# Country names, their origins, and a minor UN question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/country-names-their-origins-and-a-minor-un-question/191366>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 28, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/country-names-their-origins-and-a-minor-un-question/191366 "2003-07-28T03:27:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/country-names-their-origins-and-a-minor-un-question/191366/41 "2011-10-31T18:08:24Z")

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> [@EKDS5k](#):
>
> I know that this is like 8 years old, but where does this come from? There is definitely an ‘h’ sound in Japanese, and there is a difference in pronunciation between Nihon and Nippon.

Correct. The (ancient) post you are replying to was wrong in implying that Nihon and Nippon are two ways of representing the same pronunciation.

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**Author:** ![EKDS5k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@EKDS5k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EKDS5k)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/country-names-their-origins-and-a-minor-un-question/191366/42 "2011-11-01T05:01:44Z")

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Er, so there’s no confusion, I speak passable Japanese, lived there for a while, etc etc insert more internet showboating here, and I’m fully aware that the post I quoted was completely wrong. I’m just wondering where they got the idea.

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