都
と · to · JLPT N4 · noun
metropolitan
🏙️ Tokyo-to: the to that makes Tokyo a metropolis (東京都)
都 is the suffix in 東京都 (Tōkyō-to), Tokyo Metropolis — the only prefecture that uses it. Same character as in 京都 (Kyōto), the old capital, where it also reads to. Capital city, hence metropolitan.
都 — 者 (phonetic) + 邑/阝 (city radical)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The right-side 阝 (a reduced form of 邑 'city, settlement') gives the meaning, while 者 supplies the sound. Originally it referred to a capital or major city, and later extended to mean 'all' or 'even' when read dōu.
みやこ · miyako · JLPT N3 · noun
capital
🏯 miyako = miya (宮 palace) + ko (place): the place of the palace
Old Japanese miya meant the imperial palace and ko meant place, so the capital was simply wherever the emperor's palace stood. Kyoto is still called 京の都, the old capital.
都 — 者 (phonetic) + 邑/阝 (city radical)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The right-side 阝 (a reduced form of 邑 'city, settlement') gives the meaning, while 者 supplies the sound. Originally it referred to a capital or major city, and later extended to mean 'all' or 'even' when read dōu.