海老名

Chinese

		ocean; sea	old; aged; venerable old; aged; venerable; outdated; experienced; (affectionate prefix)	name; fame; to describe name; fame; to describe; place
trad. (海老名)		海	老	名
simp. #(海老名)		海	老	名

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 海老名 (Ebina).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): Hǎilǎomíng

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄞˇ ㄌㄠˇ ㄇㄧㄥˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hoi² lou⁵ ming⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: Hǎilǎomíng [Phonetic: háilǎomíng]
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄞˇ ㄌㄠˇ ㄇㄧㄥˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: Hǎilǎomíng
    • Wade–Giles: Hai³-lao³-ming²
    • Yale: Hǎi-lǎu-míng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Haelaoming
    • Palladius: Хайлаомин (Xajlaomin)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xaɪ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ miŋ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: hoi² lou⁵ ming⁴
    • Yale: hói lóuh mìhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hoi² lou⁵ ming⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: hoi² lou⁵ ming⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɔːi̯³⁵ lou̯¹³ mɪŋ²¹/

Proper noun

海老名

1. (～市) Ebina (a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
海	老	名
えび		な Grade: 1
Grade: 2	Grade: 4
jukujikun		kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
海老名 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

/jebina/ → /ebina/

Uncertain. Literally 海老 (ebi, “shrimp, prawn”) + 名 (na, “name”).

The place name has apparently been in use since roughly the mid-Heian period (794–1185 CE), when the Ebina clan controlled the area. That said, it is unclear whether the place name came from the clan name, or the other way around.

Derivation theories include:

• Named for large shrimp caught at the nearby mouth of the Sagami River
• Named for the bend in the Sagami River where one of the oldest shrines is located, with said bend thought to resemble the arch of a shrimp's back
• Named for the local topography, with the ebi portion of the name (ancient yebi) instead a shift from 指 (yubi, “finger”) in reference to the jointed and stepped shape of the land

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [e̞bʲina̠]

Proper noun

海老(えび)名(な) • (Ebina) 

1. a place name, especially the name of a city in Kanagawa Prefecture: Ebina, Kanagawa
2. a surname

Further reading

• Etymology at Nihonjiten (in Japanese)
• 海老名市#地名の由来 ("Ebina City: Origin of the place name") on the Japanese Wikipedia