Japanese
A language of Japan
| Population | 121,000,000 in Japan (1985). Population total all countries: 122,080,100. |
| Region | Widespread. Also in American Samoa, Argentina, Australia, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic, Germany, Guam, Mexico, Micronesia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States. |
| Language map |
Japan |
| Dialects | Western Japanese, Eastern Japanese. Possibly related to Korean [kor]. The Kagoshima dialect is 84% cognate with Tokyo dialect. |
| Classification | Japonic |
| Language use | National language. 1,000,000 L2 speakers. |
| Language development | Fully developed. Bible: 1883–1987. |
| Writing system | Han, Hiragana, and Katakana scripts. |
| Comments | SOV; postpositions; demonstrative, numeral, adjective, possessive, relative clause, proper noun precede noun head; adverb precedes verb; sentence final question particle; CV. Buddhist, Shintoist. |
Also spoken in:
Taiwan
| Language name | Japanese |
| Language use | Trade language. 10,000 L2 users in Taiwan (1993). A few older adult aboriginals. |
Entries from the SIL Bibliography about this language:
Academic Publications
CORMO, Christiane, author. 1997. "Towards a constructivist approach to the Japanese ‘passive’."
![]()
DEL CORRO, Anicia, author. 1990. "An analysis of polysemy in Kapampangan and Japanese, using the systems correspondence theory."
![]()
GLOVER, Warren W.; YADAVA, Yogendra P., editors. 1999. Topics in Nepalese linguistics.
GRUMMITT, John, author. 2009. Review of: Japanese language, gender and ideology: cultural models and real people, by Shigeko Okamoto and Janet S. Shibamoto Smith.
![]()
MARTIN, Dorothy J., author. 1992. A text-based study of clause chaining in Japanese.
TOBA, Sueyoshi, author. 1983. Neparugo kaiwa.
TOBA, Sueyoshi, author. 1999. "A typological comparison of Nepali and Japanese."
TOBA, Sueyoshi, compiler. 1980. Neparugo kisogoìshu.
TOBA, Sueyoshi, translator; HARI, Anna Maria, editor. 1977. Neparugo kaiwa dokuhon.

