Who discovered Japan ? Where that word originated ? Any one there who wants to teach me the basic japanese?

Question

i need to learn the basic japanese greetings please help

Answer 1

To add to Yozora's answer above...

"Jipang" and "Nihon" are actually the same: 日本.

"Jipang" was just the pronunciation of "Nihon" in a particular Chinese dialect, probably near Shanghai and Hangzhou. Hangzhou was the largest city in China around Marco Polo's time, and even today, Japan is called "Za-pung" in the Shanghainese dialect (Shanghai is just north of Hangzhou).

So, it's all the same word, 日本, that happens to be pronounced:
"Nihon" or "Nippon" in Japanese,
"Riben" in Mandarin Chinese,
"Za-pung" in modern Shanghainese Chinese,
"Ji-pang" in archaic Chinese dialect close to Shanghainese,
and, from "Ji-pang", "Japan" in English!

Answer 2

like America you can't really claim Japan was "discovered" because people lived on it for a very long time, it's beleived about the same time as humans moved to lands such as China they also moved to Japan. Japan and China in ancient times traded and fought frequently, both were rather aware of each other and some of the japanese writing systems are based on Chinese. For westerners it was a combination of Portugal and Denmark that tried to establish trade, with little success until the 18th century whenthe selfm imposed isolation of Japan was ended by Western naval power.

Basic Japanese Greetings:

Greetings (first time meeting only) : Hajimesmashite

My name is ... : Watashi wa ..... desu.

Pleased to meet you: Doozo Yoroshiku

Good Morning: Ohio Gozaimasu

Good Afterneoon: Konnichiwa

Good evening: Konbanwa

Answer 3

No-one 'discovered' Japan! It was populated - just like America - therefore it couldn't POSSIBLY be 'discovered'!! As for where the Japanese people came from, no-one can agree - they can't agree where the Ainu came from either!

The name origin story (here in Japan) goes like this - Marco Polo was visiting China, and he heard rumours of an 'island of gold' lying to the East of China. The Chinese name for this island was "Jipang", and Marco Polo took these rumours back to Europe. Naturally, 'Jipang' was corrupted to suit the tongue of each country, so in English it's 'Japan', and in some others, such as French, it's 'Japon'.

Nihon (or Nippon - both acceptable pronunciations of the name Japan has for itself, 日本,) has another story, in about 607 AD, Japanese prince Umayado (now known politely as Shoutokutaishi - 聖徳太子) wrote to the Emperor of China. The Chinese emperor was a proud man, and considered his country to be the centre of the world. This prince must have been a bit sarcastic, because he wrote 'from the emperor of the country where the sun rises, to the emperor of the country where the sun sinks.'

The Chinese emperor was furious at being insulted like that! But the name stuck -
日本　= nippon or nihon = Japan
日 = hi / ni / nichi = sun / day (or sometimes fire - like the sun, which is a ball of fire!)
本 = origin (also book, as in 'books are the origin of all knowledge')

My Japanese husband says he's NEVER heard any stories of China naming this country Nippon! But no-one will ever be 100% sure of what is the proof - after all, even written documentation may be forged!
; )

I'm sure you've already got the basic greetings! But I'll go through them once more, in case there's something that's been missed. You need to know the basics of Japanese pronunciation from romaji though;

Good morning = Ohayou gozaimasu
Hello (Good day / afternoon) = Konnichiwa
Good evening = Konbanwa
Excuse me = sumimasen
Please (with undertones of 'will you give this to me') = O kudasai
Please (with undertones of 'will you DO this for me') = Onegai shimasu
Thank you = Doumo arigatou / arigatou gozaimasu
Thanks = Doumo
Sorry = shitsurei shimasu (or sumimasen)
Good night = Oyasumi nasai
I am ........ = ...... desu (casual) / watashi wa ....... desu (polite)
Fool = Baka
Yes = Hai (pronounced like the English 'hi') or sometimes 'ee'
No = iie
Sorry = Gomen nasai

Douzo yoroshiku literally means please be kind to me - or something very close! It's also been described as meaning 'be kind to me, as I will be to you'! But basically you say it to someone when you meet them, AFTER saying hello, and hajimemashite - which means 'for the first time (we meet)' - that's why you only use it when you meet someone for the first time!

Answer 4

Japan (Japanese: 日本, Nihon or Nippon) is an East Asian island country located in the Pacific Ocean, east of China and Korea, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. It is composed of over 3,000 islands, the largest of which are Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū. Most of Japan's islands are mountainous, and many are volcanic; the highest peak is Mount Fuji.

The written history of Japan begins with brief appearances in Chinese history texts from the first century CE. However, archaeological research indicates that people were living on the islands of Japan as early as the upper paleolithic period. Japanese history has had alternating periods of long isolation punctuated by radical, sometimes revolutionary, influence from the outside world. Its culture today is a mixture of such outside influences and traditional culture.

Japan has the world's second largest economy, one of the world's leading industrialized nations and is member of the G8, G4, APEC nations and a major economic global power as sixth largest exporter and importer. It is a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament, called the Diet, which is one of the oldest legislative bodies in Asia. Despite its rugged terrain, Japan is one of the most populous and most densely populated countries in the world. Greater Tokyo, with over 30 million residents, is the largest metropolitan area in the world.

The characters that make up Japan's name literally mean "Land of the Rising Sun", a name that comes from the country's eastward position relative to China.

Answer 5

The indigenous Japanese Ainu people 'discovered' Japan. Later Chinese peoples came via Korea.

Answer 6

Japan was named by the Chinese. It is said "Ni Hon"
How we get "Land of the Rising Sun"?
Ni means sun and hon (in this case means) origin.
I speak Japanese quite fluently and I am happy to help you get started, but I must point out that it is not possible to learn Japanese through the Internet or Internet correspondence.
Check your local listings for a qualified tutor.

Answer 7

Kawaii= Cute be sure to pronounce it Ka wa EEEE Kwai means scary.

Ohio Gozimas= Good morning
Konichiwa = Good afternoon
Konbonwa = good evening
Arigato Gozimas = thank you
Hi= yes
Gomendasai = I'm sorry/Excuse me

They also have great audio courses at the bookstore to learn Japanese. I am just learning myself, and my husband speaks it fluently.

Answer 8

This site is funny. You can get some basic Japanese easily.

FUN JAPANESE
http://www.slanguage.com/fj.html

Answer 9

Geng ki? =how are you?

Ka wa ii= cute/pretty?

Ari ga to go sai mas= thank you very much

ba-ka= stupid

un-ko= sh*t

Japanese people probably originated from China I think

Answer 10

http://www.connectexpress.com/~ips/japan/

Good luck here in Japan! Yookoso