Hello, I have a couple of things I am wanting to know...
1) In all books (and dictionaries) I have regarding learning Japanese it is stated that an "i" makes an english "ee" sound (like in feet), however many words (most infact except when i is the last letter) have the i make the same sound an english i makes (much like in the word english). Can someone explain this to me, are there rules regarding the sound?
2) How do you say the equivalent of "Pardon" or "What"... just nan desu ka? or is there a different word...
3) Is there a difference in the usage of Nihon on and Nippon? I was on a website a while back written by a Japanese-American, and he claimed that Nihon was the proper term and that Nippon was derogatory. At first I believed this until I realized that Nippon is used by many Japanese and is even printed on money. Is there a difference in how they are used or is it much like the difference between saying "U.S" and "U.S.A", with no real differences?
Thank you in advance.
1) In all books (and dictionaries) I have regarding learning Japanese it is stated that an "i" makes an english "ee" sound (like in feet), however many words (most infact except when i is the last letter) have the i make the same sound an english i makes (much like in the word english). Can someone explain this to me, are there rules regarding the sound?
2) How do you say the equivalent of "Pardon" or "What"... just nan desu ka? or is there a different word...
3) Is there a difference in the usage of Nihon on and Nippon? I was on a website a while back written by a Japanese-American, and he claimed that Nihon was the proper term and that Nippon was derogatory. At first I believed this until I realized that Nippon is used by many Japanese and is even printed on money. Is there a difference in how they are used or is it much like the difference between saying "U.S" and "U.S.A", with no real differences?
Thank you in advance.