Where does “天の川” come from?

天の川 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 天, from Old Japanese 天, from Proto-Japonic *amay.

天の川 (Japanese): Milky Way

Definitions

  1. Milky Way

Ancestry of “天の川”, step by step

天の川 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 天

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese天the sky, the heavens; the area above a kitchen...
2Old Japanese天sky, heavens
3Proto-Japonic*amay—

via Japanese 川

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese川river, stream, brook
2Japanese石川Ishi River (rivers in Japan)

Words derived from “天の川”

Every word from Proto-Japonic *amay →Every word from Old Japanese 天 →Every word from Japanese 天 →