Nihon vs. Nippon (Answering your questions!)

[@MatsubaAgeha]

NIHON & NIPPON [I am a Japanese fluent in Japanese and English.] There is a sound-change called "ren-daku". For example, when counting long and skinny things like pens and sticks, the word ("counter word") HON 本 (The same HON as in Ni-hon) gets added to the number and then ren-daku occurs. 1. ichi + hon = ippon ("ho" to "po") 2. ni + hon = nihon 3. san + hon = sanbon ("ho" to "bo") 4. yon + hon = yonhon (Never "shihon"; it's a long story.) 5. go + hon = gohon 6. roku + hon = roppon ("ho" to "po") 日 (nichi) + 本 (hon) = Nippon Now on "NIHON". "Nichihon" is a little hard to say, so they dropped the "chi" and became "Nihon" (A weird exception). And at the same time, some people did the same thing as "ippon" above. That is why there are two names for the country in Japanese. The official one is "Nippon" and is used on paper money, etc. For "Nippon", "ippon", and "roppon", a different type of Japanese sound-change called "onbin" (specifically sokuonbin) is taking place as well. Examples: 日 nichi + 産 san = Nissan (The car company)(Not "Nisan") 殺 setsu + 生 shō (long O) + 丸 maru = Sesshōmaru (From the anime INUYASHA) NIHON and NIPPON are not necessarily interchangeable. When combined with other words, oftentimes only one of the two is used. For example, the names of animals and plants native to Japan are called "Nihon-XX". Examples: Nihon + saru (monkey) = Nihonzaru (Never "Nipponzaru") ("sa" becomes "za" due to rendaku) Nippon + ginkō (long O) = Nippon Ginkō (The Bank of Japan) NHK = Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) BUT Japanese person = Nihon-jin OR Nippon-jin (日本人) NIHON does sound softer. When referring to the country, I use both NIHON and NIPPON based on whatever I FEEL like saying at that moment (No logical reasons). But I guess I use NIHON more often. REFERENCE From the WIKIPEDIA Rendaku en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendaku Japanese counter word en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_counter_word Sokuon en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokuon

[@japaneseformorons]

Thank you!

[@Microsoft-Windows]

Paul Shimura thank you for your comment!

[@geraldlok4139]

Wow thanks for all those info 🫡

[@StrivedeLaLear]

I really like how they both speak in their native languages but understand each other.

[@pnogas]

I like to think of Nippon vs Nihon like USA vs USofA vs United States of America. They all mean the same thing but some are more used in conversation and some forms are used more in things like political speeches.

[@emil9412]

I think that's the case in most countries. Here in Sweden most people say Amerika, sometimes USA but mostly Amerika, espically older people...

[@halcondanan]

Of course I am, otherwise I doubt I would be correcting people about it. And as you say, there is North, Central and South America but some continental models (or however you say that in english) call the whole thing America. And thinking a little: North, Central and South of something implies the whole thing is that something, some models divide it in 3 because it would be a very big and long continent... But the whole thing is America, no doubt about it.

[@dj.blackstar]

I'm guessing it's like saying America and United States. There are times when one is preferred over the other but it usually doesn't matter, people will understand you the same regardless of which you choose.

[@UnidentifiedFool]

the で and も are not really together as one word, it's more like どちで, which is the て form (kinda) of どち, so like most て form with も after it, it literally means "even if" so kinda loosely translated to "even if either one [is used]"

[@noyen5]

Would luv see a vid on how/when people in japan say "so-so" . I know it's not like so so in english terms. But like the persons agreeing with something your saying right?..

[@Sukigu]

I have a suggestion for a video you could make: about the differences in pitch in words that have the same kana. There's a Wikipedia article called "Japanese pitch accent" which explains them, and it has an audio file you can listen to in order to compare a few examples. For instance, I giggled when I noticed I could actually understand the difference between 「日本」 and 「二本」, when supposedly they both are (or can be) 「にほん」. I'd love to hear what Tomoko has to say about this as a native speaker!

[@StormWolf01]

Very interesting video, but what about 日本人 (nihon jin)? Is it also ok to say にっぽんじん (nippon jin)? If yes, when do you use which one?

[@elenna_alexia]

Same for Germany. I usually try to specify to avoid ambiguities, but most people don't care.

[@starrynightfall00]

Tomoko is so adorable

[@Tzadeck]

Oh man, Tomoko's laughter after the introduction (お答えしたいと思います…ね?) Cracks me up. So cute.

