Where does “京阪奈” come from?

京阪奈 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 大阪, from Japanese 大, from Old Japanese 大, from Proto-Japonic əpə — big, large; many.

京阪奈 (Japanese): The cities of Kyōto, Ōsaka and Nara

Definitions

  1. The cities of Kyōto, Ōsaka and Nara

Ancestry of “京阪奈”, step by step

京阪奈 traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 大阪

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese大阪large hill; Osaka
2Japanese大big, large; the large part of; arch-
3Old Japanese大big, large; large
4Proto-Japonicəpəbig, large; many

via Japanese 京都

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese京都Kyoto; capital city
2Middle Chinese京都capital

via Japanese 奈良

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese奈良Nara city; Nara
2Old Japaneseなら—
Every word from Proto-Japonic əpə →Every word from Old Japanese 大 →Every word from Japanese 大 →