Names of Japan
The word Japan is an exonym, and is used (in one form or another) by many languages. The Japanese names for Japan are Nihon (ⓘ) and Nippon (ⓘ). They are both written in Japanese using the kanji 日本.
During the third-century CE
History
Both Nippon and Nihon literally mean "the sun's origin", that is, where the sun originates,
Although the etymological origins of "Wa" remain uncertain, Chinese historical texts recorded an ancient people residing in the Japanese archipelago (perhaps Kyūshū), named something like *ˀWâ or *ˀWər 倭. Carr (1992:9–10) surveys prevalent proposals for Wa's etymology ranging from feasible (transcribing Japanese first-person pronouns waga 我が "my; our" and ware 我 "I; oneself; thou") to shameful (writing Japanese Wa as 倭 implying "dwarf"), and summarizes interpretations for *ˀWâ "Japanese" into variations on two etymologies: "behaviorally 'submissive' or physically 'short'." The first "submissive; obedient" explanation began with the (121 CE)
Chinese, Korean, and Japanese scribes regularly wrote Wa or Yamato "Japan" with the Chinese character 倭 until the 8th century, when the Japanese found fault with it due to its
Nippon appeared in history only at the end of the 7th century. The
The English word for Japan came to the West from early trade routes. The early
In English, the modern official title of the country is simply "Japan", one of the few countries to have no "long form" name. The official Japanese-language name is Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku (日本国), literally "State of Japan".[17] As an adjective, the term "Dai-Nippon" remains popular with Japanese governmental, commercial, or social organizations whose reach extend beyond Japan's geographic borders (e.g., Dai Nippon Printing, Dai Nippon Butoku Kai, etc.).
Though Nippon or Nihon are still by far the most popular names for Japan from within the country, recently the foreign words Japan and even Jipangu (from Cipangu, see below) have been used in Japanese mostly for the purpose of foreign branding.
Phonology
Portuguese missionaries arrived in Japan at the end of the 16th century. In the course of learning Japanese, they created several grammars and dictionaries of Middle Japanese. The 1603–1604 dictionary Vocabvlario da Lingoa de Iapam contains two entries for Japan: nifon[18] and iippon.[19] The title of the dictionary (Vocabulary of the Language of Japan) illustrates that the Portuguese word for Japan was by that time Iapam.
Nifon
Historically, Japanese /h/ has undergone a number of phonological changes. Originally *[p], this weakened into [ɸ] and eventually became the modern [h]. Modern /h/ is still pronounced [ɸ] when followed by /ɯ/.
Middle Japanese nifon becomes Modern Japanese nihon via regular phonological changes.[citation needed]
Jippon
Before modern styles of romanization, the Portuguese devised their own. In it, /zi/ is written as either ii or ji. In modern Hepburn style, iippon would be rendered as Jippon. There are no historical phonological changes to take into account here.
Etymologically, Jippon is similar to Nippon in that it is an alternative reading of 日本. The initial character 日 may also be read as /ziti/ or /zitu/. Compounded with /hoɴ/ (本), this regularly becomes Jippon.
Unlike the Nihon/Nippon doublet, there is no evidence for a *Jihon.
Nihon and Nippon
The Japanese name for Japan, 日本, can be pronounced either Nihon or Nippon. Both readings come from the on'yomi.
Meaning
日 (nichi) means "sun" or "day"; 本 (hon) means "base" or "origin". The compound means "origin of the sun" or "where the sun rises" (from a Chinese point of view, the sun rises from Japan); it is a source for the popular Western description of Japan as the "Land of the Rising Sun".
Nichi, in compounds, often loses the final chi and creates a slight pause between the first and second syllables of the compound. When romanised, this pause is represented by a doubling of the first consonant of the second syllable; thus nichi 日 plus kō 光 (light) is written and pronounced nikkō, meaning sunlight.