[@danpluso]

Thanks for the info. I have never heard nippongo or nipponjin before and it does sound strange. I figured it may not be wrong but just unused.

[@MeaghansW0rld]

I've been curious about the difference in the two words for awhile now. Thanks for giving all of us in the Moron Army an answer! :)

[@supersaiyan285]

Thanks, I was actually wondering about that myself. You guys are awesome, keep up the awesome work!

[@bartry666]

You guys are awesome, keep up the great work and videos!

[@tony12forlife]

You know, this is actually really helpful. I've always wondered what the difference was and now I know. Thanks!

[@ditoway]

I love you.

[@agsiar]

that's what i was going to say. considering that nippon seems to be used in sports and politics, it makes sense to think that variation is used at the times you want to give emphasis.

[@karsa73]

Muy claro. Gracias!!

[@ixboxmart12]

For people who live in the Netherlands. Nippon is like "Het koningkrijk der Nederlanden", Nihon is like "Nederland". The latter one is the one everyone uses in daily conversation, but in some instances the first one is more suited.

[@benpasri9430]

great, I love both of you.

[@mathiasnordal8323]

Enjoying some of your old stuff, you're a great duo! Always wondered about the difference nippon and nihon too :P Take care man!

[@Athlynne]

Thank you, I've been wondering about this!

[@junnydia]

Ahora mis dudas entre NIPPON y NIHON estan aclaradas! Gracias son geniales!

[@robertm2000]

I just stumbled on this website. Who are the hosts? They are really cool! I'm going to subscribe and watch here, since I'm interested in learning Japanese.

[@Jonnhy0989]

Awesome! Thanks a lot for this channel! Regards!

[@samiryokou985]

Thank you! I have always been so confused about this!

[@blahchop]

I recently started thinking about this kanji pronunciation and came across your old video. I follow your other 2 channels but not this one lol Anyway, in the subtitles for the video when she is talking about sports it says "Nippon gabare" rather than "Nippon ganbare". Just wanted to point that out.

[@HomelessGhuru]

Thanks, Victor! And Tomoko is just lovely. :)

[@shadowjuan2]

It's not wrong 'American' is derived from America, a term originally denoting all of the New Word, but its usage has evolved over time and, for various historical reasons, the word came to denote people or things specifically from the United States of America. There are many concepts of words that evolve over time and they are not considered to be "wrong".

[@k45g]

Amen.

[@Qimama]

It clears out my question about Nippon and Nihon. Thank you~

[@theloniousm4337]

Interesting and thanks. I always wondered what Japanese calls at national sports events like the olympics was. Nippon Gabare!! ...but isn't it Ganbare? or is the "n" dropped?

[@PeterArthurMartin]

Cool. Always wondered about that.

[@vanmaren962]

Thanks for making this video. This question has been killing me haha.

[@TTridata]

I agree.

[@EatCarbs]

I shall sleep soundly tonight.. not up all night wondering the difference. uso! Thanks for the video.

[@dzunku1]

I have an impression that Nippon is older or more traditional pronunciation than Nihon, which might have become popular later. Think how other countries call 日本. An tSeapáin, Japan, Japon, Japón, Giappone, Japonia, Япония, and ญี่ปุ่น, all of these have P sound and somewhat similar to Nippon. Besides, I cannot imagine that samurai said Nihon or Nihon-jin.

[@Hora1101]

mmm never have i think about it, thanks for the explanation :)

[@YOSUP315]

I like Nihon because it makes me think of Hong Kong... Which is obviously not in Japan, but it makes me think of King Kong which makes me think of a huge monster terrorizing a large city, which makes me think of Godzilla or Donkey Kong which finally makes me think of Japan.

[@Baka_Oppai]

easily most retarded post i read today

[@YOSUP315]

you read much?

[@ChunkyBunny2]

HAAHA this is the funniest comment I think I've seen on KZbin.

[@shadowjuan2]

Neither of us is right, we were taught differently. It turns out that most English-speaking countries including china and india are taught that North and South America are two separate continents, while Spanish-speaking countries and some countries in Europe considers South and North america as just one continent. However when someone refers to America itself you can't asume it's North America alone, since America was actually originally intended for Latin America.

[@RyldPharaun]

I may be wrong, but I believe desho/daro is used in questions. At least that's what I picked up by watching anime. It's also possible I'm just a moron though.

