質問: So we all know that most (all?) countries' names can be written in kanji as well as kana. And occasionally kanji from these names are used to represent the language of those countries. For example, we can see 「独逸」の「独」 here: > > 「ドイツ統一の中心人物であり、「鉄血宰相(独: Eiserner Kanzler)」の異名を取る。」 > > > **How is 独 read in this context?** Is there a consistent rule that applies to all similar instances (米, 伊, 英, etc.)?
回答: If I read aloud this sentence, I omit the parenthesis part or convert it to more understandable expression like > > 鉄血宰相、ドイツ語ではEiserner Kanzler、の異名を取る > > > The most common use of those single-kanji country names is the pairs/combinations of countries such as [日米]{にちべい}, [米中]{べいちゅう}, [日韓]{にっかん}, [日中韓]{にっちゅうかん}, and some language names such as [英語]{えいご}, [仏語]{ふつご}, [独語]{どくご}. But ふつご and どくご are rarely heard although they are written in the dictionary. ふらんすご and どいつご are more used definitely. I think it's because people tend to use easier expression for hearing. In writing, especially when one wants to reduce the number of characters (eg. Twitter and newspapers), single-kanji country names are often used. However, when speaking, except for words which are frequently heard such as [日米]{にちべい} and [米軍]{べいぐん}, single-kanji country names are mostly converted to original names (eg. [米政府]{あめりかせいふ}, [仏大統領]{ふらんすだいとうりょう}, not [米政府]{べいせいふ} nor [仏大統領]{ふつだいとうりょう}). This may be a characteristic habit among people using ideogram characters. Some characters are really useful for abbreviation, but reading them straightforward is not appropriate to convey the idea in oral communications.