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Some countries whose endonyms are not like their English exonyms (lemmy.sdf.org)
submitted 2 years ago by lars@lemmy.sdf.org to c/map_enthusiasts@sopuli.xyz
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[-] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 years ago

Nippon is the Chinese word for Japan

Isn't the Chinese word for Japan "Rìběn" （日本）?

[-] Salix@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

You can read about the Chinese name for Japan here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Japan

[-] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 years ago

So if I understand correctly, the Chinese pronunciation used to be closer to the Japanese pronunciation of those written characters, but over time the Mandarin pronunciation diverged while the written word stayed the same?

this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2024
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