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Subject: Re: 日本
From: Glenn
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 21:32:25 GMT
References: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
> It seems to me "Nit-pon" changed to two forms, "Nippon" and "Nit-Φon." Since the geminate (促音) of "Φ" was not allowed, the latter became "NiΦon," and finally "Nihon." I doubt that "Nipon" has ever existed.
Why would this only happen with one word? It seems that other words should have undergone the same phoneme shift, but didn't. For instance, why is 出発 pronounced しゅっぱつ, and not しゅはつ? Is it due to 日本 being an often used and important word, or is there something else that I am missing?
By the way, I am not completely sure that I am understanding "t" in "Nit-pon." Is that just an indicator of 促音?
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