As far as I know many country names are ended with 国.
In the Anki Deck I’m currently learning with I already learned the names for China and South Korea which are 中国 ( ちゅうごく- China) and 韓国 (かんこく – South Korea).
Now I dont understand why there is a differnce in pronounciation for 国. Is there a rule to it? Are those the only two options I just have to learn for every country name I stumble upon?
よろしくお願いいたします
3 comments
It sometimes happens! For example 人々 (hitobito, not hitohito)! There’s no rules, you have to remember them 🙁
中国 is an example of a common pronunciation shift called rendaku. [https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/rendaku/](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/rendaku/) is the best article I’ve read on some of the rules behind when the sound shift happens, and it touches on the 中国 / 韓国 difference briefly
Yeah, the rule is called 連濁 (れんだく) in Japanese, and it’s very common.