Bikuni, Shakotan, Shiribeshi region, Hokkaidō
美矢ノ岬
びやのみさき BiyanoThe cape is the one landmark of the Bikuni shore visible from the Ōgon-misaki lookout, with Cape Makka far beyond it.
Ainu spellings: Pirya, Piya
Analyses
pir-ya
ピㇼヤ
the whirl shore, or the shore of split rock
- pir wound; whirl; shade
- ya shore, bank
Proponent: zenibako_trek（小樽銭函地名歴史研究会） (zenibako_trek (Otaru Zenibako Place-Name and History Society))
pir covers 'wound', 'whirl' and 'shade'. The columnar jointing under the water can be read as the wound; the cape also curves sharply like a hook, so that the current turns there, which gives the whirl.
Evidence
- parallel place names
Hiroo in Tokachi once had a pointed cape and a standing rock and was pir-or 'place of the whirl'.
pi-ya
ピヤ
pebble shore
- pi pebble
- ya shore
Proponent: 諸説
One of the readings the article reports without naming a proponent, beside pi-us-ya 'shore with many pebbles' and pis-ya 'shore of the beach'.
Variants
- pi-us-ya ‘shore with many pebbles’
- pis-ya ‘shore of the beach’
Objections
- The shore does not look to carry many pebbles. pis and ya are both locative nouns, which makes this use of them grammatically doubtful. — zenibako_trek zenibako_trek2024
Attestations
- ヒーヤ／ヒシヤ document Edo period 旧図類
Sources
- 積丹町美国海岸の地名と景勝
zenibako_trek·2024-04-10
- アイヌ語沙流方言辞典
田村, すず子·1996