Ni??on
I was listening to an episode of the Japanese learning podcast to which I subscribe when the American host brought up something I've been wondering about. You sometimes hear Japan being referred to as 'Nippon' and sometimes as 'Nihon'. I'd had the vague impression that the first term might be archaic and/or derogatory, but that's not the case, according to the two Japanese co-hosts. They were hard-put to explain that there was a difference, but finally allowed as how 'Nippon' sounded more like how the word would be yelled and 'Nihon' has more the sound of a speaking voice.