A trunk of travelling names: a puppet, a Vespa, a little yellow car, a fan, a bonsai.
A name is a word that has made a career. Here are the names of countries, brands, books and characters that have travelled the world: Italian names loved in Japan, Korea and China, and Japanese, Korean and Chinese names everyone in Italia knows. Many of them we have always mispronounced, on both sides. Time to put that right.
This is the second of five episodes: words, names, faces, flavors, stories. At the end, as always, the voice game.
What we call each other
Let’s start with our names. The Italian “Giappone” comes from Marco Polo: in “Il Milione” he called Cipangu a fabulously rich island he had heard about in China, where 日本国 was pronounced more or less like that. “Corea” comes from Goryeo (고려, 高麗), the kingdom Marco Polo called Cauli. And “Cina”, according to the most accepted theory, comes from the Qin dynasty (秦).
And what do they call us? In Japan イタリア (Itaria). In Korea 이탈리아 (Itallia), but also 이태리 (Itaeri), from the characters 伊太利. In China 意大利 (Yìdàlì), three characters chosen for their sound which, taken one by one, mean “idea”, “great” and “benefit”. And our football league, in China, is 意甲 (Yì jiǎ): the “A of Italia”.
Fra Mauro’s world map, Venezia, around 1450: the world as seen by a Venetian monk, with Asia large and far away (1806 copy, public domain).
The Vespa and Roman Holiday
1946: Enrico Piaggio sees the prototype of a scooter, narrow at the waist and wide at the back, and says: «Sembra una vespa! (SEHM-brah OO-nah VEHS-pah, “it looks like a wasp!”)». The name stuck. Seven years later Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck rode it around Roma in “Roman Holiday”, and the Vespa went round the world. In Japan the film is ローマの休日 (Rōma no kyūjitsu), in Korea 로마의 휴일 (Romaui hyuil), in China 罗马假日 (Luómǎ jiàrì), and it is much loved in all three countries. And whoever comes to Roma goes to put a hand into the Bocca della Verità: 真実の口 (Shinjitsu no Kuchi), 진실의 입 (Jinsirui Ip), 真理之口 (Zhēnlǐ zhī Kǒu).
Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck on a Vespa: Roman Holiday, 1953 (from the trailer, public domain).
Mario and Luigi
The most famous Italian in the world was born in Japan. Mario took his name from Mario Segale, the landlord of Nintendo’s warehouse in America. For his brother, the story goes, Luigi was chosen because it sounds like 類似 (ruiji), “similar”, and that is exactly how he was born: a Mario of another colour. Since then billions of people have heard “Mamma mia!”. The company’s name has a story too: 任天堂 (Nintendō) is usually explained as “leave luck to heaven”. In China Mario is 马力欧 (Mǎlì’ōu), in Korea 마리오 (Mario).
Nintendo’s Family Computer (1983), Mario’s first home. Photo: Evan-Amos, public domain.
Three stars and a modern car
Samsung is 삼성 (Samseong), “three stars”, and in China it is written with the same characters: 三星 (Sānxīng). Hyundai is 현대 (Hyeondae), “modern”, and in China it is 现代 (Xiàndài): the same word again. Hyundai is precisely the name we Italians get most wrong: we say “ee-oon-DAI”, while in Korean it sounds roughly like “hyun-deh”. In Japan the company even changed its official name, from ヒュンダイ to ヒョンデ (Hyonde), to come closer to the Korean pronunciation.
And there is a link with Italia: the first Korean car built in series, the 1975 Hyundai Pony, was designed in Torino by Giorgetto Giugiaro.
A Hyundai Pony, Korea’s first series-built car, designed by Giugiaro. Photo: Charles01, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Goku comes from China
In Italia everyone knows Goku from Dragon Ball. Fewer know that his name comes from a sixteenth-century Chinese classic, “Journey to the West” (西游记 (Xīyóujì)), whose hero is the Monkey King, 孙悟空 (Sūn Wùkōng). In Japanese the same characters read 孫悟空 (Son Gokū), in Korean 손오공 (Son Ogong). A name that made the perfect journey: from China to Japan, from Japan to the world.
The Monkey King, «齐天大圣», in the paintings of the Long Corridor of the Summer Palace, Beijing. Photo: Shizhao, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The prancing horse and the bull
Maranello, 1947: the first car bearing Enzo Ferrari’s name rolls out. The red is “rosso corsa”, the colour assigned to Italian cars in the early international races; the yellow of the badge is that of Modena, Enzo’s town. In China Ferrari is written 法拉利 (Fǎlālì), in Korea 페라리 (Perari), in Japan フェラーリ (Ferāri). A curiosity few people know even in Italia: the Ferrari Enzo, the car dedicated to the founder, was designed by a Japanese, Ken Okuyama (奥山清行 (Okuyama Kiyoyuki)). And China’s first Formula 1 driver, Zhou Guanyu (周冠宇 (Zhōu Guànyǔ)), grew up in the Ferrari driver academy before making his debut with Alfa Romeo.