[@nillbakeyouacaked]

this man looks like mark ruffalo

[@liamholmes8325]

what

[@e.masuno5392]

I agree with you

[@Gameboygenius]

Makes sense to use Nippon when cheering for a team. More punch in a p than an h.

[@MANNY100123]

ah, I was actually wondering about that myself! XD

[@halcondanan]

You're right, in most countries everyone thinks USA = America, I've been in Europe so I know the thrill. And since that's wrong I thought it was worth mentioning. But this is starting to be a totally different discussion than the video so I'll just leave like that.

[@EternalzTony]

"Either is fine." Just like how 何でもいい would mean "whatever is fine." There are different uses of でも.

[@Kuchingsama]

I was always told that Nihon was more formal then Nippon. Like saying United Kingdom instead of UK.

[@elenna_alexia]

I don't actually find it too difficult if it's just that.

[@slimemyhouse9877]

finally so nihon is more used in a daily conversation

[@emil9412]

I'm from Örnsköldsvik, it's in northeast Sweden. Hmm... Now you made me curious, why's that interesting to you? :-O

[@aa-dk8zm]

“Nippon" is the Chinese pronunciation of the two kanji characters 日本

[@Dopenewsam]

It comes from the chinese word 日本 riben which sounds a lot like nippon

[@EdwardBellted7234889]

What is the difference between Ja arimasen and dewa arimasen?

[@japaneseformorons]

+Edward Bell Ja is more casual.

[@lunahart]

Love your outfit, Tomoko-san!

[@TheZerg316]

thank you :) I've just started my second semester of Japanese and I am learning this kanji. This cleared up my confusion :D

[@RuneAnime]

A lot less gray hairs on this video Vic, the effect of having children :D

[@Tzadeck]

To the extent that what you say is true, you got it backwards. Usually 'Nippon' is the more formal version.

[@seventhsheaven]

I think it should be 'docchi de mo ii'.

[@HawkyStudios]

最近、図書館で「基礎日本語」と言う本を見つけましたが「日本語」の読み方について親友とちょっと話し合いました。「日本語」の場合には「にっぽんご」と読んでもいいですか。何か、聞いたことはありませんが「にっぽんご」じゃない理由を考えませんでした。(笑)質問を読んでくれてありがとうございます！

[@frostzerokill2525]

そです

[@needsmoreghosts]

Oh hell, not bad at all. Trying to explain the difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and England is real pain the arse..

[@danpluso]

What about Nihongo vs Nippongo? Is Nippongo even correct?

[@richardleveille2346]

You all may would like to read the article on the follwing page which gives you a straight and simple answer to this(Nippon vs Nihon): www.jluggage.com/why-japan/nippon-or-nihon.html According to the article of this page, Japanese people many years ago were not able to pronouce the sound of *h* just like French people today are not able to, nor did they distingish the sound of *p* from *h*. In other words, they were the same sound.

[@dimasdwinugroho]

日本語 (Nihongo) 日本人 (Nihonjin)

[@dzunku1]

Either one is fine. If you want to emphasize Japan, use Nippon-jin.

[@zhungarianalatau6221]

Nippon seems to have a more nationalist or patriotic sense. That's why it is more used in sports events, when such nationalism is more evident. But History plays against Japan when we remember the Second World War. I think there is kind of cultural reserve towards the use of Nippon in a broad sense.

[@yukiclowniac7473]

What's the difference betwen ''Arigatou Gozaimashita'' to ''Arigatou Kozaimasu''?

[@ChibiQilin]

"Kozaimasu" is gibberish, Gozaimasu on the other hand means the same thing, except "masu" is present tense, and "mashita" is past tense.

[@yukiclowniac7473]

Oh!! Arigatou kozaimasu for answer!!

[@d.shadocx9277]

Yuki Clowniac It's Gozaimasu, what u don't get?

[@yukiclowniac7473]

I understand everything,^^

[@ComneaBogdan]

1:52 why is this so funny xD

[@Hanoitami]

When I was in Japan, "Nippon" comes from people who are patriotic to their country.

[@FinalLugiaGuardian]

I have two questions. 1st, Is the Japanese word "he" equivalent to the English word "to"? 2nd, is the Japanese word "itsu" equivalent to the English word "did"? Sorry I am still trying to learn.

[@nazmibal1593]

itsu means when

[@FinalLugiaGuardian]

Thanks.

