did you check Hitomi's original post? (i linked it in my original post.)
this is what makes me wonder if it comes from と思います... as in:
日本に行こうと思います。
hey, i think i'll go to Japan!
or
日本に行こうと思っています。
i'm thinking i'll (a.k.a. planning to) go to Japan.
this construction is sort of in line with Hitomi's:
いこうっと=I am going to go ~
I am going to go shopping.
かいものにいこうっと。
as for your "と" sentence, do you know if it's different to say:
「日本語」というはなんですか?
i hear "と" and "という" a lot, but have never actually learned exactly how to use / translate them.
as for verb and adjective conjugations, i'm fairly good at them. EXCEPT keigo. i'm sad and embarrassed to be going to Japan without any knowledge of keigo. (well, i have an idea what it sounds like and might recognize it, but in reality that gets me nowhere except to highlight my shortcomings. X_X)