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{{Infobox Language
{{subpages}}
|name=Japanese
[[Image:Menu.jpg|thumb|right|350px|This bar menu in [[Shinjuku]], [[Tokyo]], lists food and drink in both angular ''[[katakana]]'' - for [[loanword]]s or to make signs easier to read - and the curvy ''[[hiragana]]'' script - for native [[vocabulary]]. Top of the list, in ''katakana'', is レミーマルタン - ''Remii Marutan'' 'Remy Martin' [[brandy]]; bottom, in ''hiragana'', is あんみつ ''anmitsu'' - a [[jelly]] to finish a meal. The sign on the door (非常口 ''Hijoo Guchi'' 'fire exit') is written in ''[[kanji]]'', or [[Chinese characters|Chinese-derived characters]].<BR><small>Photo © by Sonny Santos, used by [[Image_talk:Menu.jpg/Permission|permission]].</small>]]
|nativename=日本語 ''Nihongo''
'''Japanese''' (日本語, ''Nihongo''), the main [[language (general)|language]] of [[Japan]] and the [[native language|native tongue]] of at least 127 million people, is notable for: a complex system of honorific language which allows speakers to express and indicate their social status relative to one another; a [[writing system]] which uniquely employs a combination of three or four different scripts for different purposes; its disputed relatedness to other languages around the world; and a sound structure known as ''[[pitch accent]]'' in which the [[pitch]] of the [[voice]] alone may distinguish different [[word (language)|words]]. Nowadays spoken by emigrant communities worldwide, but only widely standardised in the last century or so, Japanese is also a set of highly divergent [[dialect]]s spoken across the Japanese [[archipelago]] which often bear scant resemblance to one another; likewise, the other [[Japonic languages]] of which it forms one branch are also highly distinct. Japanese [[literature]] goes back to the eighth century, while today the language continues to absorb large amounts of [[lexical borrowing|loanword]]s, previously from [[Chinese language|Chinese]] and today more commonly from [[English language|English]].
|familycolor=Isolate
|caption=''Nihongo'' (''Japanese'') in [[Japanese writing system|Japanese script]]
|states=[[Japan]], [[Brazil]], [[United States]] (esp. [[Hawaii]]), [[Guam]], [[Marshall Islands]], [[Palau]], [[Taiwan]], [[North Korea]], [[South Korea]], [[Peru]]
|speakers=130 million [http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/march/Japanese.html]
|rank=9
|fam1=[[Japonic languages|Japonic]] <!-- Please do not add disputed classifications such as Altaic here; they are discussed in the article body, but the infobox is intended to be a concise overview of accepted facts. -->
|script=[[Japanese writing system|Japanese logographs and syllabaries]]
|nation=[[Angaur]] ([[Palau]])<br/>''De facto'' in [[Japan]]
|agency=None<br/>[[Government of Japan|Japanese government]] plays major role
|iso1=ja|iso2=jpn|iso3=jpn}}


'''Japanese''' (日本語, {{Audio|ja-nihongo.ogg|''Nihongo''}}) is a language spoken by over 127 million people, mainly in [[Japan]], but also by Japanese emigrant communities around the world. It is considered an [[agglutinative language]] and is distinguished by a complex system of [[Japanese honorifics|honorifics]] reflecting the hierarchical nature of Japanese society, with verb forms and particular vocabulary which indicate the relative status of speaker and listener. The sound inventory of Japanese is relatively small, and it has a lexically distinct [[Japanese pitch accent|pitch-accent]] system. Its recorded history goes back to the [[8th century]], when the three major works of [[Old Japanese language|Old Japanese]] were compiled.
[[Grammar|Grammatically]], Japanese is an [[agglutinative language]] - grammatical units link together in long 'strings' to make [[word]]s. For example, 食べたくなかった ''tabetakunakatta''<ref>''Tabetakunakatta'' can be followed by です ''desu'', which is the copula verb equivalent to 'be'. ''Tabetakunakatta'', then, is not really a verb in the same way the 'eat' is a verb in English, in that it behaves somewhat like an adjective in Japanese. Indeed, Japanese groups adjectives into two, -''i'' and ''na'' types, in which the former group morphologically behave as verbs while the latter act as adjectives in a more similar way to those of English.</ref> 'did not want to eat' is composed of the [[morphology (linguistics)|morphemes]] ''tabe''- 'eat', -''ta''- 'want', -''ku''- '[[adverb]]',<ref>-''ku-'' acts to convert adjectives to adverbs, e.g. 高く ''takaku'' 'expensively'; however, in this case, -''ku''- is followed by the suffixes -''na''-, -''kat''- and -''ta'', which indicate it is verb-like negative adjective.</ref> -''na''- 'negative', and ''-kat-'' and ''-ta'' - both signifying that the action is complete, i.e. in the past.<ref>Japanese indicates whether an action is complete or incomplete, rather than the past versus non-past distinction of English. -''ta'' is the form used for verbs as well as adjectives, while ''-kat-'' must be included in -''i'' adjectives marked for completion.</ref> [[Phonology|Phonologically]], its 'sounds' consist mainly of consonant-vowel units that cannot be split up, such as ''bu'', ''ni'' and ''ka'', which are written as single symbols, in these cases ぶ, に and か in ''hiragana'' and ブ, ニ and カ in ''katakana''.


The Japanese language is written with a combination of three different types of glyphs: [[Chinese characters]] (called ''[[kanji]]''), and two [[syllabary|syllabic]] scripts, ''[[hiragana]]'' and ''[[katakana]]''. The [[Latin alphabet]] (called ''[[rōmaji]]'') is also often used in modern Japanese, especially for things such as company names, advertising, and when inputting Japanese into a computer. Western style [[Arabic numerals]] are generally used for numbers, but traditional Chinese/Japanese numberings are also commonplace.
==Writing system==
{{main|Kanji|Hiragana|Katakana}}
Japanese is written using a combination of three different scripts. [[Chinese characters|Chinese-derived characters]] (漢字 ''[[kanji]]'') are used for the most meaningful words such as most [[noun]]s and [[verb]]s; these take some time to learn. Two further ''[[kana]]'' scripts, ''[[hiragana]]'' (ひらがな) and ''[[katakana]]'' (カタカナ) write [[mora]]s, equivalent to but not the same as [[syllable]]s, and to a degree can indicate [[pronunciation]]. The [[Roman alphabet]], ''[[roomaji]]'' (ローマ字), is also often used in modern Japanese. [[Number]]s are usually written with [[Arabic numerals]], as in many countries, but ''kanji'' are also used for numbers, especially in traditional contexts.