The Ferrari Enzo, designed by Japan’s Ken Okuyama. Photo: Mr.choppers, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Ferruccio Lamborghini, on the other hand, made tractors. He was a Taurus, and the bull ended up on the badge. His cars bear the names of fighting bulls, except one: Countach, a Piedmontese exclamation of amazement, something like “wow!”. In the Seventies the Countach was the poster on the wall of every Japanese boy. In China the brand is 兰博基尼 (Lánbójīní), in Korea 람보르기니 (Ramboreugini). And in Italia the most famous Lamborghini may well be a singer: Elettra Lamborghini, Ferruccio’s granddaughter, queen of the summer hits, here at the Sanremo festival.
A 1971 Lamborghini Miura: for many, the first supercar in history. Photo: Chelsea Jay, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Lupin, Calimero and the Cinquecento
Italia and Japan have been swapping characters for half a century. Calimero, the little black chick, was born in Italia in 1963 for the TV programme “Carosello”, and in 1974 he became a Japanese cartoon. Lupin III made the opposite journey: a Japanese gentleman thief everybody in Italia knows, who in 2015 got a whole series set in Italia, “L’avventura italiana”, broadcast in Italia before Japan. He drives a yellow Fiat 500, the Cinquecento (cheen-kweh-CHEHN-toh): a name that is also a great pronunciation exercise.
A yellow Fiat Nuova 500, just like Lupin’s. Photo: DILIN, CC BY-SA 4.0.
FILA
FILA was born in Biella in 1911, founded by the Fila brothers. In Italian “fare la fila” means to queue, to wait your turn, and this name got its turn: in 2007 the brand passed to a Korean company and its home became Seoul, while in China it is run by a Chinese group. An Italian name, a Korean heart, a life all over Asia. In Korea it is written 휠라 (Hwilla), in Japan フィラ (Fira), in China 斐乐 (Fěilè).
Xiaomi and Lenovo
Xiaomi is 小米 (Xiǎomǐ), “millet”, the little grain: a humble name for a huge company. We Italians read it in a thousand ways; in Chinese it sounds roughly like “shao-mee”, with the x like a light “sh”. Lenovo, in Chinese 联想 (Liánxiǎng), “association of ideas”, has an international name that speaks a little Latin: “Le” comes from Legend, its old English name, and “novo” means “new”.
And in some Chinese cities you can even ride in a taxi with no driver:
Brands on the move: four Italian, two Japanese, two Korean, two Chinese. The trademarks mentioned belong to their rightful owners: nobody sponsors us.
Capitals
The names of the capitals all say the same thing. 東京 (Tōkyō) means “eastern capital”, 北京 (Běijīng) “northern capital”. And 서울 (Seoul) is a pure Korean word, with no Chinese characters, that simply means “the capital”. In Chinese, at the city’s request, since 2005 Seoul has been written 首尔 (Shǒu’ěr). We Italians add our own touch: we say Pechino, from the old spelling “Peking”, and write Seul. And Roma? It was “caput mundi”, the capital of the world.
But capitals are not everything. For Noemi, travelling in Japan, the most beautiful Japan is that of the small towns:
And in China there are cities that seem to come from the future. Jakidale shows us one:
Italian cities in Asia
The Japanese and the Koreans call our cities the Italian way: フィレンツェ (Firentse) and 피렌체 (Pirenche) for Firenze, ヴェネツィア (Venetsia) and 베네치아 (Benechia) for Venezia, ナポリ (Napori) and 나폴리 (Napolli) for Napoli. The Chinese went through English instead: Firenze is 佛罗伦萨 (Fóluólúnsà), from Florence, Venezia 威尼斯 (Wēinísī), from Venice, Napoli 那不勒斯 (Nàbùlèsī), from Naples. But in 1925 the poet Xu Zhimo (徐志摩 (Xú Zhìmó)) called Firenze 翡冷翠 (Fěilěngcuì), “jade, cold, emerald”, a name the Chinese still love. And Milano, 米兰 (Mǐlán), appears in a song by Jay Chou, «米兰的小铁匠», “the little blacksmith of Milano”.
Firenze, the city a Chinese poet called “jade, cold, emerald”. Photo: PROPOLI87, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Hello Kitty, without a mouth
Hello Kitty was born in 1974 in Japan, and she has no mouth: that way, her creators say, whoever looks at her can imagine her happy or sad, just as they feel. In Korea she is 헬로키티 (hellokiti), in China 凯蒂猫 (Kǎidì māo), “Kitty the cat”. And she never grows old.
