Elixir Field misnamed.

[Viridiana]

Cannon is referred to as "大砲" or "taihou", the same Kanji used for gun is used here, but "-砲" or "-hou" is only a suffix, it cannot be used by itself to refer to a cannon. "大" or "tai/dai" means "large/big", which refers to heavy guns, cannons/artillery if used together with "-砲".

Except that 砲 is not strictly a suffix, and can start words just fine. 砲兵 being "artillery forces" and not "gun forces," unless my Korean knowledge and Google confirmation are both misleading me here. So while it's safe to say that 砲 means "something that shoots things," it's not accurate to say that it's only a suffix or that it can only mean cannon/artillery if combined with 大.

[VanilleFang]

Except that 砲 is not strictly a suffix, and can start words just fine. 砲兵 being "artillery forces" and not "gun forces," unless my Korean knowledge and Google confirmation are both misleading me here. So while it's safe to say that 砲 means "something that shoots things," it's not accurate to say that it's only a suffix or that it can only mean cannon/artillery if combined with 大.

I have no right to get in on this conversation, because I can literally not read Japanese at all, but...

Raine stated in their post that "砲" can be read as "jyuu" or "hou", and means "gun". In the case of "大砲" it is read as "hou", and is a suffix in this word. I think you were mistaken by their post. They were not saying "砲" is only ever a suffix, but that it is a suffix in "大砲", and thus cannot be used by itself to refer to a word such as "cannon" because a "cannon" is a "big" (大) "gun" (砲).

I may be way off, but that's how I read their post.

[Viridiana]

Raine stated in their post that "砲" can be read as "jyuu" or "hou", and means "gun". In the case of "大砲" it is read as "hou", and is a suffix in this word. I think you were mistaken by their post. They were not saying "砲" is only ever a suffix, but that it is a suffix in "大砲", and thus cannot be used by itself to refer to a word such as "cannon" because a "cannon" is a "big" (大) "gun" (砲).

I may be way off, but that's how I read their post.

Except that "suffix" literally means it goes at the end of a word.

Besides, there are plenty of Chinese/Japanese/Korean words that all use the character to mean artillery without 大 ever going in front of it, which was my point in bringing up 砲兵. The latter means "artillery forces," because 砲 is read to mean cannon/artillery there despite the lack of the 大 character.