Japanese vocabulary has been heavily influenced by loans from other languages. A vast number of words were borrowed from [[Chinese language|Chinese]], or created on Chinese models, over a period of at least 1,500 years. Since the late [[19th century]], Japanese has borrowed a considerable number of words from Western languages, primarily [[English language|English]].
''Kanji'' are derived from the ancient Chinese characters today known as 'Traditional Chinese'; the Japanese mildly simplified the written strokes of some of the characters.<ref>A small minority of characters modified by the Japanese were modified in mainland China in an identical manner when 'Simplified Chinese' was created, for example 学.</ref> The grammars of Japanese and Chinese are completely different, so in pre-modern times the Japanese originally wrote in ancient Chinese but eventually wanted a writing system that related to the spoken language. The Japanese used the cursive form of some common Chinese characters to create the two moraic ''kana'' systems, ''hiragana'' and ''katakana'', which indicate [[pronunciation]] only. Over the centuries, these systems, which early on were often used alone (e.g. men using ''kanji'' and women writing exclusively in ''kana''), merged into the present system. ''Kanji'' are used for most vocabulary; ''hiragana'' are used for grammatical elements and vocabulary that lack ''kanji'' or that have difficult ''kanji'' known to few readers; and ''katakana'' are used mostly for foreign loanwords and some words that have very difficult ''kanji'', or that the writer wants to emotionally emphasise in some manner. The root of a [[verb]] will typically be rendered with a ''kanji'', while the agglutinative verb endings are written in ''kana'': 飲む ''nomu'' '[to] drink', for example, has the root ''nom-'' written as a ''kanji'' 飲 [no] and part of the ''hiragana'' symbol む [mɯ]. Morphological boundaries, then, do not always align with symbols. Extremely rarely, the stem of a verb is written in ''katakana'' due to its foreign origin; for example, サボる ''saboru'' ('to be truant'), which is from the [[French language|French]] ''sabotage''.


== Classification ==
==Footnotes==
{{main|Japanese language classification}}
{{reflist|2}}[[Category:Suggestion Bot Tag]]
[[Historical linguistics|Historical linguists]] who specialize in Japanese agree that it is one of the two members of the [[Japonic language|Japonic]] language family, the other member being [[Ryukyuan languages|Ryukyuan]]. (An older view, still held by many non-specialists, is that Japanese is a [[language isolate]], of which the Ryukyuan languages are dialects.)
 
The genetic affiliation of the Japonic family is uncertain. Numerous theories have been proposed, relating it to a wide variety of other languages and families, including [[extinct language]]s spoken by historic cultures of the [[Korea]]n peninsula; the [[Korean language]]; the [[Altaic languages]]; and the [[Austronesian languages]], among many others. It is also often suggested that it may be a [[creole language]] combining more than one of these. The various theories are detailed in the [[Japanese language classification|main article]]. At this point, no one theory is generally accepted as correct, and the issue is likely to remain controversial.
 
== Geographic distribution ==
Although Japanese is spoken almost exclusively in Japan, it has been and is still sometimes spoken elsewhere. When Japan occupied [[Korea]], [[Taiwan]], parts of the [[China|Chinese]] mainland, and various Pacific islands, locals in [[Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere|those countries]] were forced to learn Japanese in empire-building programs. As a result, there are still many people in these countries who speak Japanese instead of, or in addition to, the local languages. Japanese emigrant communities (the largest of which are to be found in [[Brazil]]) frequently employ Japanese as their primary language. Japanese emigrants can also be found in [[Peru]], [[Australia]] (especially [[Sydney]], [[Brisbane]], and [[Melbourne]]), and the [[United States]] (notably [[California]] and [[Hawaii]]). There is also a small emigrant community in [[Davao]], [[Philippines]]. Their descendants (known as ''nikkei'' 日系, literally Japanese descendants), however, rarely speak Japanese fluently. There are estimated to be several million non-Japanese studying the language as well; many schools, both primary and secondary, offer courses.
 
=== Official status ===
Japanese is the ''de facto'' official language of Japan, which is the only country to have Japanese as an official working language. There are two forms of the language considered standard: {{nihongo|''hyōjungo''|標準語|}} or standard Japanese, and {{nihongo|''kyōtsūgo''|共通語|}} or the common language. As government policy has modernized Japanese, many of the distinctions between the two have blurred. ''Hyōjungo'' is taught in schools and used on television and in official communications, and is the version of Japanese discussed in this article.
 
Standard Japanese can also be divided into {{nihongo|''bungo''|文語|}} or "literary language," and {{nihongo|''kōgo''|口語|}} or "oral language", which have different rules of grammar and some variance in vocabulary. ''Bungo'' was the main method of writing Japanese until the late 1940s, and still has relevance for historians, literary scholars, and lawyers (many Japanese laws that survived World War II are still written in ''bungo'', although there are ongoing efforts to modernize their language). ''Kōgo'' is the predominant method of speaking and writing Japanese today, although ''bungo'' grammar and vocabulary are occasionally used in modern Japanese for effect.
 
=== Dialects ===
{{main|Japanese dialects}}
 
Dozens of dialects are spoken in Japan. The profusion is due to many factors, including the length of time the archipelago has been inhabited, its mountainous island terrain, and Japan's long history of both external and internal isolation. Dialects typically differ in terms of pitch accent, inflectional [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]], [[vocabulary]], and particle usage. Some even differ in [[vowel]] and [[consonant]] inventories, although this is uncommon.
 
