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According to Wikipedia:

> 中つ国（なかつくに）とは中間の国、中央の国を意味し、「つ」は現代語の「の」に相当する。中津国、中国とも書く。

I looked for 津 in a dictionary but it seems to be an 当て字 so I did not get new
information. But I can't get why の was not used in place of つ (since つ and の
seems to be equivalent here). Indeed, の is a very old word, why つ has been
preferred? What are the nuances that つ conveys and の does not?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-14T03:01:59.343
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2016-06-14T07:39:22.517
2016-06-14T07:39:22.517
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question
archaic-language old-japanese
What is つ in 中つ国 and why is it equivalent to の?
つ is just an [older version of the particle
の](http://kobun.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%A4). Its use here, assuming that you
are referring to Tolkien's Middle-earth, is literary and adds an older and
more mystical flavor in the same way that using a lot of older words of
English origin might.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-14T03:35:42.483
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2016-06-14T04:15:33.857
2016-06-14T04:15:33.857
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answer