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Language

Japanese

nee-HOHN-goh

Also Known As 日本語 (Nihongo)

Other Language Families of Asia

Japanese is the primary language of Japan and the sole well-established member of the Japonic family alongside the Ryukyuan languages. It is written with a mixture of three scripts used together in ordinary text: kanji, Chinese-derived logographic characters, and two native syllabaries, hiragana and katakana, developed in the ninth century from cursive and abbreviated forms of kanji respectively.

Facts

ISO 639-3 Code

ja 3

Speaker Count

123,000,000 3

Status

Living 3

Attested From (Year)

from 700 2

Early 8th century; the Kojiki, the earliest substantial Old Japanese text, dates to this period.

Region

Japan, the only country where it is the national language; Japanese diaspora communities including Brazil, Hawaii, and the United States 2

Classification

Language Kind

Safe 1

Official Status

National Language (Symbolic, Not Sole Official) 2

Connections

Ancestor Of

Source Wikipedia: Kansai Dialect

Source Wikipedia: Kyushu Dialect

Source Wikipedia: Tohoku Dialect

In Family

Source The Cambridge Encyclopedia of LanguageDavid Crystal (editor)

Written In

Japanese is written with kanji (Han-derived characters) alongside two native syllabaries, hiragana and katakana, neither of which is yet modeled as its own script entity in this atlas.

Source Omniglot: The Online Encyclopedia of Writing Systems and Languages

Source Omniglot: The Online Encyclopedia of Writing Systems and Languages

Source Omniglot: The Online Encyclopedia of Writing Systems and Languages

In the Other Atlases

Cases Where Used

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

The Nikujiku Saitai Decree of 1872

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

Anglo-Japanese Alliance

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Anti-Comintern Pact

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Source Anti-Comintern Pact - WikipediaArticle text

Quote, Article text

The full text was considered in its original form in both the German and Japanese versions, and the date was specified in both countries' versions as 25 November 1936 as well as 25 November in the 11th year of the Shōwa period.

Convention of Kanagawa

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Shimoda

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Shimonoseki

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Also in Society and Culture Atlas: used in this subject.

Original Language Of

Woman in the Dunes

Also in Film and Media Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Film and Media Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Film and Media Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Confessions of a Mask

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Convenience Store Woman

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Essays in Idleness

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Haruki Murakami

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

In Praise of Shadows

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Junichiro Tanizaki

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Kafka on the Shore

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Kanadehon Chushingura

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Keigo Higashino

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Murasaki Shikibu

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Musashi (novel)

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Natsume Sōseki

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Oku no Hosomichi

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Ryunosuke Akutagawa

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

The Devotion of Suspect X

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

The Life of an Amorous Woman

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

The Pillow Book

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

The Tale of Genji

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

The Tale of the Heike

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

The Temple of the Golden Pavilion

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Yasunari Kawabata

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Showing 51 to 94 of 94 in Original Language Of, page 2 of 2.

Found In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Sources

1. Glottolog: Japanese (Glottolog languoid nucl1643)

GlottologEndangerment, AES status

Quote, Endangerment, AES status

AES status: not endangered

View the Source

2. Wikipedia: Japanese Language

Wikipedia

infobox
Native to Japan
Earliest text, Kojiki dating
The earliest text, the Kojiki, dates to the early eighth century
Official status, Japanese entity page
It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese diaspora worldwide.

View the Source

3. Ethnologue: Languages of the World

SIL International, 2024View the Source

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language

David Crystal (editor), Cambridge University Press, 2010

Omniglot: The Online Encyclopedia of Writing Systems and Languages

Written In: Han Script
Written In: Hiragana
Written In: Katakana

View the Source

Wikipedia: Kansai Dialect

Wikimedia FoundationAncestor Of: Kansai Dialect, Background section

Quote, Ancestor Of: Kansai Dialect, Background section

The Kansai dialect is typified by the speech of Osaka, the major city of Kansai, referred to as Osaka-ben.

View the Source

Wikipedia: Tohoku Dialect

Wikimedia FoundationAncestor Of: Tohoku Dialect, Lead sentence

Quote, Ancestor Of: Tohoku Dialect, Lead sentence

hōgen), commonly called Tōhoku-ben (東北弁), is a group of the Japanese dialects spoken in the Tōhoku regi

View the Source

Wikipedia: Kyushu Dialect

Wikimedia FoundationAncestor Of: Kyushu Dialect, Lead

Quote, Ancestor Of: Kyushu Dialect, Lead

of the Japanese language fall into two primary clades

View the Source

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