The main distinction in Japanese dialects is between Tokyo-type (東京式, ''Tōkyō-shiki'') and Western-type (京阪式, ''Keihan-shiki''), though Kyushu-type dialects form a smaller third group. Within each type are several subdivisions. The Western-type dialects are actually in the central region, with borders roughly formed by [[Toyama Prefecture|Toyama]], [[Kyoto Prefecture|Kyōto]], [[Hyogo Prefecture|Hyōgo]], and [[Mie Prefecture|Mie]] Prefectures; most [[Shikoku]] dialects are also Western-type. Dialects further west are actually of the Tokyo type. The final category of dialects are those that are descended from the Eastern dialect of [[Old Japanese]]; these dialects are spoken in [[Hachijojima]], [[Tosa Province|Tosa]], and a very few other locations.
 
Dialects from peripheral regions, such as [[Tōhoku Region|Tōhoku]] or [[Tsushima]], may be unintelligible to speakers from other parts of the country. The several dialects used in [[Kagoshima]] in southern [[Kyūshū]] are famous for being unintelligible not only to speakers of standard Japanese but to speakers of nearby dialects elsewhere in Kyūshū as well, probably due in part to the Kagoshima dialects' peculiarities of pronunciation, which include the existence of closed syllables (i.e., syllables that end in a consonant, such as {{IPA|/kob/}} or {{IPA|/koʔ/}} for Standard Japanese {{IPA|/kumo/}} "spider"). The vocabulary of Kagoshima dialect is 84% cognate with standard Tokyo dialect. [[Kansai-ben]], a group of dialects from west-central Japan, is spoken by many Japanese; the Osaka dialect in particular is associated with comedy.
 
The [[Ryukyuan languages]], while closely related to Japanese, are distinct enough to be considered a separate branch of the [[Japonic languages|Japonic]] family, and are not dialects of Japanese. They are spoken in the [[Ryukyu Islands]] and in some islands that are politically part of [[Kagoshima Prefecture]]. Not only is each language unintelligible to Japanese speakers, but most are unintelligible to those who speak other Ryukyuan languages.
 
Recently, Standard Japanese has become prevalent nationwide, due not only to [[television]] and [[radio]], but also to increased mobility within Japan due to its system of roads, railways, and airports. Young people usually speak their local dialect and the standard language, though in most cases, the local dialect is influenced by the standard, and regional versions of "standard" Japanese have local-dialect influence.
 
== Sounds ==
{{main|Japanese phonology}}
{{IPA notice}}
 
Japanese vowels are "pure" sounds, similar to their [[Spanish_language|Spanish]], [[Greek_language|Greek]] or [[Italian_language|Italian]] counterparts. The only unusual vowel is the high back vowel {{IPA|/ɯ/}}, which is like {{IPA|/u/}}, but [[roundedness|compressed]] instead of rounded. Japanese has five vowels, and [[vowel length]] is phonemic, so each one has both a short and a long version.
 
Some Japanese consonants have several [[allophone]]s, which may give the impression of a larger inventory of sounds. However, some of these allophones have since become phonemic. For example, in the Japanese up to and including the first half of the twentieth century, the phonemic sequence {{IPA|/ti/}} was [[palatalization|palatalized]] and realized phonetically as {{IPA|[tɕi]}}, approximately ''chi''; however, now {{IPA|/ti/}} and {{IPA|/tɕi/}} are distinct, as evidenced by words like ''tii'' {{IPA|[tii]}} "tea" and ''chii'' {{IPA|[tɕii]}} "position, status"
 
The syllabic structure and the [[phonotactics]] are very simple: the only [[consonant cluster]]s allowed within a syllable consist of one of a subset of the consonants plus /j/. This type of clusters only occurs in onsets.  However, consonant clusters across syllables are allowed as long as the two consonants are a nasal followed a homo-organic consonant. The consonant length (geminates) is also phonemic.
 
== Grammar ==
<!--Please keep in mind that this section is intended to be a summary and should not dominate the article. If you feel like going in-depth about something regarding Japanese grammar, please add it to the main article linked below.-->
{{main|Japanese grammar}}
 
=== Sentence structure ===
The basic Japanese word order is [[Subject Object Verb]]. Subject, Object, and other grammatical relations are usually marked by [[Japanese particles|particles]], which are suffixed to the words that they modify, and are thus properly called [[postposition]]s.
 
The basic sentence structure is [[topic-comment]]. For example, ''Kochira-wa Tanaka-san desu.'' ''Kochira'' ("this") is the topic of the sentence, indicated by the particle ''-wa''. The verb is ''desu'', a [[copula]], commonly translated as "to be" (though there are other verbs that can be translated as "to be"). As a phrase, ''Tanaka-san desu'' is the comment. This sentence loosely translates to "As for this person, (it) is Mr./Mrs./Ms. Tanaka". Thus Japanese, like [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Korean language|Korean]], and many other Asian languages, is often called a [[topic-prominent language]], which means it has a strong tendency to indicate the topic separately from the subject, and the two do not always coincide. The sentence ''Zō-wa hana-ga nagai (desu)'' literally means, "As for elephants, (their) noses are long". The topic is ''zō'' "elephant", and the subject is ''hana'' "nose".
 
Japanese is a [[pro-drop language]], meaning that the subject or object of a sentence need not be stated if it is obvious from context. In addition, it is commonly felt that the shorter a Japanese sentence is, the better (a quality called "[[Iki (aesthetic ideal)|iki]]" in Japanese). As a result of this grammatical permissiveness and tendency towards brevity, Japanese speakers tend naturally to omit words from sentences, rather than refer to them with [[pronoun]]s. In the context of the above example, ''hana-ga nagai'' would mean "[their] noses are long," while ''nagai'' by itself would mean "[they] are long." A single verb can be a complete sentence: ''Yatta!'' "[I / we / they / etc] did [it]!". In addition, since adjectives can form the predicate in a Japanese sentence (below), a single adjective can be a complete sentence: ''Urayamashii!'' "[I'm] jealous [of it]!".
 
