印度

Etymology
A transcription of an exonym for India during the.

Introduced by (a Chinese Buddhist monk who had travelled to India) in his book The , Xuanzang proposed that this “correct” name be used, in preference to the many other alternative names for India:



This Tang-dynasty transcription reflected a source form of *In-du or *In-dak, although the source language is unclear. It is unlikely to be an endonym used by the Indians, who ― as Xuanzang described ― used the names of the local states. Later in the same passage, Xuanzang explained the name Yin-du as one of the many names for “Moon” (in India), evidently referring to the 🇨🇬 word. Xuanzang also explained that:



Although now deemed etymologically unsound, this was likely suggesting that the transcription Yin-du was a, to be interpreted literally as “trace + transmigration ”.

The source language for this borrowing is unclear. The glottal-stop initial of the first syllable in this term is unusual; it is also reflected in, the Kuchean name for “India” recorded in . On the basis of this, proposed that Yin-du was borrowed from ; compare 🇨🇬, with a similar phonological shape.

Etymology
The kanji are from.

Proper noun

 * 1)  (abbr. )