Jisho

×
6c95054b040ab3eb1c8fbc4b02aa93dc
1 Reply ・ Started by Asyrie at 2019-06-17 14:31:19 UTC ・ Last reply by Akiten at 2019-06-18 03:25:19 UTC
This is a discussion about

かわ or がわ ?

I have a question. When you mention a simple undescribed river I understand that it is かわ. But I was told that with the names of the rivers, for example ナイル川 it should be がわ. Is it with every river like this or is Nile somewhat special? Thanks!

C2b7da6a01259baa1c95a509a77d78cf
Akiten at 2019-06-18 03:25:19 UTC

Most named rivers are referred to as がわ, not just the Nile. Take, for example, the Edogawa River in Tokyo Edogawa. Edo is the original name Tokyo was known as and Gawa is the river part. The difference is found if it is a thing descriptor or place descriptor, such that named rivers are proper nouns and specific places while a generic "this river" would mean a river as a typical less-defined noun. There are very few exceptions to this, such as 鵡川 (MuKawa) in Hokkaido. I'm not sure why such exceptions exist, it may be based on the region's specific dialects and history, but it is usually safe to assume that gawa is for named river use, unless otherwise specified.

to reply.