While the language has some words that are translated as pronouns, these are not used as frequently as pronouns in some [[Indo-European language]]s, and function differently. Instead, Japanese typically relies on special verb forms and auxiliary verbs to indicate the "direction" of an action: "down" to the speaker or persons related to the speaker, or "up" to the listener or other person. For example, ''setsumei shite moratta'' (literally, "[I/we] obtained explaining") means "[he/she] explained it to [me/us]". Similarly, ''oshiete ageta'' (literally, "teach-handed up") is commonly used to mean "[I/we] told [him/her]". Such "directional" auxiliary verbs thus serve a function comparable to that of pronouns and prepositions in Indo-European languages to indicate the actor and the recipient of an action.
 
Japanese "pronouns" also function differently from Indo-European pronouns (and more like nouns) in that they can take modifiers as any other noun may. For instance, one cannot say in English:
: *The big he ran down the street. (ungrammatical)
But one ''can'' grammatically say essentially the same thing in Japanese:
: ''Ōkii kare-wa michi-o hashitte itta.'' (grammatically correct)
 
This is partly due to the fact that these words evolved from regular nouns, such as ''kimi'' "you" (君 "lord"), ''anata'' "you" (貴方 "that side, yonder"), and ''boku'' "I" (僕 "servant"). This is why some linguists do not classify Japanese "pronouns" as pronouns, but rather as referential nouns. Japanese personal pronouns are generally used only in situations requiring special emphasis as to who is doing what to whom.
 
The choice of words used as pronouns is correlated with the sex of the speaker and the social situation in which they are spoken: men and women alike in a formal situation generally refer to themselves as ''watashi'' or ''watakushi'', while men in rougher or intimate conversation are much more likely to use the word ''ore'' or ''boku''. Similarly, different words such as ''anata'', ''kimi'', and ''omae'' may be used to refer to a listener depending on the listener's relative social position and the degree of familiarity between the speaker and the listener.
 
Japanese often use titles of the person referred to where pronouns would be used in English. For example, when speaking to one's teacher, it is appropriate to use ''sensei'' (先生, teacher), but inappropriate to use ''anata''. This is because ''anata'' is used to refer to people of equal or lower status, and one's teacher has higher status.
 
It is very common for English speakers to include ''watashi-wa'' or ''anata-wa'' at the beginning of every Japanese sentence. Though these sentences are grammatically correct, they sound terribly strange even in very formal situations. It is roughly the equivalent of using a noun over and over in English, when a pronoun would suffice "John is coming over, so make sure you fix John a sandwich, because John loves sandwiches. I hope John likes the dress I'm wearing..."
 
=== Inflection and conjugation ===
Japanese has no grammatical number or gender. The noun ''hon'' (本) may refer to a single book or several books; ''hito'' (人) can mean "person" or "people"; and ''ki'' (木) can be "tree" or "trees". Where number is important, it can be indicated by providing a quantity (often with a [[Japanese counter word|counter word]]) or (rarely) by adding a suffix.<!--example?--> Words for people are usually understood as singular. Thus ''Tanaka-san'' usually means ''Mr./Ms. Tanaka''. Words that refer to people and animals can be made to indicate a group of individuals through the addition of a collective suffix (a noun suffix that indicates a group), such as ''-tachi'', but this is not a true plural: the meaning is closer to the English phrase "and company". A group described as ''Tanaka-san-tachi'' may include people not named Tanaka. Some Japanese nouns are effectively plural, such as ''hitobito'' "people" and ''wareware'' "we/us", but these are sporadic and irregular.
 
Verbs are [[Japanese verb conjugations|conjugated]] to show tenses, of which there are two: past and present, or non-past, which is used for the present and the future. For verbs that represent an ongoing process, the ''-te iru'' form indicates a continuous (or progressive) tense. For others that represent a change of state, the ''-te iru'' form indicates a perfect tense. For example, ''kite iru'' means "He has come (and is still here)", but ''tabete iru'' means "He is eating".
 
Questions (both with an interrogative pronoun and yes/no questions) have the same structure as affirmative sentences, but with intonation rising at the end. In the formal register, the question particle ''-ka'' is added. For example, ''Ii desu'' "It is OK" becomes ''Ii desu-ka'' "Is it OK?". In a more informal tone sometimes the particle ''-no'' is added instead to show a personal interest of the speaker: ''Dōshite konai-no?'' "Why aren't (you) coming?". Some simple queries are formed simply by mentioning the topic with an interrogative intonation to call for the hearer's attention: ''Kore-wa?'' "(What about) this?"; ''Namae-wa?'' "(What's your) name?".
 
Negatives are formed by inflecting the verb. For example, ''Pan-o taberu'' "I will eat bread" or "I eat bread" becomes ''Pan-o tabenai'' "I will not eat bread" or "I do not eat bread".
 
The so-called ''-te'' verb form is used for a variety of purposes: either progressive or perfect aspect (see above); combining verbs in a temporal sequence (''Asagohan-o tabete sugu dekakeru'' "I'll eat breakfast and leave at once"), simple commands, conditional statements and permissions (''Dekakete-mo ii?'' "May I go out?"), etc.
 
The word ''da'' (plain), ''desu'' (polite) is the [[copula]] verb. It corresponds approximately to the English ''be'', but often takes on other roles. Two additional common verbs are used to indicate existence ("there is") or, in some contexts, property: ''aru'' (negative ''nai'') and ''iru'' (negative ''inai''), for inanimate and animate things, respectively. For example, ''Neko ga iru'' "There's a cat", ''Ii kangae-ga nai'' "[I] haven't got a good idea".
 
The verb "to do" (''suru'', polite form ''shimasu'') is often used to make verbs from nouns (''ai suru'' "to love", ''benkyō suru'' "to study", etc.) and has been productive in creating modern slang words (eg: ''Bushu-o suru'' "to do a Bush" in historical reference to an embarrassing diplomatic faux-pas in 1992 when US President [[George Bush Sr]] inadvertently vomited on the unfortunate Japanese Prime Minister). Japanese also has a huge number of compound verbs to express concepts that are described in English using a verb and a preposition (e.g. ''tobidasu'' "to fly out, to flee," from ''tobu'' "to fly, to jump" + ''dasu'' "to put out, to emit").
 
