Description:
Japanese Vocabulary for Speakers and ReadersISBN-13: 9784590007069
ISBN-10: 4590007061
Publication Date: 6/1992
Publisher: Books Nippan
Paperback
7.75 x 7.2 inches, 230 pages
Japanese is spoken as a native language by about 128 million people, primarily Japanese people and primarily
in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or
Japanese-Ryukyuan language family. There have been many attempts to group the Japonic languages
with other families such as the Ainu, Austroasiatic, Koreanic, and the now-discredited Altaic, but none of
these proposals has gained widespread acceptance.
Little is known of the language's prehistory, or when it first appeared in Japan. Chinese documents from
the 3rd century AD recorded a few Japanese words, but substantial Old Japanese texts did not appear until
the 8th century. From the Heian period (794–1185), extensive waves of Sino-Japanese vocabulary entered
the language, affecting the phonology of Early Middle… Read More
