Not quite but I can see why people think so. Both words stem from the same Kanji pair: 腹切. Abdomen cut.
But one is read natively (harakiri) with an informal and colloquial feel to it and the other uses borrowed Chinese readings (seppuku) that makes it sound more formal/ritualistic to be used in formal settings. But they mean the same thing and both refer to the ritual.
A similar example is Japan’s own name: 日本. It’s usually read as “nihon” but has a special, formal reading of “nippon”.
Lemminary
to
Science Memes@mander.xyz
•
nuked from orbit
English6•
Isn’t it seppuku?
One is part of the other
How so?
One is the actual disembowelment one is the ritual IIRC
Yes I guess harakiri is the act of disemboweling yourself and seppuku is the ceremony surrounding it.
Not quite but I can see why people think so. Both words stem from the same Kanji pair: 腹切. Abdomen cut.
But one is read natively (harakiri) with an informal and colloquial feel to it and the other uses borrowed Chinese readings (seppuku) that makes it sound more formal/ritualistic to be used in formal settings. But they mean the same thing and both refer to the ritual.
A similar example is Japan’s own name: 日本. It’s usually read as “nihon” but has a special, formal reading of “nippon”.