There are three types of [[Japanese adjectives|adjective]] (see also [[Japanese adjectives]]):
# ''keiyōshi'', or ''i'' adjectives, which have a [[Japanese verb conjugations|conjugating]] ending ''i'' (such as ''atsui'', "to be hot") which can become past (''atsukatta'' - "it was hot"), or negative (''atsuku nai'' - "it is not hot"). Note that ''nai'' is also an ''i'' adjective, which can become past (''atsuku nakatta'' - it was not hot).
#: ''atsui hi'' "a hot day".
# ''keiyōdōshi'', or ''na'' adjectives, which are followed by a form of the [[copula]], usually ''na''. For example ''hen'' (strange)
#: ''hen na hito'' "a strange person".
# ''rentaishi'', also called true adjectives, such as ''onaji'' "the same"
#: ''onaji hi'' "the same day".
 
Both ''keiyōshi'' and ''keiyōdōshi'' may [[predicate]] sentences. For example,
: ''Gohan-ga atsui.'' "The rice is hot."
: ''Kare-wa hen da.'' "He's strange."
Both inflect, though they do not show the full range of conjugation found in true verbs.
The ''rentaishi'' in Modern Japanese are few in number, and unlike the other words, are limited to directly modifying nouns. They never predicate sentences. Examples include ''ookina'' "big" and ''onaji'' "the same" (although there is also a noun ''onaji'' that can be followed by ''da'', as in ''onaji da'').
 
Both ''keiyōdōshi'' and ''keiyōshi'' form [[adverb]]s, by following with ''ni'' in the case of ''keiyōdōshi'':
: ''hen ni naru'' "become strange",
and by changing ''i'' to ''ku'' in the case of ''keiyōshi'':
: ''atsuku naru'' "become hot".
 
The grammatical function of nouns is indicated by [[postposition]]s, also called [[Japanese particles|particles]]. These include for example:
* '''''no''''' for possession, or nominalizing phrases.
: ''Watashi '''no''' kamera'' "My camera" / ''Sukii-ni iku '''no''' ga suki desu'' "(I) like going skiing."
* '''''ga''''' for subject.
: ''Kare '''ga''' yatta.'' "He did it."
* '''''o''''' for direct object
: ''Nani '''o''' tabemasu ka?'' "What will (you) eat?"
* '''''ni''''' for indirect object.
: ''Tanaka-san '''ni''' kiite kudasai'' "Please ask Mr./Ms. Tanaka".
* '''''wa''''' for the topic.
: ''Watashi '''wa''' tai ryōri-ga ii desu.'' "As for me, Thai food is good." <small>(Note that English generally makes no distinction between sentence topic and subject.)</small>
 
=== Politeness ===
{{main|Japanese honorifics|Japanese titles}}
 
Unlike most western languages, Japanese has an extensive grammatical system to express politeness and formality.
 
Broadly speaking, there are three main politeness levels in spoken Japanese: the '''plain form''' (''kudaketa'' 砕けた or ''futsuu'' 普通), the '''simple polite form''' (''teineigo'' 丁寧語) and the '''advanced polite form''' (''[[keigo]]'' 敬語).
 
Since most relationships are not equal in Japanese [[society]], one person typically has a higher position. This position is determined by a variety of factors including job, age, experience, or even psychological state (e.g., a person asking a favour tends to do so politely). The person in the lower position is expected to use a polite form of speech, whereas the other might use a more plain form. Strangers will also speak to each other politely. Japanese children rarely use polite speech until they are teens, at which point they are expected to begin speaking in a more adult manner. ''See [[uchi-soto]]''
 
The '''plain form''' in Japanese is recognized by the shorter, dictionary form of verbs, and the ''da'' form of the [[copula]]. At the '''''teinei''''' level, [[verb]]s end with the helping verb ''-masu'', and the copula ''desu'' is used. The advanced polite form, '''''[[keigo]]''''', actually consists of two kinds of politeness: '''honorific''' language (''sonkeigo'' 尊敬語) and '''humble''' (''kenjōgo'' 謙譲語) language. Whereas ''teineigo'' is an [[inflection|inflectional]] system, ''keigo'' often employs many special (often [[irregular verb|irregular]]) honorific and humble verb forms: ''iku'' "to go" becomes ''ikimasu'' in polite form, but is replaced by ''mairimasu'' in humble form and ''irasshaimasu'' in honorific form.
 
The difference between honorific and humble speech is particularly pronounced in the Japanese language. Humble language is used to talk about oneself or one's own group (company, family) whilst honorific language is mostly used when describing the interlocutor and his/her group. For example, the ''-san'' suffix ("Mr" or "Ms") is an example of honorific language. It is not used to talk about oneself or when talking about someone from one's company to an external person, since the company is the speaker's "group". When speaking directly to one's superior in one's company or when speaking with other employees within one's company about a superior, a Japanese person will use vocabulary and inflections of the honorific register to refer to the in-group superior and his or her speech and actions. When speaking to a person from another company (i.e., a member of an out-group), however, a Japanese person will use the plain or the humble register to refer to the speech and actions of his or her own in-group superiors. In short, the register used in Japanese to refer to the person, speech, or actions of any particular individual varies depending on the relationship (either in-group or out-group) between the speaker and listener, as well as depending on the relative status of the speaker, listener, and third-person referents. For this reason, the Japanese system for explicit indication of social register is known as a system of "relative honorifics." This stands in stark contrast to the [[Korean language|Korean]] system of "absolute honorifics," in which the same register is used to refer to a particular individual (e.g. one's father, one's company president, etc.) in any context regardless of the relationship between the speaker and interlocutor. Thus, polite Korean speech can sound very presumptuous when translated verbatim into Japanese, as in Korean it is acceptable and normal to say things like "Our '''Mr.''' Company-President..." when communicating with a member of an out-group, which would be very inappropriate in a Japanese social context.
 