Evolution
Japanese 日 and 本 were historically pronounced niti (or jitu, reflecting a Late Middle Chinese pronunciation) and pon, respectively. In compounds, however, final voiceless stops (i.e. p, t, k) of the first word were unreleased in Middle Chinese, and the pronunciation of 日本 was thus Nippon or Jippon (with the adjacent consonants assimilating).
Historical sound change in Japanese has led to the modern pronunciations of the individual characters as nichi and hon. The pronunciation Nihon originated, possibly in the Kantō region, as a reintroduction of this independent pronunciation of 本 into the compound. This must have taken place during the Edo period, after another sound change occurred which would have resulted in this form becoming Niwon and later Nion.[citation needed]
Several attempts to choose a definitive official reading were rejected by the Japanese government, which declared both to be correct.[21]
Modern
While both pronunciations are correct, Nippon is frequently preferred for official purposes,
Other than this, there seem to be no fixed rules for choosing one pronunciation over the other, but in some cases, one form is simply more common. For example, Japanese-speakers generally call their language Nihongo; Nippongo, while possible,[23] is rarely used. In other cases, uses are variable. The name for the Bank of Japan (日本銀行), for example, is given as NIPPON GINKO on banknotes but is often referred to, such as in the media, as Nihon Ginkō.[24]
Nippon is the form that is used usually or exclusively in the following constructions:[25]
- Nippon Yūbin, Nippon Yūsei (Japan Post Group)
- Ganbare Nippon! (A sporting cheer used at international sporting events, roughly, 'do your best, Japan!')
- Nipponbashi (日本橋) (a shopping district in Osaka)
- All Nippon Airways (Zen Nippon Kūyu)
- Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (Nippon Denshin Denwa)
- Nippon KōgakuKōgyō)
- Nippon Yusen
- Nippon Steel (Nippon Seitetsu)
- Nippon Professional Baseball (Nippon Yakyū Kikō)
- Nippon Animation
- Nippon Life Insurance
Nihon is used always or most often in the following constructions:[26]
- JR Higashi-Nihon (JR Group)
- Nihonbashi (日本橋) (a bridge in Tokyo)
- Nihon Daigaku (Nihon University)[27]
- Nihon-go (Japanese language)
- Nihon-jin (日本人) (Japanese people)[24]
- Nihon-kai (Sea of Japan)[28]
- Nihon Kōkū (Japan Airlines)
- Nihon-shoki (an old history book, never Nippon shoki)[29]
- Nihonshu (日本酒; meaning 'Japanese wine')
- Zen Nihon Kendō Renmei (全日本剣道連盟, abbreviated 全剣連 Zen Ken Ren), the Japanese Kendo Federation referred in English as All Japan Kendo Federation (AJKF)
- The Nippon TV network is called Nihon Terebi in Japanese.
In 2016, element 113 on the
Jipangu
As mentioned above, the
Cipangu was first mentioned in Europe in the accounts of Marco Polo.[5] It appears for the first time on a European map with the Fra Mauro map in 1457, although it appears much earlier on Chinese and Korean maps such as the Gangnido. Following the accounts of Marco Polo, Cipangu was thought to be fabulously rich in silver and gold, which in Medieval times was largely correct, owing to the volcanism of the islands and the possibility to access precious ores without resorting to (unavailable) deep-mining technologies.
The modern
Other names
Classical
These names were invented after the introduction of Chinese into the language, and they show up in historical texts for prehistoric legendary dates and also in names of gods and
- Ōyashima (大八洲) meaning the Great Country of Eight (or Many) Islands,Okinawa were not part of Japan in ancient times, as Aynu Mosir (the northern part of the archipelago) was inhabited by a non-Japanese group, the Ainu. The eight islands refers to the creation of the main eight islands of Japan by the gods Izanami and Izanagi in Japanese mythologyas well as the fact that eight was a synonym for "many".