Pinocchio
In Toscana a pinocchio is a pine nut: the wooden puppet bears a name from the woods. Carlo Lorenzini signed himself Collodi, after his mother’s family village, and in 1883 the book came out with drawings by Enrico Mazzanti. In Japan he is ピノキオ (Pinokio), in China 匹诺曹 (Pǐnuòcáo), in Korea 피노키오 (Pinokio), which is also the title of a 2014 drama: a girl who becomes a journalist and cannot lie, because whenever she tells a lie she gets the hiccups.
Cuore
In 1886 Edmondo De Amicis published “Cuore”, the diary of a school year in Torino. In China it became 爱的教育 (Ài de jiàoyù), “the education of love”, translated in 1924 by Xia Mianzun and read by generations of students. In Korea its title is 사랑의 학교 (Sarang-ui hakgyo), “the school of love”.
One of the book’s stories, “Dagli Appennini alle Ande”, tells of Marco, a boy from Genova who crosses the ocean to find his mother in Argentina. In 1976 Japan turned it into an animated series, directed by Isao Takahata with Hayao Miyazaki among its makers: 母をたずねて三千里 (Haha o tazunete sanzenri), “three thousand ri in search of mother”. In Korea the title became 엄마 찾아 삼만리 (Eomma chaja sammalli), “thirty thousand ri”, because the Korean ri is ten times shorter than the Japanese one: the same road, a different unit. In China it is 寻母三千里 (Xún mǔ sānqiān lǐ).
Pinocchio in Enrico Mazzanti’s drawings (1883), and Edmondo De Amicis portrayed by Arnaldo Ferraguti (public domain).
The game: comment with your voice
Below is a list of words, each one written in Italian, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. Open the comments, tap the microphone and read a word out loud, or even ten.
If you are Japanese, Korean or Chinese, read the Italian words: the Italians will tell you how it went.
If you are Italian, try the Japanese, Korean and Chinese words: this time they will correct you.
And if you like, try your neighbours’ words too: a Japanese reading Korean, a Korean reading Chinese, a Chinese reading Japanese.
Making mistakes is the fun part: you can delete and try again as many times as you like. Here we comment with our voice only. To join in you just need to sign up to Yuujou, and it’s free.
How to read the foreign words
Next to each foreign word you’ll find how to say it. Italian is read exactly as it is written, so a handful of rules is enough to read any word, even one you have never seen. Italian words come with an easy pronunciation guide, the stressed syllable in capitals: cappuccino, kahp-pooch-CHEE-noh.
Japanese (Hepburn system): consonants as in English, vowels short and clear as in Italian. A line over a vowel (ā, ū, ō) means it is long: hold it twice as long. A u between two consonants is barely heard.
Korean (Revised Romanization, official in Korea since 2000): eo is an open “aw”, eu is an “oo” said with spread lips, ae is like the “e” in “bed”; kk, tt, pp, ss, jj are tense consonants: strong, with no puff of air.
Chinese (pinyin, China’s official system): x is close to “sh”, q to “ch” with a puff of air, j to a light “j”; zh, ch, sh are said with the tongue curled back; z sounds like “dz”, c like “ts” with a puff of air. The marks over the vowels are the tones: in Chinese the same syllable changes meaning with the melody of the voice. ā high and level, á rising, ǎ falling then rising, à sharply falling.
