Where does “大白鳥” come from?

大白鳥 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 大, from Old Japanese 大, from Proto-Japonic əpə — big, large; many.

大白鳥 (Japanese): "Cygnus cygnus": a whooper swan

Definitions

  1. "Cygnus cygnus": a whooper swan

Ancestry of “大白鳥”, step by step

大白鳥 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanesebig, large; the large part of; arch-
2Old Japanesebig, large; large
3Proto-Japonicəpəbig, large; many

via Japanese 白鳥

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese白鳥a swan; a white-feathered bird
2Japanesethe color white; innocence; a white go stone
3Middle Chinese
Every word from Proto-Japonic əpəEvery word from Old Japanese Every word from Japanese