![]() ![]() Koji Nakayama interprets wēi 逶 "winding" as "very far away" and euphemistically translates Wō 倭 as "separated from the continent." The second etymology of wō 倭 meaning "dwarf, pygmy" has possible cognates in ǎi 矮 "low, short (of stature)", wō 踒 "strain sprain bent legs", and wò 臥 "lie down crouch sit (animals and birds)". This is the way they show respect." (Wei Zhi, tr. Tsunoda 1951:2), and "they either squat or kneel, with both hands on the ground. Bowing is noted in early historical references to Japan." Examples include "Respect is shown by squatting" ( Hou Han Shu, tr. "Conceivably, when Chinese first met Japanese," Carr (1992:9) suggests "they transcribed Wa as *ˀWâ 'bent back' signifying 'compliant' bowing/obeisance. It defines 倭 as shùnmào 順皃 "obedient/submissive/docile appearance", graphically explains the "person human" radical 亻 with a wěi 委 "bent" phonetic, and quotes the above Shijing poem. 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) Shuowen Jiezi dictionary. The Yayoi people primarily lived on the island of Kyushu to the Kanto region on Honshu.Īlthough 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. Wa was a name early China used to refer to an ethnic group living in Japan around the time of the Three Kingdoms Period. Before Nihon came into official use, Japan was known as Wa ( 倭) or Wakoku ( 倭国). This nomenclature comes from Imperial correspondence with the Chinese Sui Dynasty and refers to Japan's eastern position relative to China. Since then many derived names of Japan appeared on ancient European maps.Ĭipangu (cited as ixola de cimpagu on the center-left) on the 1453 Fra Mauro map, the first known Western depiction of the island.īoth Nippon and Nihon literally mean "the sun's origin", that is, where the sun originates, and are often translated as the Land of the Rising Sun. ![]() The 1603–1604 dictionary Vocabvlario da Lingoa de Iapam has 2 entries: nifon and iippon. At the end of the 16th century, Portuguese missionaries came to Japan and created grammars and dictionaries of Middle Japanese. In 1577 it was first recorded in English, spelled Giapan. ![]() In the 16th century in Malacca, Portuguese traders first heard from Malay and Indonesian the names Jepang, Jipang, and Jepun. Marco Polo called Japan 'Cipangu' around 1300, based on the Chinese name, probably 日本國 'sun source country' (compare modern Min Nan pronunciation ji̍t pún kok). During the Heian period, 大和 was gradually replaced by 日本, which was first pronounced with the Chinese reading (on'yomi) Nippon and later as Nifon, and then in modern usage Nihon, reflecting shifts in phonology in Early Modern Japanese. It is believed that the name change within Japan itself took place sometime between 665 and 703. The earliest record of 日本 appears in the Chinese Old Book of Tang, which notes the change in 703 when Japanese envoys requested that its name be changed. Wa 和 was often combined with 大 ("great") to form the name 大和, which is read as Yamato (see also Jukujikun for a discussion of this type of spelling where the kanji and pronunciations are not directly related). Japanese scribes found fault with its offensive connotation, and officially changed the characters they used to spell the native name for Japan, Yamato, replacing the 倭 ("dwarf") character for Wa with the homophone 和 ("peaceful, harmonious"). They were called Wa in Chinese, and the kanji for their name 倭 can be translated as "dwarf" or "submissive". They are both written in Japanese using the kanji 日本.ĭuring the third-century CE Three Kingdoms period, Japan was inhabited by the Yayoi people who lived in Kyushu up to the Kanto region. The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon ( にっぽん) and Nihon ( にほん). ![]() The word Japan is an exonym, and is used (in one form or another) by many languages. Overview of names for the Asian island state ![]()
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