Comments on: Cool Kanji – 独

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 18:27:21 +0000

Yeah, Mike is right Julian (and apologies for the delayed reply). They are all phonetic ateji for the country names. The word for dictator uses the literal meaning of the character which is “alone.” So literally, “Sole ruling person” or something like that.

And I’m a big fan of Germany. I was scheduled to visit last year but wasn’t able to make it. Looking forward to a visit in the near future.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 18:24:07 +0000

Hi Julian,
are you a citizen of the Rice-Country, or of the Brilliant-Country? I think I need not explain to you the phonetic origin of the country characters. The year you wrote your remark about the “coincidence” you spotted Germany had lived an unprecedented 60-year era of peace and democracy and is continuing on this path now we’re almost 2012. Did you know that?

By: ジュリアン

ジュリアン — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:42:43 +0000

I always found it amusing that the word for “dictator” — 独裁者 — includes the kanji used for Germany. Coincidence?

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:39:02 +0000

Matt: Very cool stuff with Vietnam. I think those countries should get their own separate list. Much cooler than 米国.

Nick: I was thinking of that beer as I wrote the post. Actually came across their dark beer in Meguro the other day – it’s marketed as the beer to enjoy with unagi. They make some nice German beers. Wish they were more available. (Ha, and on another personal note, one of the words in the recaptcha anti-spam thing is “chicory”.)

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:32:11 +0000

There’s also Okayama’s microbrew 独歩.

It never occurred to me before that that is a pun . . .

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:07:43 +0000

I like 越南 because when I saw it I realized that “Vietnam” was a Sinitic word with an etymology I could totally understand. That idea had never even occurred to me before.

I also think Rome’s kanji name is badass but the meaning is not very exciting.