Around 125
million people in Japan speak Japanese, which makes it the ninth most widely spoken language in
the world. There are another 5 million people who speak Japanese with
some degree of proficiency outside of Japan-- predominantly Japanese descendants in Hawaii and Brazil.
Japanese is not known to be directly related to any other language or family of languages. Although
some resemblances to Japanese and the Altaic languages (such as Mongolian) have been noted, a
clear relationship has yet to be demonstrated.
The Japanese language has a number of dialects, some of which are mutually unintelligible. Thanks to
the development of mass communications and the government’s directive to establish a
common language, however, most people now speak a common tongue.
Japanese has an extremely complicated writing system, consisting of two sets of
phonetic syllabaries called the hiragana and katakana. Both the hiragana and katakana syllabaries have approximately 50 syllables. Plus, there are thousands of Chinese-derived
characters called kanji, approximately 2,000 of which the Ministry of Education has
designated as required learning before high school graduation. The adaptation of Chinese
characters during the 6th to 9th centuries A.D. was the most
important event in the development of the language. By the 12th century, the
syllabic writing systems, hiragana and katakana, were created out of kanji,
providing the Japanese new freedom in writing their native language. Today, the written Japanese language is
written with a mixture of the three: kanji, hiragana, and katakana.
The Japanese language has absorbed a large number of foreign words from various other languages: Chinese (along with kanji)
in the 6th to 9th centuries, Portuguese in the 16th
century, and English after World War II. Today, 80 percent of loanwords are English and
written in katakana. Examples include: maikaa (my car), taimingu (timing),
konpyuutaa (computer), supiido (speed), and rasshu awaa (rush hour). English
words that come from Japanese vocabulary include: tsunami, futon, sushi, judo, karate, karaoke, and honcho.
As you learn Japanese, you will come across some basic Japanese vocabulary words that
sound like words in English. Hai is one example. It does not mean "hi!" In
fact, it means "yes", and it is equivalent to an American saying "hmm" or "I see" in a
conversational setting-- a verbal cue to let the speaker know that the listener is
following along. (It is important to understand that hai does not necessarily mean
that the listener agrees with the speaker!) Another example of a false friend is Ohayoo,
the Japanese word for "Good morning," which sounds like the name of the state,
Ohio.
Japanese has four different ways of addressing people. Kun is used for a
younger man or a man of lower rank. Chan is for little children or intimate
friends. San is universally used for almost anyone but children. Sama is
very polite and is used when speaking to customers or VIPs. These titles are placed after a person's name.
Because of the nature of Japanese culture, which is characterized by a hierarchical
system, the Japanese language has evolved to be very complicated. The style of speech varies
significantly according to social class, gender, age, and so on. Only if you have personal
information about your partner in conversation will you be able to choose the appropriate
manner of speaking Japanese.
For instance, a man talking to his colleagues might say, "Ore ga kuu" (I
eat), or more politely, "Boku ga taberu" (I eat). In a more formal situation,
though, he would have to say, "Watashi ga tabemasu" (I eat). But even this is
not polite enough if he is talking to people of superior rank. Then he will have to use a
humble form for the verb "taberu" and an honorific form for the person he is
addressing. The appropriate phrase would accordingly be, "Watakushi ga
itadakimasu" (I eat) and "Tanaka-san ga meshiagarimasu" (Mr. Tanaka eats).
Believe it or not, he has not yet scaled the absolute summit of politeness! If he is
talking to someone who requires the greatest respect, he will have to say,
"Tanaka-sama ga omeshiagarini nararemasu" (Honorable Tanaka eats).
Several aspects of Japanese grammar may be surprising to English speakers who are learning Japanese. For example, Japanese does not make a distinction between singular or plural. Moreover, even though Japanese grammar does not assign gender to words, Japanese vocabulary can vary according to whether a man or a
woman is speaking.
Students learning Japanese will quickly notice that Japanese verbs usually
come at the end of the sentence, instead of near the beginning as in English. Since there
are no relative pronouns, Japanese sentences tend to be long and complicated.
All the words in a Japanese sentence are connected by
these tiny word fragments called particles, which define the grammar of preceding words.
Japanese pronunciation is differs dramatically from English pronunciation. Because all
Japanese words end in vowels, English speakers learning Japanese may have to spend quite a long time practicing them
to get the hang of the rhythm. At first, the tongue tends to tie itself in knots! Forget
your English and say To-Yo-Ta, Ka-Wa-Sa-Ki, Ma-Tsu-Shi-Ta. It may help to know that
individual vowel sounds in the Japanese language are not very different from Italian or Spanish.
Regular practice is necessary to learn to speak Japanese well. That's why good Japanese software programs and other Japanese learning products can be so useful. It's easier than ever to learn Japanese and to begin to speak Japanese with the language
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