lars@lemmy.sdf.org to Map Enthusiasts@sopuli.xyzEnglish · 10 months agoSome countries whose endonyms are not like their English exonymslemmy.sdf.orgimagemessage-square32fedilinkarrow-up1157arrow-down19
arrow-up1148arrow-down1imageSome countries whose endonyms are not like their English exonymslemmy.sdf.orglars@lemmy.sdf.org to Map Enthusiasts@sopuli.xyzEnglish · 10 months agomessage-square32fedilink
minus-squarebionicjoey@lemmy.calinkfedilinkarrow-up5·10 months ago Nippon is the Chinese word for Japan Isn’t the Chinese word for Japan “Rìběn” （日本）?
minus-squareSalix@sh.itjust.workslinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up2·edit-210 months agoYou can read about the Chinese name for Japan here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Japan
minus-squarebionicjoey@lemmy.calinkfedilinkarrow-up3·10 months agoSo 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?
Isn’t the Chinese word for Japan “Rìběn” （日本）?
You can read about the Chinese name for Japan here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Japan
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?