Etymology
The word Ishikari comes from the Ainu language, and several theories exist as to the meaning of the name.
- The most common translation of "Ishikawa", proposed by the missionary and researcher of the Ainu language John Batchelor (1854 – 1944) in 1935, is "a greatly wandering river", a reference to the meandering path of the Ishikari River. According to Batchelor Ishikari is a corruption of "i-sikar-pet" or "ishikaripet". The 'i' sound of i-sikar-pet is a prefix meaning "greatly" or "exceedingly"; shikari meaning "zigzag" or "serpentine", and pet is the Ainu word for river.
- Tōgo Yoshida (1864 – 1918), proposed in the Dai Nihon Chimei Jisho, published between 1907 and 1910, that "Ishikaripet" had its origin in the Ainu language word "Ishikarapet", meaning "a beautifully formed river"; ishu meaning "beautiful", kara meaning "constructed" and pet meaning river.
"Ishikari" is written in the Japanese language using ateji, or kanji characters used to phonetically represent native or borrowed words. The first, 石, means to "stone", and the second, 狩, means "to hunt". The meaning of the written form of Ishikari has no relationship to the meaning of word in the Ainu language.
Read more about this topic: Ishikari Subprefecture
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