Etymology of Name
The origin of the name Ikata is unclear and there are several competing theories.
- It may have come from iekata (家方?) or iokata (庵方?), meaning "a place with small houses or shacks".
- Ika can be found in the names of places surrounded by mountains or located in foothills; ta can mean "land". Ikata could therefore be "a place by the mountains".
- In the Ainu language, ika means "to pass through the mountains and cross the land". However, the Ainu are thought to have had little influence as far south as Shikoku.
Read more about this topic: Ikata, Ehime, Culture
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“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)