Most [[noun]]s in the Japanese language may be made polite by the addition of ''o-'' or ''go-''; as a prefix. ''o-'' is generally used for words of native Japanese origin, whereas ''go-'' is affixed to words of Chinese derivation. In some cases, the prefix has become a fixed part of the word, and is included even in regular speech, such as ''gohan'' 'cooked rice; meal.' Such a construction often indicates deference to either the item's owner or to the object itself. For example, the word ''tomodachi'' 'friend,' would become ''o-tomodachi'' when referring to the friend of someone of higher status (though mothers often use this form to refer to their children's friends). On the other hand, a polite female speaker may sometimes refer to ''mizu'' 'water' as ''o-mizu'' merely to show politeness; this contrasts with the more abrupt speech of rude men (though men may also use very polite forms when speaking to superiors). ''See [[Gender differences in spoken Japanese]]''.
 
Most Japanese people employ politeness to indicate a lack of familiarity. That is, they use polite forms for new acquaintances, but if a relationship becomes more intimate, they no longer use them. This occurs regardless of age, social class, or gender.
 
Many researchers report that since the [[1990s]], the use of polite forms has become rarer. Needless to say, many older people disapprove of this trend. Young people usually receive extensive training in the "proper" use of polite language when they start to work for a company.
 
== Vocabulary ==
The original language of Japan, or at least the original language of a certain population that was ancestral to a significant portion of the historical and present Japanese nation, was the so-called ''yamato kotoba'' (大和言葉 or 大和詞, i.e. "[[Yamato period|Yamato]] words"）, which in scholarly contexts is sometimes referred to as ''wa-go'' (倭語 or 和語, i.e. the "[[Wa]] language"). In addition to words from this original language, present-day Japanese includes a great number of words that were either borrowed from [[Chinese language|Chinese]] or constructed from Chinese roots following Chinese patterns. These words, known as ''[[Sino-Japanese|kango]]'', entered the language from the fifth century onwards via contact with Chinese culture, both directly and through Korea. According to some estimates, Chinese-based words comprise as much as seventy percent of the total vocabulary of the modern Japanese language and form as much as thirty to forty percent of words used in speech.
 
Like Latin-derived words in English, ''[[Sino-Japanese|kango]]'' words typically are perceived as somewhat formal or academic compared to equivalent Yamato words. Indeed, it is generally fair to say that an English word derived from Latin/French roots typically corresponds to a Sino-Japanese word in Japanese, whereas a simpler Anglo-Saxon word would best be translated by a Yamato equivalent.
 
A much smaller number of words has been borrowed from [[Korean language|Korean]] and [[Ainu language|Ainu]]. Japan has also borrowed a number of words from other languages, particularly ones of European extraction, which are called ''[[gairaigo]]''. This began with [[Japanese words of Portuguese origin|borrowings from Portuguese]] in the [[16th century]], followed by borrowing from Dutch during Japan's [[sakoku|long isolation]] of the [[Edo period]]. With the [[Meiji Restoration]] and the reopening of Japan in the [[19th century]], borrowing occurred from [[German language|German]], [[French language|French]] and [[English language|English]]. Currently, words of English origin are the most commonly borrowed.
 
In the Meiji era, the Japanese also coined many neologisms using Chinese roots and morphology to translate Western concepts. The Chinese and Koreans imported many of these pseudo-Chinese words into [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Korean language|Korean]], and [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] via their [[kanji]] characters in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For example, 政治 ''seiji'' ("politics"), and 化学 ''kagaku'' ("chemistry") are words derived from Chinese roots that were first created and used by the Japanese, and only later borrowed into Chinese and other East Asian languages. As a result, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese share a large common corpus of vocabulary in the same way a large number of Greek- and Latin-derived words are shared among modern European languages, although many academic words formed from such roots were certainly coined by native speakers of other languages, such as English.
 
In the past few decades, ''[[wasei-eigo]]'' (made-in-Japan English) has become a prominent phenomenon. Words such as ''wanpataan'' (< ''one'' + ''pattern'', "to be in a rut", "to have a one-track mind") and ''sukinshippu'' (< ''skin'' + ''-ship'', "physical contact"), although coined by compounding English roots, are nonsensical in a non-Japanese context. A small number of such words have been borrowed back into English.
 
Additionally, many native Japanese words have become commonplace in English, due to the popularity of many Japanese cultural exports. Words such as [[sushi]], [[judo]], [[karate]], [[sumo]], [[karaoke]], [[origami]], [[tsunami]], [[samurai]], [[haiku]], [[ninja]], [[sayonara]], [[rickshaw]] (from 人力車 ''jinrikisha''), [[futon]], and many others have become part of the English language. See [[list of English words of Japanese origin]] for more.
 
== Writing system ==
{{main|Japanese writing system}}
Before the [[5th century]], the Japanese had no [[writing]] system of their own. They began to adopt the [[Chinese writing]] script along with many other aspects of [[Culture of China|Chinese culture]] after their introduction by [[Korea]]n monks and scholars during the 5th and 6th centuries AD.
 
At first, the Japanese wrote in [[Classical Chinese]], with Japanese names represented by characters used for their sounds and not their meanings. Later, this latter principle was used to write pure Japanese poetry and prose; however, some Japanese words were written with characters for their meaning and not the original Chinese sound. An example of this mixed style is the [[Kojiki]], which was written in 712 AD. They then started to use Chinese characters to write Japanese in a style known as ''man'yōgana'', a syllabic script which used Chinese characters for their sounds in order to transcribe the words of Japanese speech syllable by syllable.
 
Over time, a writing system evolved. [[Chinese characters]] ([[kanji]]) were used to write either words borrowed from Chinese, or Japanese words with the same or similar meanings. Chinese characters were also used to write grammatical elements, were simplified, and eventually became two syllabic scripts: [[hiragana]] and [[katakana]].
 
Modern Japanese is written in a mixture of three main systems: [[kanji]], characters of Chinese origin used to represent both Chinese [[loanword]]s into Japanese and a number of native Japanese [[morpheme]]s; and two [[syllabary|syllabaries]]: [[hiragana]] and [[katakana]]. The [[Latin alphabet]] is also sometimes used. Arabic numerals are much more common than the kanji characters when used in counting, but kanji numerals are still used in compounds, such as 統一 ''tōitsu'' "unification."
 
