Hokkaidō
厚田
あつた AtsutaThis is Batchelor’s plant-harvesting explanation of the name.
Ainu spellings: Ahachita
Analyses
Ahachita
The place of digging up hog-peanuts
- Aha hog-peanut
- chita digging up (Batchelor)
Proponent: John Batchelor
The printed form is Ahachita. His explanation separates aha, identified as Amphicarpaea Edgeworthii var. japonica, and chita “digging up”.
Attestations
- Atsuta dictionary 1905 An Ainu-English-Japanese Dictionary, 2nd edition
“The place of digging up hog-pea-nuts”
The entry gives Batchelor’s analytical spelling and interpretation.
Batchelor1905 § V "Place Names Considered", p. 36, s.v. Atsuta
Sources
- An Ainu-English-Japanese Dictionary (including A Grammar of the Ainu Language)
Batchelor, John·1905