🌏 Region(s): Ryukyu (Okinawa: Shuri)
すい【首里】 : sui | define meaning
sui
Pronunciation: [sui]
Definition
Name
- (Place) Shuri: a district of Naha, Okinawa, and the former capital city of the Ryukyu Kingdom
Etymology
Cognate with Okinawan すい sui and しゅい shui; and standard Japanese しゅり【首里】 shuri "Shuri". Historically attested under the spelling しより shiyori.
Historical attestations
- おもろさうし Omoro Saushi (1531-1623) records the spelling しより shiyori.
- 混効験集 Konkoukenshuu (1711), "Words of the Royal Palace", records the spelling しより shiyori.
- Lettres Édifiantes Et Curieuses: Écrites Des Missions Étrangères (1758), Volume 28, by Barbou, records the spelling "Cheouli".
- Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's Strait: To Co-operate with the Polar Expeditions (1832), Frederick William Beechey, records several spellings: "Sheui", "Shoodi", "Cheuli", "Cheudi".
- Lewchew and the Lewchewans; being a narrative of a visit (1853), by George Smith, records the spelling "Shui-di".
- Essay in Aid of a Grammmar and Dictionary of the Luchuan Language (1895), by Basil Hall Chamberlain, records "Thus in Shui, the name of the capital,—for Shuri (conf. Jap. Shuri, Chin. Shou-li 首里), the r has vanished completely.". Chamberlain also records the topicalized form "Shuyē".
Spelling
| Orthography | Form |
|---|---|
| Kanji | 首里 |
| Kana | すい |
| Romanization | sui |
| Pronunciation (IPA) | [sui] |
意味：しゅり【首里】
Categories:
首里
Cite this entry: Read, Zachary. (2024, December 15). すい【首里】 : sui | define meaning. JLect: Japonic Languages and Dialects Database. Retrieved 2025, March 14, from https://www.jlect.com/entry/1143/sui/.