Yasu Shimizu, a renowned writer and well-rounded linguist, is excited to announce today that he has published yet another insightful article, which is dubbed as “what is the difference between Nippon and Nihon,” on the website of JLE. The eye-opening article tries to explain the reasons why there are two unique ways of pronouncing the name of Japan in Japanese language. Indeed, this highly informational piece would be beneficial to loads of Japanese citizens, students of phonetics, historians, researchers, and many more.
Kashiwa, Japan -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/08/2017 -- Just as in previous times and in a fashion that is peculiar with one who is gifted with the pen of a ready writer, Yasu Shimizu - the managing director of Japan Luggage Express (JLE) is excited to announce today that he has published yet another insightful article on the website of JLE.
Suffice it to say that Mr. Shimizu is a renowned writer, well-rounded linguist, clever researcher, and talented discoverer. Dubbed as "What is the difference between Nippon and Nihon," the article tries to explain the reasons why there are two unique ways of pronouncing the name of Japan in Japanese language.
Located at http://www.jluggage.com/why-japan/nippon-or-nihon.html, it is noteworthy to note that loads of Japanese citizens, students of phonetics, historians, researchers, and many more, would find this easy-to-understand article to be highly informational.
The reason for this is not far-fetched. A good number of Japanese people can't confidently explain what the official name of Japan is, especially in Japanese language. Most of them are divided between 'Nihon' and 'Nippon.'
Even the government of Japan wasn't left out of this interesting debate. Hence, the reason why the country's cabinet council had to make a declaration in the year 2009, stating that both names are recognized and can be used as the official names of Japan in their local language.
It was as a result of these discrepancies, confusion, and lack of clarity, that Yasu Shimizu took it upon himself to pen down a simple and eye-opening piece that sheds more light on this important topic.
Speaking excitedly, Yasu said; "The answer to all this can be found in the field of phonetics." Just as the sound of 'h' is silent in some languages of the world, and equally weak and unpronounced in some English words, the Japanese also found a way of substituting the rather difficult 'h' sound with a similar sound that is different from the English 'h' sound.
Shimizu continued; "Although this doesn't imply that the Japanese substituted the 'h' sound for the 'p' sound as in the case of Nihon and Nippon, one can comfortably presume the latter replaced the former when they pronounced words that included an 'h' because it was hard to pronounce while 'p' was easy to utter even by babies."
Centuries after, the Japanese started using the 'p' sound deliberately. The resultant effect of this was that some people started pronouncing the name Nihon correctly, while others chose to refer to is as Nippon.
"In other words, since they couldn't pronounce the "h" sound nor differentiate between the two sounds, they pronounced "Nihon" as "Nippon instead" Yasu Shimizu concluded.
To know more about Yasu Shimizu as well as read his incisive article, visit - http://www.jluggage.com/why-japan/nippon-or-nihon.html
Media Contact:
Japan Luggage Express Ltd.
Name: Yasu Shimizu
Position: Managing Director
Location: Kashiwa, Chiba
Tel: 04-71-48-0081
Email: yasu@jluggage.com
URL: www.jluggage.com