.com/data/115152.html) revolve around an ancient province named _Musa_ or _Munza_ (or possibly even _Fusa_ ). After the ostensible split, there would have been _Musa-gami_ and _Musa-shimo_ , and the theory goes that the name _Musa-gami_ lost the leading _mu_ to become _Sagami_ , while _Musa-shimo_ lost the trailing _mo_ to become _Musashi_.  
→ This seems a little strained and unlikely, however.

Other theories look beyond just Japanese for the origins of the name, and find
possibilities in Ainu, as mentioned in [the EN Wikipedia
article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musashi_Province#cite_ref-2), and maybe
even Korean, as mentioned in [the Nihon Jiten
entry](http://nihonjiten.com/data/115152.html).

**Ainu:**

  * Per [Vovin's paper](http://shikon.nichibun.ac.jp/dspace/handle/123456789/1482) mentioned in the EN Wikipedia article: Japanese _musashi_ , from older _muzashi_ , from yet older _munzashi_ , from Ainu _mun_ ("grass, weeds") _sa_ ("open, exposed; a plain, a wide-open area") _-hi_ (third-person possessive suffix), with Ainu _hi_ becoming Japanese _shi_ (as observed in other likely terms). So _mun_ _sa-hi_ would ostensibly mean "grassy or weedy plain".  
→ This holds together reasonably well. However, I cannot find any mention of
this _-hi_ possessive suffix in [Batchelor's seminal Ainu
dictionary](https://archive.org/details/ainuenglishjapan00batcuoft). I do find
another _-hi_ , used as a nominalizing suffix for verbs and adjectives. I also
see mention of _-i_ , again used as a nominalizing suffix for verbs and
adjectives. This is also used to indicate demonstrative pronouns, and to
indicate direction to or from a place.  
I find this gap in Vovin's etymology rather odd, especially as the paper
explicitly cites Batchelor's dictionary as the source for the Ainu word _sa_ ,
and as Batchelor's work also lists Ainu _mun_ as "grass, weeds" in agreement
with Vovin's etymology.

  * Per [the Nihon Jiten entry](http://nihonjiten.com/data/115152.html), Japanese _musashi_ , then probably from much older possible _mushashi_ (see **Spelling** below), from Ainu _mo_ ("sluggish, quiet, gentle") _casi_ ("fort, castle; enclosure", where Ainu _ca_ is read similarly to Japanese ちゃ).  
→ This doesn't seem very likely.

**Korean:**

  * Per [the Nihon Jiten entry](http://nihonjiten.com/data/115152.html), マル (probably [말 _mal_ , "great"](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%EB%A7%90#Etymology_4)) + チャチ (probably 차지 _chaji_ , part of compound verb [차지하다 _chaji-hada_ "to hold, occupy, take, have"](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%EC%B0%A8%EC%A7%80%ED%95%98%EB%8B%A4)), together meaning something like "great holding, great occupation".  
→ This theory also seems unlikely.

**Conclusion:**

We don't know where _musashi_ really comes from, or what it might have
originally meant. All the theories I've read so far have holes in them, and
none seem conclusive. From my personal perspective, Vovin's Ainu derivation
seems the closest to convincing, but that hypothesized final _-hi_ remains
unexplained.

## Spelling

From the JA Wikipedia article, specifically the section at
<https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AD%A6%E8%94%B5%E5%9B%BD#.E5.9B.BD.E5.90.8D>
(my additions in [square brackets]):

>
> 表記については、飛鳥京・藤原宮木簡に「无耶志国」と見え、7世紀頃までの武蔵は「无射志」(ムザシ)や「牟射志」(ムンザシ)と表記されていた記録も見つかっている[1]。他にも「牟佐志[2]」、「無邪志[3]」といったの表記があるが、いずれも訓に字を当てたものと考えられている。  
>  For the spelling, we find 无耶志国 [probably _mu ya shi kuni_ , maybe _mu sha
> shi kuni_ ] in the Asuka wooden fragments [see [this EN Wikipedia
> article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%27y%C5%8Dsh%C5%AB#Mokkan) for
> more], and there are also records that show spellings of 无射志 ( _muzashi_ )
> and 牟射志 ( _munzashi_ ) until around the 7th century. Additional spellings
> include 牟佐志 and 無邪志, but all of these are thought to be reading-based
> _ateji_.

As for your specific question, " _why were these characters (military/weapon +
store) chosen as ateji_ ", I have not yet found any sources stating specific
reasons, though presumably the use of 武 had something to do with the military
importance of the area.