The list
🇮🇹 From Italia
Italia ee-TAH-lyah · イタリア Itaria · 이탈리아 Itallia · 意大利 Yìdàlì
Roma ROH-mah · ローマ Rōma · 로마 Roma · 罗马 Luómǎ
Firenze fee-REHN-tseh · フィレンツェ Firentse · 피렌체 Pirenche · 佛罗伦萨 Fóluólúnsà — poet Xu Zhimo called it 翡冷翠
Venezia veh-NEHTS-tsyah · ヴェネツィア Venetsia · 베네치아 Benechia · 威尼斯 Wēinísī
Milano mee-LAH-noh · ミラノ Mirano · 밀라노 Millano · 米兰 Mǐlán
Napoli NAH-poh-lee · ナポリ Napori · 나폴리 Napolli · 那不勒斯 Nàbùlèsī
Vespa VEH-spah · ベスパ Besupa · 베스파 Beseupa · 韦士柏 Wéishìbǎi
Bocca della Verità BOHK-kah DEHL-lah veh-ree-TAH · 真実の口 Shinjitsu no Kuchi · 진실의 입 Jinsirui Ip · 真理之口 Zhēnlǐ zhī Kǒu
Ferrari fehr-RAH-ree · フェラーリ Ferāri · 페라리 Perari · 法拉利 Fǎlālì
Lamborghini lahm-bohr-GEE-nee · ランボルギーニ Ranborugīni · 람보르기니 Ramboreugini · 兰博基尼 Lánbójīní
Alfa Romeo AHL-fah roh-MEH-oh · アルファロメオ Arufa Romeo · 알파 로메오 Alpa Romeo · 阿尔法·罗密欧 Ā’ěrfǎ Luómì’ōu
Cinquecento cheen-kweh-CHEHN-toh · チンクエチェント Chinkuechento · 친퀘첸토 Chinkwechento · 菲亚特500 Fēiyàtè wǔbǎi
Pinocchio pee-NOHK-kyoh · ピノキオ Pinokio · 피노키오 Pinokio · 匹诺曹 Pǐnuòcáo
Cuore KWOH-reh · クオレ Kuore · 사랑의 학교 Sarang-ui Hakgyo · 爱的教育 Ài de Jiàoyù
🇯🇵 From Japan
日本 Nihon · Giappone jahp-POH-neh · 일본 Ilbon · 日本 Rìběn
東京 Tōkyō · Tokyo · 도쿄 Dokyo · 东京 Dōngjīng
富士山 Fujisan · Monte Fuji MOHN-teh FOO-jee · 후지산 Hujisan · 富士山 Fùshìshān
任天堂 Nintendō · Nintendo · 닌텐도 Nintendo · 任天堂 Rèntiāntáng
スーパーマリオ Sūpā Mario · Super Mario · 슈퍼 마리오 Syupeo Mario · 超级马力欧 Chāojí Mǎlì’ōu
ルパン三世 Rupan Sansei · Lupin III · 루팡 3세 Rupang Samse · 鲁邦三世 Lǔbāng Sānshì
ハローキティ Harō Kiti · Hello Kitty · 헬로키티 Hellokiti · 凯蒂猫 Kǎidì Māo
🇰🇷 From Korea
한국 Hanguk · Corea koh-REH-ah · 韓国 Kankoku · 韩国 Hánguó
서울 Seoul · Seul seh-OOL · ソウル Souru · 首尔 Shǒu’ěr
강남 Gangnam · カンナム Kannamu · 江南 Jiāngnán
삼성 Samseong · Samsung · サムスン Samusun · 三星 Sānxīng
현대 Hyeondae · Hyundai · ヒョンデ Hyonde · 现代 Xiàndài
기아 Gia · Kia · キア Kia · 起亚 Qǐyà
휠라 Hwilla · FILA · フィラ Fira · 斐乐 Fěilè
🇨🇳 From China
中国 Zhōngguó · Cina CHEE-nah · 中国 Chūgoku · 중국 Jungguk
北京 Běijīng · Pechino peh-KEE-noh · 北京 Pekin · 베이징 Beijing
上海 Shànghǎi · Shanghai · 上海 Shanhai · 상하이 Sanghai
长城 Chángchéng · Grande Muraglia GRAHN-deh moo-RAH-lyah · 万里の長城 Banri no Chōjō · 만리장성 Mallijangseong
孙悟空 Sūn Wùkōng · Son Goku · 孫悟空 Son Gokū · 손오공 Son Ogong
小米 Xiǎomǐ · Xiaomi · シャオミ Shaomi · 샤오미 Syaomi
联想 Liánxiǎng · Lenovo · レノボ Renobo · 레노버 Renobeo
比亚迪 Bǐyàdí · BYD · ビーワイディー Bī Wai Dī · 비야디 Biyadi
The same list, as a sheet to print or keep on your phone:
In this series you will only find words and names that bring us together. A few famous names are missing, and that is on purpose: for us, respect comes first.
The five episodes: Words on the Move · Names on the Move · Faces on the Move · Flavors on the Move · Stories on the Move
Sources. Marco Polo, “Il Milione” · history of the Vespa (Piaggio) · “Roman Holiday” (1953) · Nintendo, the story of Mario · Ken Okuyama and the Ferrari Enzo · Formula 1, Zhou Guanyu · Hyundai, the history of the Pony and of the Japanese name ヒョンデ · FILA Holdings · Wu Cheng’en, «西游记» · Carlo Collodi, “Le avventure di Pinocchio” (1883) · Edmondo De Amicis, “Cuore” (1886) · Nippon Animation, 母をたずねて三千里 (1976) · AI images: cover; photos from Wikimedia Commons with the licences shown in the captions, and logos; videos from the official channels. The trademarks mentioned belong to their rightful owners: nobody sponsors us.
Written by AI, in collaboration with Alain.