- Yashima (八島 or 八洲), "Eight (or Many) Islands"
- Fusō (扶桑), a mythical tree or a mysterious land located to the East of China. The term later became a poetic name of Japan.[33]
- Mizuho (瑞穂) refers to ears of grain, e.g. 瑞穗國 Mizuho-no-kuni "Country of Lush Ears (of Rice)". From Old Japanese midu > Japanese mizu ("water; lushness, freshness, juiciness") + Old Japanese fo > Japanese ho ("ear (of grain, especially rice)").
- Shikishima (敷島) is written with Chinese characters that suggest a meaning "islands that one has spread/laid out", but this name of Japan supposedly originates in the name of an area in Shiki District of Yamato Province in which some emperors of ancient Japan resided. The name of Shikishima (i.e. Shiki District) came to be used in Japanese poetry as an epithet for the province of Yamato (i.e. the ancient predecessor of Nara Prefecture), and was metonymically extended to refer to the entire island of Yamato (i.e. Honshū) and, eventually, to the entire territory of Japan. The word shima, though generally meaning only "island" in Japanese, also means "area, zone, territory" in many languages of the Ryūkyū Islands.
- Akitsukuni (秋津國), Akitsushima (秋津島), Toyo-akitsushima (豐秋津島). According to the literal meanings of the Chinese characters used to transcribe these names of Japan, toyo means "abundant", aki means "autumn", tsu means "harbor", shima means "island", and kuni means "country, land". In this context, -tsu may be interpreted to be a fossilized genitive case suffix, as in matsuge "eyelash" (< Japanese me "eye" + -tsu + Japanese ke "hair") or tokitsukaze "a timely wind, a favorable wind" (< Japanese toki "time" + -tsu + Japanese kaze "wind"). However, akitu or akidu are also archaic or dialectal Japanese words for "dragonfly", so "Akitsushima" may be interpreted to mean 秋津島 (Dragonfly Island).[34] Another possible interpretation would take akitsu- to be identical with the akitsu- of akitsukami or akitsumikami ("god incarnate, a manifest deity", often used as an honorific epithet for the Emperor of Japan), perhaps with the sense of "the present land, the island(s) where we are at present".
- Toyoashihara no mizuho no kuni (豐葦原の瑞穗の國). "Country of Lush Ears of Bountiful Reed Plain(s)", Ashihara no Nakatsukuni, "Central Land of Reed Plains", "Country Amidst Reed Plain(s)" (葦原中國).
- Hinomoto (日の本). Simple kun readingof 日本.
The katakana transcription ジャパン (Japan) of the English word Japan is sometimes encountered in Japanese, for example in the names of organizations seeking to project an international image. Examples include ジャパンネット銀行 (Japan Netto Ginkō) (Japan Net Bank), ジャパンカップ (Japan Kappu) (Japan Cup), ワイヤレスジャパン (Waiyaresu Japan) (Wireless Japan), etc.
In other Eastern Asian languages
Dōngyáng (東洋) and Dōngyíng (東瀛) – both literally, "Eastern Ocean" – are
In
Ue-kok (倭國) is recorded for older Hokkien speakers.[35] In the past, Korea also used 倭國, pronounced Waeguk (왜국).
Notation on old European maps
These are historic names of Japan that were noted on old maps issued in Europe.
- CIPANGU, circa 1300[36]
- 「IAPAM」, circa 1560[37]
- ZIPANGNI, 1561[38]
- 「IAPAN」, circa 1567[39]
- 「JAPAN」, unknown first year.[40]
- IAPONIA, 1595[41]
- 「IAPAO」, 1628[42]
- 「IAPON」, unknown first year.[43]
- 「NIPHON」, circa 1694[44][1 1]
- 「JAPAM」, 1628[45]
- 「YAPAN」, 1628[46]
- HET KONINKRYK JAPAN, circa 1730[47]
- JAPANIÆ REGNVM, 1739[48]
Emoji
Unicode includes several character sequences that have been used to represent Japan graphically:
- U+1F5FE 🗾 SILHOUETTE OF JAPAN. Japan is the only country with a map representation in Unicode.
