Yasumi
~山:~さん/~やま? I always assumed, when 山 follows the name of a mountain it's pronounced さん、like 富士山、but why are other mountains like 金時山 or 足柄山 pronounced yama rather than san? Is it something to do with it being a single peak or a mountain range?
May 21, 2015 10:56 PM
Answers · 2
1
In my opinion, remembering all together as "one name", because there is no specific rule, they have been called like that for a very long time. Besides there is one more case which 山 is read ZAN. (Ex. 有珠山/うすざん、大雪山だいせつざん). I hope this was helpful.
May 22, 2015
Regarding your study of Etymology, the pronunciation came from what local people call it since prehistory, not relates to any other things, and after 漢字 came from China our ancestor assigned three pronunciations to 山 as Ryoko-san explained.
May 22, 2015
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