Where does “京阪神” come from?

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

京阪神 (Japanese): The cities of Kyōto, Ōsaka and Kōbe (in the Kansai region)

Definitions

  1. The cities of Kyōto, Ōsaka and Kōbe (in the Kansai region)

Ancestry of “京阪神”, step by step

京阪神 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 神戸

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese神戸Kōbe; Kobe
2Japanese戸door; a plate placed on doorway; houses;...
3Middle Chinese戶—

via Japanese 京都

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese京都Kyoto; capital city
2Middle Chinese京都capital
Every word from Proto-Japonic əpə →Every word from Old Japanese 大 →Every word from Japanese 大 →