Hiragana are used for words without kanji representation, for words no longer written in kanji, and also following kanji to show conjugational endings. Because of the way verbs (and adjectives) in Japanese are [[conjugated]], kanji alone cannot fully convey Japanese tense and mood, as kanji cannot be subject to variation when written without losing its meaning. For this reason, hiragana are suffixed to the ends of kanji to show verb and adjective conjugations. Hiragana used in this way are called [[okurigana]]. Hiragana are also written in a superscript called [[furigana]] above or beside a kanji to show the proper reading. This is done to facilitate learning, as well as to clarify particularly old or obscure (or sometimes invented) readings.
 
Katakana, like hiragana, are a syllabary; katakana are primarily used to write foreign words, plant and animal names, and for emphasis. For example "Australia" has been adapted as ''Ōsutoraria'', and "supermarket" has been adapted and shortened into ''sūpā''. [[romaji|''Rōmaji'']], literally "Roman letters," is the Japanese term for the [[Latin alphabet]]. ''Rōmaji'' are used for some loan words like "CD", "DVD", etc., and also for some Japanese creations like "Sony."
 
Japanese students begin to learn kanji characters from their first year at elementary school. A guideline created by the Japanese Ministry of Education, the list of [[kyōiku kanji]], specifies the 1,006 simple characters a child is to learn by the end of sixth grade. Children continue to study another 939 characters in junior high school, covering in total 1,945 ''[[jōyō kanji]]'' ("common use kanji") characters, which is generally considered sufficient for everyday life, although many kanji used in everyday life are not included in the list. An appendix of 290 additional characters for names was decreed in 1951. Various semi-official bodies were set up to monitor and enforce restrictions on the use of kanji in the press, publishing, in television broadcasts, etc. Thereafter, the official list of [[kyōiku kanji]] was repeatedly revised, but the total number of officially sanctioned characters remained largely unchanged.
 
A different list of officially approved kanji is used for purposes of registering personal names. Names containing unapproved characters are denied registration. However, as with the list of [[kyōiku kanji]], criteria for inclusion were often arbitrary and led to many common and popular characters being disapproved for use. Under popular pressure and following a court decision holding the exclusion of common characters unlawful, the list of "approved" characters was substantially extended. Furthermore, families whose names are not on these lists were permitted to continue using the older forms.
 
Historically, attempts to limit the number of kanji in use commenced in the mid-19th century, but did not become a matter of government intervention until after Japan's defeat in the Second World War. During the period of post-war occupation (and influenced by the views of some U.S. officials), various schemes including the complete abolition of kanji and exclusive use of rōmaji were considered. The [[kyōiku kanji]] scheme arose as a compromise solution.
 
== Learning Japanese ==
 
Many major universities throughout the world provide Japanese language courses, and a number of secondary and even primary schools worldwide offer courses in the language. International interest in the Japanese language dates to the 1800s but has become more prevalent following Japan's economic bubble of the 1980s and the global popularity of Japanese pop culture in the 1990s and beyond. About 2.3 million people studied the language worldwide in [[2003]]: 900,000 South Koreans, 389,000 [[People's Republic of China|Chinese]], 381,000 Australians, and 140,000 Americans study Japanese in lower and higher educational institutions. In Japan, more than 90,000 foreign students study at [[List of universities in Japan|Japanese universities]] and Japanese [[language school]]s, including 77,000 Chinese and 15,000 South Koreans in 2003. Furthermore, local governments and some [[NPO]] groups provide free Japanese language classes for foreign residents, including [[Japanese Brazilians]] and foreigners married to Japanese nationals.
 
The Japanese government provides standard tests to measure spoken and written comprehension of Japanese for second language learners; the most prominent is the [[Japanese Language Proficiency Test]] (JLPT). The Japanese External Trade Organization [[JETRO]] organizes the ''Business Japanese Proficiency Test'', to test ability to understand Japanese in a business setting.
 
== Bibliography ==
* Bloch, Bernard. (1946). Studies in colloquial Japanese I: Inflection. ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'', ''66'', 97-109.
* Bloch, Bernard. (1946). Studies in colloquial Japanese II: Syntax. ''Language'', ''22'', 200-248.
* Chafe, William L. (1976). Giveness, contrastiveness, definiteness, subjects, topics, and point of view. In C. Li (Ed.), ''Subject and topic'' (pp. 25-56). New York: Academic Press. ISBN 0-1244-7350-4.
* Kuno, Susumu. (1973). ''The structure of the Japanese language''. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN 0-2621-1049-0.
* Kuno, Susumu. (1976). Subject, theme, and the speaker's empathy: A re-examination of relativization phenomena. In Charles N. Li (Ed.), ''Subject and topic'' (pp. 417-444). New York: Academic Press. ISBN 0-1244-7350-4.
* Martin, Samuel E. (1975). ''A reference grammar of Japanese''. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-3000-1813-4.
* McClain, Yoko Matsuoka. (1981). ''Handbook of modern Japanese grammar:'' 口語日本文法便覧 ''[Kōgo Nihon bumpō]''. Tokyo: Hokuseido Press. ISBN 4-5900-0570-0; ISBN 0-8934-6149-0.
* Miller, Roy. (1967). ''The Japanese language''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
* Miller, Roy. (1980). ''Origins of the Japanese language: Lectures in Japan during the academic year, 1977-78''. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-2959-5766-2.
* Mizutani, Osamu; & Mizutani, Nobuko. (1987). ''How to be polite in Japanese:'' 日本語の敬語 ''[Nihongo no keigo]''. Tokyo: Japan Times. ISBN 4-7890-0338-8; ISBN 4-7890-0338-9.
* Shibatani, Masayoshi. (1990). Japanese. In B. Comrie (Ed.), ''The major languages of east and south-east Asia''. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-4150-4739-0.
* Shibatani, Masayoshi. (1990). ''The languages of Japan''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-5213-6070-6 (hbk); ISBN 0-5213-6918-5 (pbk).
* Shibamoto, Janet S. (1985). ''Japanese women's language''. New York: Academic Press. ISBN 0-1264-0030-X. Graduate Level
* Tsujimura, Natsuko. (1996). ''An introduction to Japanese linguistics''. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-6311-9855-5 (hbk); ISBN 0-6311-9856-3 (pbk). Upper Level Textbooks
* Tsujimura, Natsuko. (Ed.) (1999). ''The handbook of Japanese linguistics''. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-6312-0504-7. Readings/Anthologies
 
