Country names in kanji, and why the USA is rice (米国)

In Japanese news headlines, the USA is 米, rice, the UK is 英, outstanding or hero, Germany is 独, alone, Australia is 豪, mighty, and Canada is 加, add. None of them was picked for its meaning. Each one is left over from an old spelling that used kanji for their sounds, and the meaning just came along for the ride.

Names spelled by sound

Japanese once wrote many foreign place names with ateji (当て字), kanji chosen for their sound. Today those names are written in katakana, and the old spellings look archaic, but one kanji from each survives as a short form. The video says this about the USA; it’s true of all five.

The USA: 米, rice

米 (bei, or kome) means rice, and it began as a drawing of rice grains. In the name of the USA it’s there for one sound: me. The usual explanation is that it comes from 亜米利加, an old spelling of A-me-ri-ka. Wiktionary adds a twist: the Japanese text of the 1854 treaty with the United States doesn’t use that spelling, and 米利堅 (Meriken), a common name for America from the 1850s to the early 1900s, may be the real source. Either way, 米 stands for the sound, not the food.

So 米国 (beikoku) is the United States, and 北米 (hokubei) and 南米 (nanbei) are North and South America. Chinese picked a different character for the same sound, 美, which means beautiful, so in Chinese the US is 美国. That isn’t a compliment, any more than 米 is about rice: it’s just the sound.

The UK: 英, outstanding

英 (ei) means outstanding or brilliant, as in 英雄 (eiyuu), a hero; its oldest meaning was a flower. The Japanese name イギリス (Igirisu) comes from Portuguese inglês, English, and its kanji spelling, 英吉利, matches the Chinese name for England, which imitates the sound of a European word for “English”. In Chinese, 英 stands for the “Eng”, and 英国 (eikoku) became the UK.

Germany: 独, alone

独 (doku) means alone or single, as in 独身 (dokushin), unmarried. Germany, ドイツ (Doitsu), was spelled 独逸: 独 for do, 逸 for itsu. Nothing about Germany is lonely; 独 just begins with the right sound.

Australia: 豪, mighty

豪 (gou) means mighty, grand or lavish, as in 豪華 (gouka), luxurious, and 豪雨 (gouu), torrential rain. Australia was spelled 濠太剌利 or 豪太剌利. 濠, a moat, and 豪 are both read gou, and today 豪 is the usual choice, so Australia is 豪州 (goushuu).

Canada: 加, add

加 (ka) means to add or join, as in 加える (kuwaeru), to add, and 参加 (sanka), taking part. Canada, カナダ (Kanada), was spelled 加奈陀: 加 ka, 奈 na, 陀 da. The first kanji became the short form.

How to use it

• アメリカに行ったことがありますか。

  Amerika ni itta koto ga arimasu ka.

  Have you ever been to America?

• 英語が少し話せます。

  Eigo ga sukoshi hanasemasu.

  I can speak a little English.

• 来年、カナダに留学します。

  Rainen, Kanada ni ryuugaku shimasu.

  I'm going to study in Canada next year.

• 日米の首脳が会談しました。

  Nichibei no shunou ga kaidan shimashita.

  The leaders of Japan and the US held talks. (news style)

• In conversation, use the katakana names: アメリカ, イギリス, ドイツ, オーストラリア, カナダ. 米国 and 英国 sound formal, like the news.
• The one-kanji forms live in compounds and headlines, where space is short: 日米 (nichibei), Japan and the US, and 欧米 (oubei), Europe and America, meaning the West.
• 英語 (eigo) is English, the language, wherever it’s spoken, not only in the UK.
• Other countries do it too. France is 仏 (futsu), from the old spelling 仏蘭西 (Furansu).

Words with the same kanji

Remember it

Picture an old map with every country spelled out by sound in kanji. Snip each name down to its first sound kanji, the second for America, and the leftovers say rice, hero, alone, mighty and add. The meanings are an accident; the sounds are the point.

The kanji in this lesson

Tap Draw it to watch the stroke order. Numbers show where each stroke starts.

Draw it

Draw it

Draw it

Draw it

Draw it

Sources

• Wiktionary: 米国 (etymology)
• Wikipedia: Ateji
• Wiktionary: イギリス

Written by the Chirami team with the help of AI, then checked against JMdict and KANJIDIC2. How we write lessons. Spotted a mistake? Email support@brightsmilesolutions.org.