Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! [2005-09-30]
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DemonEyesLeo
 Posts: 844 Location: Japan |
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I'm sorry to be nitpicky here, but I'm studying Japanese right now and this just caught my attention. "Nihon" and "Nippon" are actually two ways to say "Japan" in Japanese. The Japanese word for "Japanese language" is "Nihon-go," the "go" is the Kanji meaning "language." So English is "ei-go," Spanish is "supain-go," Chinese is "chuugoku-go," etc... (sorry to have to romanize the characters but I can't write them on the computer) Again I'm sorry to be nitpicky, but this kinda caught my attention from studying Japanese everyday. |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7675 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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I took three years of Japanese and my Japanese instructor taught me that while there were two ways to say it, "Nihon" was far more common when referring to oneself, IE "nihon-jin". "Nippon" was more commonly used to refer to the country itself. |
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Ryusui
 Posts: 439 |
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I was wondering where "Japan" came from. Thanks.
As for your Flake of the Week, the frightening thing is that I can personally confirm that there are indeed people fully capable of composing such dreck. (At least, I think they're people.) |
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roxybudgy
Posts: 100 Location: Western Australia |
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As far as I know, from 7 years of studying Japanese), Nihon is the general way of saying Japan, and Nippon is a feminine way of saying Japan. Kinda similar to 'yahari' and 'yappari'.
As for the origin of 'Japan', indeed it is from Chinese. In Mandarin, Japan is 'ri ben' which is sorta pronounced as 'jrih bern' for those who can't read pinyin. But then again, I notice that Japanese is closer to Cantonese than Mandarin, and I have no idea what Japan is in Cantonese, but I'm pretty sure it's much closer to 'Japan'. |
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abunai
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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You're right about that, Zac, Nihon is the preferred term these days (but for both people and country, not just for the people) - but it's not what you said in the article. There, you said:
This just isn't true. As DemonEyesLeo correctly says, Nihon and Nippon, both written 日本, mean "Japan", whereas saying "Japanese language" requires an additional -go kanji, thus: 日本語.
Umm.. no. It sounds like Nippon is a burikko feminisation of Nihon, but it isn't (nor is that the case with yappari, but that's another story). If anything, Nippon is an old-fashioned and slightly conservative way of pronouncing those kanji. And yes, that means it is the preferred usage among ultra-rightists.
Absolutely true. The original European forms of the Chinese name for Japan were variations on "Jipang" and "Zipang" and "Zipango", used interchangeably with the gay abandon that characterised the orthographical anarchy of the day. Zipang, the recent anime about a time-travelling JMSDF/JNDF AEGIS cruiser, takes its name from this. It seems sort of a non sequitur to me, but never mind. - abunai |
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ACDragonMaster
 Posts: 405 |
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Wow, that flake of the week sounds like the people posting questions about stuff on the Funimation forums every week...
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Jerseymilk
 Posts: 157 Location: Wouldn't YOU like to know. |
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I thought of another anime title that is based on real life events and that is "Barefoot Gen".
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6153 Location: Kazune City |
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And for an additional bit of trivia...internally, for classes and such, they don't call it nihongo, but rather, 国語 (kokugo), "National Language." At least this is what I've heard.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
Posts: 7675 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Thanks for the info, I corrected the column. |
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silentjay
Posts: 290 |
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Advent Children is not scheduled for release on 11/29. It hasn't even been solicited by Sony yet, let alone had a release date announced. Where the online retailers are getting their info from, I don't know, but Sony says otherwise. I've even asked Bill from the The Digital Bits about it, and he's come up with nothing either. If he can't find the info, then it's just not out there.
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Chiyosuke
 Posts: 230 Location: Nashville, TN (I was Kurious) |
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Hey Zac, I agree with you on Christan Bale. American Psycho was an awesome movie. OTOH, I can't agree with you on comparing Youko (The Twelve Kingdoms) to that loud-ass, gluttonous, never shutting-the-fudge-up, annoying thing that is Miaka.
Nice column, BTW. 
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Ostsol
Posts: 10 |
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I was just about to say that. . . Now I don't have to. 
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
Posts: 7675 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Well, that's what all the preorder dates are saying for now, so I'm gonna go with that. When it changes on Amazon or Animenation or Gamestop or whatever, I'll change it. |
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abunai
Encyclopedia Editor
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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I absolutely love that icon to bits. Can I keep it and pet it and call it George? - abunai |
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Mohawk52
 Posts: 8071 Location: England, UK |
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