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ZevVeli t1_j6eqabi wrote

Usually the name of the nation is based on a specific quality of the nation or a translation of the name that they have. For example the name in Japanese for Japan is Nippon which means "Sun's Origin" the name for it in Chinese is 日本 (Rìbĕn) which also means Sun's origin, now Europe traded more with China than Japan so they asked "What is the name of those Islands to the East?" They said "哪个是日本。" (That is the Sun's Origin) So the Italian traders came back and pronounced RìBĕn as Shippan, which the English speakers heard as Japan.

Generally speaking the closer in root languages and more phenotypes the two languages have in common the closer the names will be together. Additionally the more modern the country's founding the more likely that they are to be similar. It should be noted however that changing a language can be seen as a political statement.

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notLOL t1_j6f7c8p wrote

TIL the game telephone was invented before an actual telephone

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ButternutSasquatch t1_j6gf4pu wrote

TIL they came to tell a fawn to wash in fences. Beef or an axe you alt-elephant.

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notLOL t1_j6giyyw wrote

/r/boneappletea for more accidental telephone game players

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BrotherM t1_j6gplde wrote

They used to call the game "Chinese Whispers" ;-)

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Legidias t1_j6fl8qv wrote

Also, Japan in Cantonese (Canton region was also a huge port / trading district) is pronounced "Yap-bun" which also sounds similar to Japan.

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police-ical t1_j6g5xrq wrote

Being a trading port, Guangzhou was home to Portuguese traders who heard local pronunciations as Cantão, which led to the older English name Canton, which lives on in our name for the Cantonese language/dialect.

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[deleted] t1_j6h65ul wrote

[deleted]

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Rauche t1_j6ha0i9 wrote

Kanto is named after the Kanto region of Japan, not after Canton.

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supagirl277 t1_j6nkbwu wrote

You’re right, I totally pulled that out of my ass with no thought and didn’t really check. That was stupid of me to act like I knew

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Whitehatdvl t1_j6g42su wrote

What's weird to me is if you read stuff from the WWII era and before, it was common for people to refer to Japan as Nippon, and they called Japanese people Nipponese (if they weren't using a pejorative). It's kinda crazy that everybody says Japan now in English instead of Nippon, which is what the Japanese say.

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vikio t1_j6hfq54 wrote

Well, Japan changed the pronunciation of it's own name from Nippon to Nihon after WW2. The actual name didn't change, both are legit readings of 日本. They switched because Nihon sounds softer and they wanted to show commitment to peace and demilitarization.

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RandomRDP t1_j6fe2s5 wrote

In this case it was literally Chinese Whispers.

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maxmouze t1_j6g8pr5 wrote

Time can never mend the Chinese Whispers of a good friend.

I NEVER WANNA DANCE AGAIN!

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tm0587 t1_j6gwc86 wrote

Just being abit of Grammer nazi and pointing out that it should be "那", not "哪". The latter means which is the Sun's Origin while the former means what you meant.

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Tanagrabelle t1_j6fx90w wrote

Zipangu, too! Apparently Marco Polo called “the land of gold.“

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Jaymo76 t1_j6hkm2l wrote

Are you able to explain Misr = Egypt? I know Misr stems from money (masry)

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