Japanese

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A language of Japan

ISO 639-3
jpn
Population

127,000,000 in Japan (2010). Population total all countries: 128,056,940.

Location

Widespread.

Language Maps
Language Status

1 (National). De facto national language.

Classification
Japonic
Dialects

Eastern Japanese, Western Japanese, Zu-zu-ben. Possibly related to Korean [kor]. Kagoshima dialect is 84% cognate with Tokyo dialect. Zu-zu-ben dialects unintelligible to other Japanese, and dying out as standard Tokyo Japanese takes over.

Typology

SOV; postpositions; demonstrative, numeral, adjective, possessive, relative clause, proper noun precedes noun head; adverb precedes verb; sentence final question particle; CV.

Language Development
Taught in primary and secondary schools. Fully developed. Bible: 1883–1987.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Japanese
Writing

Braille script [Brai]. Han, Hiragana, and Katakana scripts [Jpan], primary usage.

Other Comments

Buddhist, Shintoist.

Also spoken in:

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