8/26 How come nihon is spelled as Nippon?
\_ Both are used in Japanese; "nippon" is the older and more formal
pronounciation. --mconst
\_ Both are used in Japanese; "nippon" is the more traditional and
formal pronounciation. --mconst
\_ I heard that "Nihon" was a modern (informal) creation to soften
the "harsh" sound of the original word. --dbushong
\_ The Daijirin dictionary dates both back to before 1200 AD.
--mconst
\_ Hiragana -> romanji is not a 1-1 mapping. -- ilyas
\_ Actually, it is 1-1 mapping... except for the fact that there
are more than one mapping. Most commonly used mapping now is
Hepburn system. Either way, kana->romanji mapping has nothing
to do with the OP's question. "Japan," written as "day/sun"
"main/true/book" is read both ways.
\_ romaji
\_ Heh, the word 'romaji/romanji' is the instance
of the same problem. I have seen it spelled both
ways by Japanese. Not a 1-1 mapping. -- ilyas
\_ I've seen intelligent educated people confuse
they're and their. Your conclusion is
questionable.
\_ I don't know if I'd be so mean about it but,
yes. "Romaji" is a Japanese word and it's
spelling in kana could not be reasonably
transcribed as "romanji" in English.
-- ulysses
\_ Except by Tokyo-ites, who have the
annoying habit of adding a nasal sound
before voiced consonants. "chigau"
(meaning "that's not right") often
becomes "chingau," and some people will
spell it that way in romaji. --erikred |
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