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Sep 6, 1999 · Although there is somewhat of a general consensus in the West that Japanese is an Altaic language, that we cannot be absolutely sure where Japanese comes from. Numerous conflicting theories are still advocated, both here and in Japan. Japanese and Korean still are each usually classified independent of any other language. Recent Influences
Home > Blog. Written byIchika Yamamoto. Chinese words started to be largely added to Japanese language as early as 5th century. At the same time, tough in a smaller amount, Korean and Ainu words were accepted too. From the first contact with Europeans (in 16th century), words of European origin (called “gairaigo”) have been infiltrating Japanese.
The basis of the standard dialect moved from the Kansai region to the Edo region (modern Tokyo) in the Early Modern Japanese period (early 17th century–mid 19th century). Following the end of Japan's self-imposed isolation in 1853, the flow of loanwords from European languages increased significantly, and words from English roots have proliferated.
Where did the people who spoke the earliest versions of Japanese come from? There is no consensus. A Discovery Magazine article on the diverse theories about the Japanese people’s origin synthesizes the complexity of this question (and how it relates to language) as follows:
In the Japanese counterpart, these verbs together form one complex verb (Japanese uses "come" for the English "go" in this context) : katte-ko-sase-rare-ta (buy-come-made-was-past). Other languages that have an agglutinative verb system include Korean, Navaho, and Turkish. Writing System
The root and connection with other languages. Japanese is one of the rare languages whose genetic affiliation is unknown. There have been debates amongst linguists about the origins of the Japanese language. Yet, it lacks solid proof to reach any conclusion. Some evidence suggests various roots, such as Ural-Altaic, Chinese, and Polynesian.
Documentary of Hiragana Syllabic Scripts (38:34) History of Japanese Language. Evolving Language with Almost 2,000 Years History. Not much is recorded about the Japanese language’s prehistory or origin.
