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Interestingly, the redundancy isn’t always incorrect. Maybe it is for mountains? But many rivers in Japan have official English names that include “kawa.” I ju

Interestingly, the redundancy isn’t always incorrect. Maybe it is for mountains? But many rivers in Japan have official English names that include “kawa.” I just looked on Wikipedia and see there are two Arakawas (at least); one is the Arakawa River and one is the Ara River.

rootsudo 6y ago
And 川 can be gawa or kawa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aki_River https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aki_River
- tlear 6y ago
  And Yama can be San. Also many mountains use dake. Like Jonen-dake
- aikinai 6y ago
  > The words Akigawa River sound a bit odd, as kawa and gawa, 川, are Japanese words for river,[7][8] so Aki River makes more sense, or simply Akigawa, perhaps Akikawa. Wow, this is the most unprofessional copy I’ve seen on Wikipedia! Maybe someone meant to write this on the talk page and accidentally posted in the article? I guess it’s so small potatoes, there’s no editor watching closely. Anyway, from a Japanese perspective “gawa” isn’t really different. It’s just a voiced consonant shift to better flow with the preceding sound. There’s a word for it, but can’t remember it off the top of my head.
  - taejo 6y ago
    > There’s a word for it, but can’t remember it off the top of my head. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendaku https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendaku
    - aikinai 6y ago
      That's it. Thanks!
maxerickson 6y ago
What does 'official' mean? Does Japan publish English names for their geographical features?
- aikinai 6y ago
  Actually yes, the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan publishes official rules for English geographic names[0]. Also, I see that Mt. Tateyama is specifically listed here with "yama." So the article was correct. [0] https://www.gsi.go.jp/common/000138865.pdf https://www.gsi.go.jp/common/000138865.pdf