- 🇯🇵, a sequence of regional indicator symbols corresponding to JP that are often displayed as a flag of Japan.
Contemporary names
These are some of the contemporary names for Japan in different languages.
Language | Contemporary name for Japan (romanization) |
---|---|
Albanian | Japonia |
Amharic | ጃፓን (japani) |
Arabic | اليابان (al-yābān) |
Armenian | ճապոնիա (Chaponia) |
Azerbaijani | Yaponiya |
Bengali | জাপান (Jāpān) |
Basque | Japonia |
Belarusian | Японія (Japonija) |
Bulgarian | Япония (Yaponiya) |
Catalan | Japó |
Cornish | Nihon |
Croatian | Japan |
Czech | Japonsko |
Danish | Japan |
Dutch | Japan |
English | Japan |
Filipino | Hapón (from Spanish, Japón) |
Finnish | Japani |
French | Japon |
Galician | O Xapón |
Georgian | იაპონია (iaponia) |
German | Japan |
Greek | Ιαπωνία (Iaponía) |
Hawaiian | Iapana |
Hebrew | יפן (Yapan) |
Hindi | जापान (jāpān) |
Hungarian | Japán |
Icelandic | Japan |
Indonesian | Jepang |
Irish | An tSeapáin |
Italian | Giappone |
Kannada | ಜಪಾನ್ (jāpān) |
Kazakh | Жапония (Japoniya) |
Khmer | ជប៉ុន (japon) |
Laotian | ຍີ່ປຸ່ນ (nyipun) |
Lithuanian | Japonija |
Malay | Jepun (جڤون) |
Malayalam | ജപ്പാൻ (jappān) |
Maltese | Ġappun |
Manx | Yn çhapaan |
Marathi | जपान (japān) |
Mongolian | Япон (Yapon) |
Persian | ژاپن (žāpon) in Iran and جاپان (jāpān) in Afghanistan |
Polish | Japonia |
Portuguese | Japão |
Quechua | Nihun |
Romanian | Japonia |
Russian | Япония (Yaponiya) |
Scottish Gaelic | Iapan |
Serbian | Јапан (Japan) |
Sinhala | ජපානය (Japanaya) |
Slovak | Japonsko |
Slovenian | Japonska |
Spanish | Japón |
Swedish | Japan |
Tamil | ஜப்பான் (Jappaan) |
Thai | ญี่ปุ่น (yîi-bpùn) |
Turkish | Japonya |
Ukrainian | Японія (Yaponiya) |
Urdu | جاپان (jāpān) |
Vietnamese | Nhật Bản |
Welsh | Japan (sometimes spelt Siapan) |
Xhosa | Japhan |
See also
- Japanese name (names of Japanese people)
- Japanese place names
- Little China (ideology)
- List of country-name etymologies
Notes
- ^ ISSN 0950-3846.
- ^ "Wa: The Spirit of Harmony and Japanese Design Today | Concept, Works, and Catalogue". Japan Foundation. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
- ^ "Why Japan is Japan? How Japan became Japan?". Retrieved January 29, 2017.
- ISBN 978-1317457671.
- ^ a b c "Cipangu's landlocked isles". The Japan Times. 27 July 2008. Archived from the original on August 25, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
- ^ a b c The History of trauayle in the VVest and East Indies : and other countreys lying eyther way towardes the fruitfull and ryche Moluccaes. As Moscouia, Persia, Arabia, Syria, Aegypte, Ethiopia, Guinea, China in Cathayo, and Giapan: VVith a discourse of the Northwest passage. In the hande of our Lorde be all the corners of the earth, Richard Jugge, approximately 1514-1577, page 493
- ^ Doi (1980:463)
- ^ Doi (1980:363)
- ^ Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric et al. (2005). "Nihon" in Japan encyclopedia, p. 707., p. 707, at Google Books; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File Archived 2012-05-24 at archive.today.
