Reconstruction talk:Proto-Japonic/wata

Derivation

This term in JA originally referred primarily to the large intestine. Some sources suggest that this is derived from or cognate with wata or more commonly wada, often spelled as 曲, in reference to how twisty-turny and crenellated the large intestine can be. See for example this entry in Nipponica on Kotobank.

Separately, I've wondered if there's any relation to wata as in 綿 (wata, “cotton”), from a core idea of "something curled up on the inside". ‑‑ Eiríkr Útlendi │^{Tala við mig} 00:17, 4 June 2019 (UTC)