[kireikoori]

So you're saying that in the process of Japan adopting the Chinese writing system, they also incorporated a lot of Chinese words into their language as well, not just the writing system?

Makes sense. Though surely less than half of Japanese words are Chinese in origin.

So then you think the word Kago indeed comes from the Chinese Jia hu then, that the word itself is Chinese in origin and not just the Kanji? Instead of say...Siberian in origin. Sorry if I'm still confusing what you meant by your words.

Jia Hu sound very different from both Ga Ho and Kago. Then again I'm more used to interpreting pronunciation the Japan way when I look at romaji. As in when I look at Jia Hu I see ジアフ. Which is probably far from how they pronounce it in Chinese. Still, I can't see how Jiahu could be in any pronounced similar to Kago. If Kago has roots in the word Jiahu it must have REALLY changed over the years.