[@alanmartinezgonzalez4363]

se podria decir que son términos correctos

[@AnonymooseWasMyName]

I'm gonna call it _Yamato_.

[@YouNeverKnowWhoIsWatching]

Konnichiwa from Fort Worth Texas. I don't know why, but Nippon seems more adjective-like than Nihon. More _Japanese_ .🥰

[@GrayAu]

Nihon

[@dtriplett03]

So, Ni is Sun 🌞, hon is, ppon, same characters different saying.

[@michellalin7039]

Sugoy. aregato gosai mas. Nippon wa ichiban desu.

[@josephlefevre9829]

I thought for the longest time it was nipp -oh- n

[@shadowjuan2]

North America and South America are sub-continents that conform the whole continent of America. The term American is used to refer to people that come from North America thats correct. But you can't refer to America itself just as North America, thats incorrect. In summary: American=North America. America= South America+North America.

[@showdojoaomarco471]

"O Imperador do Japão tinha poder absoluto da Era Meiji até os americanos", Imperador Shōwa tentando botar a leitura Nippon como único nome do Japão em 1934 d.C.(i.e. Ano 9 da Era Shōwa) e não conseguindo: Eu sou só uma piada pra você?, Leitura arcaica Jippon: "Também acho isso." "The Emperor of Japan had absolute power from the Meiji Era until the Americans", Emperor Shōwa trying to put the reading Nippon as the only name of Japan in 1934 AD (i.e. 9th Year in Shōwa Era) and failing: Am I just a joke to you?, Archaic Reading Jippon: "I think so too." 「日本の天皇[にっぽ​んのてんのう]は明治時代[めいじじだい]から連合国軍占領下の日本まで絶対的な権力を持っていました」と、昭和天皇[しょうわてんのう]は西暦紀元1934年（昭和9年）に「にっぽ​ん」を日本国[にほ​んこく]の唯一の名前[なまえ]にしようとしましたが、失敗しました: 私[わたし]はあなたにとってただの冗談ですか？, 古語読みの日本[じっぽ​ん]:「私[わたし]もそう思います。」

[@assassins1412]

@micaht112233 are you crazy ? there's a huge difference between America and the us :/ the more correctly one is us.. but between Nippon and Nihon. there's nothing calls a wrong or more correct pronunciation!!

[@wilklikesmilk5371]

I always say nihon sometimes I'll say nippon

[@k45g]

The funny thing is that the Japanese refer to USA as "America", do most of them know the difference?

[@dzunku1]

No one uses Nippon-go, I believe.

[@nthsix4]

国がnihonでもnipponでもいいって決めてるらしいですよ

[@abelucious]

Nihon or Nippon ? where da fuck did we get Japan from ?

[@iosefka7774]

It's from the Chinese pronunciation of the kanji, 日本, which was (roughly) zipun, which then came to Malay as jepang which then came either to Dutch as Japan or Portugeuese as Japão, which finally came to English.

[@kftito31]

"Japanese for morons" that was awesome!

[@japaneseformorons]

Thanks!

[@FleetOfRetribution]

There. Is. No. Continent. Called. America. There are only a handful of countries outside of Latin America which teach the theory that there are only six continents, with a unified America. It is not just people from the United States, it is pretty much a geographic consensus.

[@987headshot]

Nihon no supiritsu mezamete yuku

[@VegasD702]

It’s like United States vs america

[@Dre2Dee2]

Hrm... that is a good question! I prefer Nihon myself :P

[@emil9412]

Aah ok, that makes us two then. :)

[@halcondanan]

Then what about Asian and European? Asian = Chinese OR Japanese OR Korean OR etcetcetc European = Portuguese OR Italian OR Spanish OR German OR etcetcetc What makes you believe American = USA citizens? I understand it became a very short and easy way to call people from the USA, but it's wrong nonetheless.

[@halcondanan]

So you're basically asking if I would correct people because they call me George W. Bush or say nothing if people call me Abraham Lincoln? It doesn't matter if I feel insulted or proud, I have my own name... and either way I will still correct them. But of course I won't insist, everyone is free to believe whatever they want to believe in.

[@halcondanan]

United States vs America United States = A country America = A continent At least the japanese don't call themselves Asia.

[@halcondanan]

I'll just leave it like that, I'm not that interested in discussing geography after all. Victor, sorry for the mess and keep up with the videos!!

[@INFP-T50]

ＮＩＨＯＮ　＝　日本人　ＮＩＰＰＯＮ　＝　女真族