国後島
くなしりとう Kunashir Southern Kuril IslandsAinu spellings: Kunna-shiri
Kunashir lies within the 蝦夷アイヌ's Yawan in the northern Kuril people's usage (p. 38).
Location
44.0847, 145.8127 · Coordinates: OpenStreetMap Nominatim, 2026-09-11, on 国後島. Open in OpenStreetMap
Referents
- island The southernmost large island of the chain, off the Nemuro peninsula; Russian Кунашир
Analyses
Kunna-shiri
クンナシリ ‘black land’ proposed- kunne ‘black’
- sir ‘land, island’
Proponent: Batchelor, John (John Batchelor)
Batchelor's reading.
Evidence
- documents
The 1947 commission restored the name as «Черный Остров», and the 1985 handbook and Браславец 1983 (after Добротворский) read it the same way (Бражник–Пономарёв 2024, p. 385).
kunne and sir are ordinary words and the recorded forms keep both; the motivation is not given.
Kinashiri
キナシリ ‘land of reeds’ proposed- kina ‘reed, tall grass (Chamberlain)’
- sir ‘land’
Proponent: Chamberlain, Basil Hall (Basil Hall Chamberlain)
Chamberlain's alternative to the received 'black land'; the 1947 commission and the 1985 handbook keep kunne-sir.
kina is 'grass' in Hokkaidō Ainu, but every recorded form from 1725 has u in the first syllable.
Attestations
- 國後島 oral record 1903 鳥居龍藏『千島アイヌ』第二章「千島地名解」
In chief ヤコーフ's division of the chain the island belongs to Yawani, the southern group with 北海道.
鳥居1903 p. 36 - Кунашир document 1755 Крашенинников, Описание земли Камчатки, ч. I, гл. 9 «О Курильских островах»
…и ближайшей к Матмаю Кунашир остров, которым и от господина Шпанберга курильские звания оставлены.
The commission restored the name with this gloss; Браславец 1983 notes the dropped final -i, already in Козыревский, fixed by Головнин and Шренк.
Krasheninniko… 1949 ed., p. 165 - Kunashiri dictionary 1905 An Ainu-English-Japanese Dictionary, 2nd ed.
Kunna-shiri. Black land / Black island.
Batchelor1905 § V "Place Names Considered", s.v. Kunashiri - Kunashir document 1897 Snow, Notes on the Kuril Islands
KUNASHIR, the first of the Kurils commencing from the south-western end of the chain, extends far into the wide bay, the shores of which form the eastern coast of the island of Yezo, between Capes Sirotoko and Noishaf.
Snow1897 p. 53 - Кунашир document 1947 Проект Картографической комиссии РГО им. Ю. М. Шокальского «Названия географических объектов Курильских островов», 1947
«Старое айнское название, означающее Черный Остров».
The commission restored the name with this gloss; Браславец 1983 notes the dropped final -i, already in Козыревский, fixed by Головнин.
Бражник2024 p. 385 - Кунашир двадесят первой document 1725–1745 Козыревский 1725–1730; Миллер 1737; Шпанберг 1738 (as listed in Бражник–Пономарёв 2024)
The Russian record has Кунашир двадесят первой (Козыревский 1725–1726), Кунашир, четвертой на десять (1730), Кунашир двадцать первый (Миллер 1737), Шпанберг's charts Коносир (1738) and Стеллер 1745 Кунашир или Каназир.
Бражник2024 p. 386