海

Meaning: “sea”

⟨umi₁⟩ → */umij/ → /umi/ From Old Japanese, theorized as descending from Proto-Japonic *omi. Has been thought to have been derived from a compound. There are two leading theories regarding the ultimate derivation: * Shift from 大 (ō-, “big, great”) + 水 (mi, “water”, combining form).: This is problematic phonetically because there is no known term having a related shift from /opo/ → /oː/ → /o/ → /u/, and semantically as there already exists a compound 大水 (ōmizu, “flood”). * From う (u-, stem indicating “ocean”) + 水 (mi, “water”, combining form). The u- stem is evident in 魚 (uo, “fish”) and 潮 (ushio, “salt water; tide”), and in the 海 (una) element in various ancient terms (see below).