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Nippon TV has fully bought out Studio Ghibli : anime
Main Post: Nippon TV has fully bought out Studio Ghibli : anime
Difference between Nihon and Nippon
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I was little confused too about these two official name of Japan (Nihon and Nippon) in Japanese language.
http://www.jluggage.com/why-japan/nippon-or-nihon.html
Top Comment: Nihon is the standard. Nippon if you are right wing or if you are generally feeling patriotic when making a speech. Really you should focus more on what is used how rather than why it is pronounced the way it is.
Nihon, Nippon, Nihombashi, Nipponbashi... Why?
Main Post: Nihon, Nippon, Nihombashi, Nipponbashi... Why?
Is "Nihon" or "Nippon" more regularly used in Japan when ...
Main Post: Is "Nihon" or "Nippon" more regularly used in Japan when ...
Why do we use the name Japan instead of Nippon?
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I've seen both be used, both inside and outside Japan. But I don't understand the history of the names, or the context that people would use one over the other.
Top Comment: "Japan" is derived from 日本, which in on-yomi (i.e., the Japanese kanji readings based on the Wu language) was pronounced something like "Nipon", later softened to "Nihon". However, in Mandarin Chinese, 日本 is pronounced "riben" (and honestly, you can't make the "r" sound in question if you haven't studied Chinese), in Cantonese it is pronounced "yappon", in Min it is pronounced "jaypon", and in modern Wu (Shanghai and neighboring regions) it is pronounced "zappan". Now looking at these choices - nipon, nihon, riben, yappon, jaypon, zappan - can you guess where early modern maritime commerce was concentrated? That's right, it was focused on the Min-speaking ports of Xiamen and Quanzhou, which gave us words like "tea" (insead of Mandarin "ca" or on-yomi "cha") and "Japan" (instead of Mandarin "Riben or on-yomi "Nihon"). The British used to teach civil servants Min and Mandarin before dispatching them to China, but now it is mostly forgotten by Westerners.
TIL That the Japanese don't call Japan by the name of Japan, for them it is called Nippon or Nihon.
Main Post: TIL That the Japanese don't call Japan by the name of Japan, for them it is called Nippon or Nihon.
Top Comment:
That is the English translation, happens with nearly all countries, at the very least with pronunciation. Can't expect countries to call themselves by the English version. Spain =España, Germany= Deutschland, etc..
Nippon
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Anyone know why Stephenson always uses Nippon/Nipponese vs Japan/Japanese?
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In Cryptonomicon, it’s because that’s how American’s talked at the time. I don’t remember in Snow Crash it coming up that much, but the protagonist is of Japanese origin, right? “Nihon” is the Japanese word for Japan.
にっぽん ｖ にほん
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Do these two readings of 日本 have any different connotations, or is it a dialect-thing? I'm currently watching Code Geass (awesome, btw) and they always say the former in a super patriotic way.
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Yes they do have different connotations, and it is a dialect thing, and there is no official name for Japan in Japanese.
Some proper nouns use ニッポン, some proper nouns use ニホン, and you must use the correct version at this points in time. Other proper nouns can use either ニホン or ニッポン.
ニホン is the preferred term in Yamanote/Standard Dialect, but this is not a set rule by any means. ニッポン is a preferred term in many other dialects.
To me, ニッポン sounds a bit more nationalistic. It's what I'd use when describing international sporting events or other competitions. 行けぇ!ニッポン! ニッポンは負けないぞ!
ニホン sounds a bit more like the land and people of Japan. ニホンはいい国だよね! ニホンは島が多い。
Don't worry about ニホン vs ニッポン so much.
Why do we call Japan "Japan" and not "Nihon" or "Nippon"?
Main Post: Why do we call Japan "Japan" and not "Nihon" or "Nippon"?
Top Comment: Europe first learned of the country through the Chinese, who called it something like "Chipangu," or "Chipan." This would transform through language intermediaries until it got to English as Japan.
Why do we call it Japan when they call it Nippon, as with Germany and Deutschland, MeXico and MeHico etc?
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Surely we can be bothered to name the countries in their own language?
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Mexico was named like that by the Spanish after the pronunciation the indios used before that. It just so happens that the pronunciation of the letter X has changed since then.
We generally try to avoid changing the names of countries, it is just too confusing, hence why Germany is called Germany. It's the former region of Germanic tribes. "Deutsch" is just old German for "part of the folk".
Japan is the way the letters for Nihon are read in Chinese and the name most likely got to the west that way, since Japan itself was very isolated for a long time while trade and communication with China existed.