I wonder if the name for Spain in Japanese is 西班牙 (west, group, tusk?) because
it has some implicit meaning (like English expression as 'horn of Africa',
'strait of ...', Middle Kingdom, ) or it just happens that the sound of the
kanji matched the Japanese version of Spain (スペイン).
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-19T18:43:22.910
73977
2020-01-20T00:31:00.597
36624
question
etymology
Name for Spain in kanji 西班牙
It’s just because the kanji 西班牙 sound like スペイン.

[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/西班牙](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%A5%BF%E7%8F%AD%E7%89%99):

“The kanji are ateji (当て字), from Chinese 西班牙 (Xībānyá).”
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-20T00:31:00.597
73982
2020-01-20T00:31:00.597
36625
73977
answer