köken: Compound of 送(おく)り (okuri, “sending”, 連(れん)用(よう)形(けい) (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of the verb 送(おく)る (okuru, “to send”), from the sense of sending something afterward or adding something on the end) + 仮名(かな) (kana, “kana”). The kana changes to gana as an instance of rendaku (連濁). First attested in 1477.