- ISBN 0-8047-2832-1.
- ISBN 4-385-13905-9
- ISBN 4-09-501211-0; Yamato (大和・倭) entry available online here, yamato (大処) entry available online here
- Tōkyō: Shogakukan, Yamato (大和・倭) entry available online here, yamato (山と) entry available online here
- ISBN 978-1317457671.
- ISBN 978-0195375664.
- ISBN 978-9027224446. (cites Bielenstein 2005 page 102)
- ^ In Japanese, countries whose "long form" does not contain a designation such as republic or kingdom are generally given a name appended by the character 国 ("country" or "nation"): for example, ドミニカ国 (Dominica), バハマ国 (Bahamas), and クウェート国 (Kuwait).
- ^ Doi (1980:463)
- ^ Doi (1980:363)
- ^ "Taishanese Language Home 台山话资源网". www.stephen-li.com. Retrieved 2019-02-24.
- ^ Nippon or Nihon? No consensus on Japanese pronunciation of Japan, Japan Today
- ^ Nussbaum, "Nippon" at p. 709., p. 709, at Google Books
- ^ Nihon Kokugo Daijiten Henshū Iin Kai, Shōgakukan Kokugo Daijiten Henshūbu (2002) [2000]. Nihon Kokugo Daijiten (2nd ed.). Shōgakukan.
- ^ a b Nussbaum, "Nihon Ginkō" at p. 708., p. 708, at Google Books
- ^ Nussbaum, "Nippon" passim at pp. 717., p. 717, at Google Books
- ^ Nussbaum, "Nihon" passim at pp. 707–711., p. 707, at Google Books
- ^ Nussbaum, "Nihon University (Nihon Daigaku)" at pp. 710–711., p. 710, at Google Books
- ^ Nussbaum, "Nihonjin" at pp. 708–709., p. 708, at Google Books
- ^ Nussbaum, "Nihon shoki" at p. 710., p. 710, at Google Books
- ^ Richard Gonzales (2016-06-10). "Hello, Nihonium. Scientists Name 4 New Elements on the Periodic Table". Ww2.kqed.org. Retrieved 2016-07-05.
- ISBN 9780252091254.
- ^ Nussbaum, "Ō-ya-shima no Kuni" at p. 768., p. 768, at Google Books
- ^ Schafer, Edward H. (1989), "Fusang and Beyond: The Haunted Seas to Japan", Journal of the American Oriental Society 109.3: 379, 394.
- ^ Nussbaum, "Akitsushima" at p. 20., p. 20, at Google Books
- ^ "www.chineselanguage.org message board". Chinalanguage.com. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2011-09-26.
- ^ Marco Polo (27 July 2008). "Cipangu's landlocked isles". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on August 25, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
- ^ "ハンティントン ライブラリー図書館所蔵「HM44」-2". Archived from the original on 2021-10-09. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
- ISBN 9780252091254.
- ^ "九州大学附属図書館所蔵「アジア図2」-3". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
- ^ "九州大学附属図書館所蔵「アジア図2」-4". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
- ^ "九州大学附属図書館所蔵「アジア図2」-6". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
- ^ "カサ・ド・アルバ財団所蔵「1994:201」". Archived from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
- ^ "九州大学附属図書館所蔵「アジア図2」-11". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
- ^ "九州大学附属図書館所蔵「アジア図2」-22". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
- ^ "カサ・ド・アルバ財団所蔵「1994:243」". Archived from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
- ^ "カサ・ド・アルバ財団所蔵「1994:197」". Archived from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
- ^ "九州大学附属図書館所蔵「アジア図2」-29". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
- ^ "九州大学附属図書館所蔵「アジア図2」-31". Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
References
- Doi, Tadao (1980) [1603]. ISBN 4-00-080021-3.
- Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric; Käthe Roth (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge:
- ^ In the novel "Moby-Dick; or, The Whale" published in October 1851, the notation "Niphon" appears when checking nautical charts.