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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 6
Speaker Count
123,000,000 6
Status
Living 6
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
Browse and compare
Word Order
SOV 3
Tone
Tonal 4
Difficulty for an English Speaker
Category IV 5
Classification
Language Kind
Safe 1
Official Status
National Language (Symbolic, Not Sole Official) 2
Connections

Ancestor Of

Kansai Dialect, Dialects and Varieties
Source Wikipedia: Kansai Dialect
Kyushu Dialect, Dialects and Varieties
Source Wikipedia: Kyushu Dialect
Tohoku Dialect, Dialects and Varieties
Source Wikipedia: Tohoku Dialect

In Family

Japonic, Language Families
Source The Cambridge Encyclopedia of LanguageDavid Crystal (editor)

Written In

Han Script, Scripts

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
Hiragana, Scripts
Source Omniglot: The Online Encyclopedia of Writing Systems and Languages
Katakana, Scripts
Source Omniglot: The Online Encyclopedia of Writing Systems and Languages
In the Other Atlases

Cases Where Used

Japan

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

Ryukyu Islands

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.

Samurai

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.

Yi Yi

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

Yojimbo

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

1Q84

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

Chikamatsu Monzaemon

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

Source Chikamatsu Monzaemon (Wikipedia)Lead section [original-language]tier 2
Quote, Lead section [original-language]
was a Japanese dramatist of jōruri
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.

Eiji Yoshikawa

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.

Haibun

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

Source Haibun (Wikipedia)Lead paragraph
Quote, Lead paragraph
is a prosimetric literary form originating in Japan
Haruki Murakami

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

Ihara Saikaku

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

In a Grove

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.

Kenzaburō Ōe

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

Kojiki

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

Lu Xun

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

Malice

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

Man'yōshū

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

Matsuo Bashō

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.

Natsuo Kirino

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

Norwegian Wood

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

Oku no Hosomichi

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

Out (novel)

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

Rashomon

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

Renga

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

Source Renga (Wikipedia)Lead paragraphtier 2
Quote, Lead paragraph
is a genre of Japanese collaborative poetry
Roseanna

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

Ryunosuke Akutagawa

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

Sayaka Murata

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

Sei Shonagon

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

Senryu

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

Source Senryū (Wikipedia)Lead paragraph
Quote, Lead paragraph
is a Japanese form of short poetry
Takeda Izumo II

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

Source Takeda Izumo II (Wikipedia)Lead section [original-language]
Quote, Lead section [original-language]
was a Japanese playwright
The Devotion of Suspect X

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

The Haiku

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

Source Haiku (Wikipedia)Lead paragraphtier 2
Quote, Lead paragraph
Traditional Japanese haiku
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 Tanka

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

Source Tanka (Wikipedia)Lead paragraphtier 2
Quote, Lead paragraph
a genre of classical Japanese poetry
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.

Yoshida Kenko

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

Showing 51 to 100 of 101 in Original Language Of, page 2 of 3.

Found In

Asia

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

North America

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

South America

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. WALS Online (World Atlas of Language Structures): Japanese / Order of Subject, Object and Verb (WALS datapoint)
WALS Online (World Atlas of Language Structures)
  • Datapoint page
    Feature: Order of Subject, Object and Verb by Matthew S. Dryer Value: SOV Examples Sentence igt-2990: John ga tegami o yon-da. John John ga SUBJ tegami letter o obj yon-da. read- pst John read the letter.
  • Datapoint page, word order
    Feature: Order of Subject, Object and Verb by Matthew S. Dryer Value: SOV
View the Source
4. WALS Online (World Atlas of Language Structures): Japanese / Tone (WALS datapoint)
WALS Online (World Atlas of Language Structures)Datapoint page
Quote, Datapoint page
Feature: Tone by Ian Maddieson Value: Simple tone system
View the Source
5. Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center: Languages Offered - Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center
Defense Language Institute Foreign Language CenterLanguages Offered
Quote, Languages Offered
Category IV languages, 64 week-long courses: Modern Standard Arabic Chinese Mandarin Japanese
View the Source
6. Ethnologue: Languages of the World
SIL International, 2024
  • ISO 639-3 Code: ja
  • Speaker Count: 123,000,000
  • Status: Living
View 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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