Suttsu, Shiribeshi region, Hokkaidō
矢追
やおい YaoiYaoi lies on the Suttsu side of the bay, with reef offshore and a fishing station on the beach.
Ainu spellings: Ya-o-i
Analyses
ya-o-i
ヤオイ
the thing that is widely attached to the shore
- ya shore, land
- o be there in quantity, be widely attached
- i the thing that
Proponent: 榊原正文
The reef off Yaoi-zaki is well developed and makes a landform of its own, which the reading takes as the referent.
Objections
- A reef would call for kapar-sirar 'flat reef'; ya 'land' sits oddly here, and no other place name of this shape is known. — zenibako_trek zenibako_trek2024
ya-o-i
ヤオイ
place where the nets are
- ya net
- o be there
- i place where
Proponent: zenibako_trek（小樽銭函地名歴史研究会） (zenibako_trek (Otaru Zenibako Place-Name and History Society))
Taking ya as 'net' gives roughly 'fishing ground'. Fishing huts stood at Yaoi from long ago, and there was a landing place there.
Evidence
- parallel place names
Names of the type ya-us-i 'place where nets are' occur all over Hokkaidō.
- ヤウシ ya-us-i
- ya net
- us be attached at
- i place where
- ヤウシ ya-us-i
Related names
- 浜中 はまなか — The boundary between Suttsu and Otasutsu was fixed at the line where Cape Benkei and Yaoi-zaki come into alignment. zenibako_trek2024
Sources
- 弁慶岬と義経弁慶伝説・寿都西部の地名由来
zenibako_trek·2024-12-28
- アイヌ語沙流方言辞典
田村, すず子·1996