Dear David,

Nami means a wave in Japanese, and Tsu means a harbor.

Tsu may be derived from ancient word Toh that means gate or door
and then it was used for an entrance for boats, so mentioned in our
word-origin dictionary. There are several locality names involving
Tsu, and that usually is put on important harbor towns in Japan.

Thus, the word is not related to tides at all.

People saw huge waves attacking to destroy harbors unexpectedly.
So, they named such destructive waves as Tsunami.

Masashi Yamaguchi
Faculty of Science,
University of the Ryukyus
Okinawa, Japan


P.S. My colleagues who visited my laboratory before are safe
in Thailand and India but they are very much shocked at the disaster.

----- Original Message -----
From: "bivalve" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, January 01, 2005 9:58 AM
Subject: Re: Thai Tidal Wave


>>  I should gently point out that tsunami have nothing to do with tides<
>>  (unless one might be indirectly caused by a volcanic eruption,<
>
> I have heard that tsunami is actually Japanese for "tidal wave" and thus
> merely conceals the misnomer from anglophones.  Any comments from Japan?
>
>
>
>    Dr. David Campbell
>    Old Seashells
>    University of Alabama
>    Biodiversity & Systematics
>    Dept. Biological Sciences
>    Box 870345
>    Tuscaloosa, AL  35487-0345 USA
>    [log in to unmask]
>
> That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted
> Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at
> Droitgate Spa
>
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