YOHAN = English-Japanese?Kanji Jiten = Japanese dictionary?

[trien27]

YO = ei (first character of eigo)+o?

EIGO is Japanese for "English"

"Kanji" = Hanzi = Chinese Characters

Han is Chinese for "Han dynasty/Chinese race", because Han ren = Tang ren = Zhongguo ren = Hwa/Hua ren = Chinese people.

So explain to me:

How is YOHAN = English-Japanese

How is Kanji Jiten = Japanese dictionary?

[smithsgj]

and another thing. 韓國 is Korea (in one of its guises). So why is Seoul 漢城? Did someone make a mistake, and it stuck?

[skylee]

smith, from a previous post ->

Read this -

History of Seoul

The history of Seoul can be traced back as far as 18 BC. In that year the newly established kingdom of Baekje built its capital in the Seoul area. During the time when the three kingdoms fought for hegemony in Korea, Seoul was often the site where disputes were carried out. It was thought that only the kingdom who controls the area around Seoul is able to control the whole of the peninsula. This was the reason why in the 11th century the ruler of the Goryeo Dynasty built a palace in Seoul, which was referred to as the Southern Capital. This city was renamed from Hanyang (漢陽) to Hanseong (漢城) when it became the capital of the Joseon Dynasty in 1394. It was renamed Gyeongseong (京城 -- Keijo in Japanese) during the Japanese Colonial Period, and finally given the name Seoul after the 1945 liberation. The word seoul means "capital" in Korean; it has no Hanja and can only be written in Hangul.

The name apparently has to do with the river that runs through the place - Hangang (漢江).

[smithsgj]

Thanks then again sky for drawing my attention to an old thread.

I didn't realize the Koreans didn't write Seoul as 漢城. It's purely a foreign name for a city like 舊金山.

Still odd, though, don't you think? 韓城 would make a lot more sense! Chinese City, the capital of Korea, is named after the Chinese River that runs through the city.

[smithsgj]

OP Kanji is the Japanese term for that part of their writing system borrowed directly from Chinese. Obviously the etymology of the term is "Chinese characters", but think of it more as meaning "characters" instead.

As for this YOHAN dictionary: I'm as flummoxed as you. First, why not YOKAN; and second, is it really only an English-Kanji dictionary?!?

[nnt]

Just a misinterpretation of what Yohan means. See:

http://www.is.hse.tut.ac.jp/bon/List_PP/3-01_p5.html

洋販: Yohan

Learning japanese Pinyin is not enough!