onnep

...In Japan, it lives on the coasts of the cold zone north of Hokkaido, and has long been known as a trade item with the Ainu. In the "Nihon Sankai Meisan Zue," it is said that the large one is called "nefu," the medium one is called "choki," and the small one is called "uneu," but in Ainu, "onnep" seems to have referred to either the adult female or male ("Classified Ainu Language Dictionary"). It is also written as "umi-inu," and sometimes rides the cold currents to the coast of Kinkazan, which is probably why it was called "oki no inu" (dog of the ocean) in Sanriku. ...

*Some of the terminology that mentions "onnep" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…日本では北海道以北の寒帯の海岸に生息し，アイヌとの貿易品として古くから名が知られていた。《日本山海名産図会》には，大をネッフ，中をチョキ，小をウネウというとあるが，アイヌ語でオンネプonnepは成獣の雌，あるいは雄をいったらしい(《分類アイヌ語辞典》)。海狗とも記され，寒流に乗って金華山沖までくることもあり，三陸で〈沖の犬〉と呼ばれたのもこれらしい。…

※「onnep」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報