== See also ==
 
* [[Romanization of Japanese]]
** [[Hepburn romanization]]
* [[Common phrases in different languages#Japanese|Common phrases in Japanese]]
* [[Henohenomoheji]]
* [[Japanese culture]]
* [[Japanese language and computers]]
* [[Japanese literature]]
* [[Japanese name]]
* [[Japanese Swadesh list|Swadesh list of Japanese words]]
* [[Japanese dictionaries]]
* [[Sino-Japanese]]
* [[Yojijukugo]]
* [[Japanese English]]
 
== External links ==
 
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=jpn Ethnologue report for language code JPN]
* [http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/Dialects_of_Japanese_language Definitions of the different Japanese dialects]
* [http://www.nihongoresources.com/grammar/kansaiben.htm A page dealing with the Kansai dialect of Japanese]
* [http://www.speedanki.com/ interactive flashcard system, very good for JLPT]
* [http://www.njuku.com/ blog website with intemediate japanese articles for learners to read]
* [http://www.japanesewordoftheday.com/ A site where you can learn a new japanese word with an interactive sentence example everyday]
* [http://www.japanesepod101.com/ Free daily Japanese podcasts from Tokyo]
 
[[Category:Linguistics Workgroup]]

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This bar menu in Shinjuku, Tokyo, lists food and drink in both angular katakana - for loanwords or to make signs easier to read - and the curvy hiragana script - for native vocabulary. Top of the list, in katakana, is レミーマルタン - Remii Marutan 'Remy Martin' brandy; bottom, in hiragana, is あんみつ anmitsu - a jelly to finish a meal. The sign on the door (非常口 Hijoo Guchi 'fire exit') is written in kanji, or Chinese-derived characters.
Photo © by Sonny Santos, used by permission.

Japanese (日本語, Nihongo), the main language of Japan and the native tongue of at least 127 million people, is notable for: a complex system of honorific language which allows speakers to express and indicate their social status relative to one another; a writing system which uniquely employs a combination of three or four different scripts for different purposes; its disputed relatedness to other languages around the world; and a sound structure known as pitch accent in which the pitch of the voice alone may distinguish different words. Nowadays spoken by emigrant communities worldwide, but only widely standardised in the last century or so, Japanese is also a set of highly divergent dialects spoken across the Japanese archipelago which often bear scant resemblance to one another; likewise, the other Japonic languages of which it forms one branch are also highly distinct. Japanese literature goes back to the eighth century, while today the language continues to absorb large amounts of loanwords, previously from Chinese and today more commonly from English.

Grammatically, Japanese is an agglutinative language - grammatical units link together in long 'strings' to make words. For example, 食べたくなかった tabetakunakatta[1] 'did not want to eat' is composed of the morphemes tabe- 'eat', -ta- 'want', -ku- 'adverb',[2] -na- 'negative', and -kat- and -ta - both signifying that the action is complete, i.e. in the past.[3] Phonologically, its 'sounds' consist mainly of consonant-vowel units that cannot be split up, such as bu, ni and ka, which are written as single symbols, in these cases ぶ, に and か in hiragana and ブ, ニ and カ in katakana.

Writing system

For more information, see: Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana.

Japanese is written using a combination of three different scripts. Chinese-derived characters (漢字 kanji) are used for the most meaningful words such as most nouns and verbs; these take some time to learn. Two further kana scripts, hiragana (ひらがな) and katakana (カタカナ) write moras, equivalent to but not the same as syllables, and to a degree can indicate pronunciation. The Roman alphabet, roomaji (ローマ字), is also often used in modern Japanese. Numbers are usually written with Arabic numerals, as in many countries, but kanji are also used for numbers, especially in traditional contexts.

Kanji are derived from the ancient Chinese characters today known as 'Traditional Chinese'; the Japanese mildly simplified the written strokes of some of the characters.[4] The grammars of Japanese and Chinese are completely different, so in pre-modern times the Japanese originally wrote in ancient Chinese but eventually wanted a writing system that related to the spoken language. The Japanese used the cursive form of some common Chinese characters to create the two moraic kana systems, hiragana and katakana, which indicate pronunciation only. Over the centuries, these systems, which early on were often used alone (e.g. men using kanji and women writing exclusively in kana), merged into the present system. Kanji are used for most vocabulary; hiragana are used for grammatical elements and vocabulary that lack kanji or that have difficult kanji known to few readers; and katakana are used mostly for foreign loanwords and some words that have very difficult kanji, or that the writer wants to emotionally emphasise in some manner. The root of a verb will typically be rendered with a kanji, while the agglutinative verb endings are written in kana: 飲む nomu '[to] drink', for example, has the root nom- written as a kanji 飲 [no] and part of the hiragana symbol む [mɯ]. Morphological boundaries, then, do not always align with symbols. Extremely rarely, the stem of a verb is written in katakana due to its foreign origin; for example, サボる saboru ('to be truant'), which is from the French sabotage.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Tabetakunakatta can be followed by です desu, which is the copula verb equivalent to 'be'. Tabetakunakatta, then, is not really a verb in the same way the 'eat' is a verb in English, in that it behaves somewhat like an adjective in Japanese. Indeed, Japanese groups adjectives into two, -i and na types, in which the former group morphologically behave as verbs while the latter act as adjectives in a more similar way to those of English.
  2. ↑ -ku- acts to convert adjectives to adverbs, e.g. 高く takaku 'expensively'; however, in this case, -ku- is followed by the suffixes -na-, -kat- and -ta, which indicate it is verb-like negative adjective.
  3. ↑ Japanese indicates whether an action is complete or incomplete, rather than the past versus non-past distinction of English. -ta is the form used for verbs as well as adjectives, while -kat- must be included in -i adjectives marked for completion.
  4. ↑ A small minority of characters modified by the Japanese were modified in mainland China in an identical manner when 'Simplified Chinese' was created, for example 学.
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