内ない海かい

also: うちうみ

な

い

か

い

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

noun

inland sea; inlet; gulf; bay

Refers to a body of water largely surrounded by land, such as the Seto Inland Sea (瀬戸内海). Can also be used for smaller inlets and bays.

瀬

せ

戸と

内ない

海かい

は

日本にほん

で

一いち

番ばん

大おお

きな

内ない

海かい

です

。

The Seto Inland Sea is the largest inland sea in Japan.

この内ない海かいにはたくさんの小ちいさな島しまがある。

There are many small islands in this inland sea.

2

noun

lake

archaic

Only with reading うちうみ

Archaic meaning, now largely replaced by 湖 (みずうみ). Found in old texts or place names.

古ふるい文ぶん献けんでは、内うち海うみが湖みずうみを指さすことがある。
In old documents, 内海 (うちうみ) can refer to a lake.

Kanji

内inside, within, between
海sea, ocean

Related words

湾わんN3sense 1
湾 means a bay or gulf and often refers to a larger coastal indentation, while 内海 stresses that the water is largely enclosed by surrounding land.
湖みずうみN4sense 2
湖 is the modern standard word for a lake, having replaced the archaic 内海 (うちうみ) sense found in old texts.
入いり江え sense 1
入り江 is a smaller inlet or cove cut into a coastline, whereas 内海 denotes a whole sea-sized body of water enclosed by land.

Opposites

外がい海かい sense 1
外海 refers to the open sea beyond coastal waters, the direct opposite of 内海's land-enclosed sea.
灘なだ
内海 is an enclosed sea surrounded by land, the opposite of 灘, which denotes a broad, exposed open sea.

Counted with

箇か所しょN2
Used when counting locations or geographic places in a formal/general way.

Written forms

内海Usage100%
- ないかい
  Standard kanji spelling for the common reading ないかい.
- うちうみ
  Archaic reading, restricted to the 'lake' sense.
うちうみ

Etymology

Compound of 内 (inside, within) and 海 (sea). The archaic reading うちうみ uses the native Japanese reading of both characters.

Usage<1%