Japanese language

== Classification ==
{{Main|Classification of the Japonic languages}}
Japanese is a member of the [[Japonic language]] family, which also includes the [[Ryukyuan languages]] spoken in the [[Ryukyu Islands]]. As these closely related languages are commonly treated as dialects of the same language, Japanese is sometimes called a [[language isolate]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kindaichi |first=Haruhiko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dAbRAgAAQBAJ&q=japanese+isolated+language&pg=PT17 |title=Japanese Language: Learn the Fascinating History and Evolution of the Language Along With Many Useful Japanese Grammar Points |date=2011-12-20 |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |isbn=978-1-4629-0266-8 |access-date=2020-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115024826/https://books.google.com/books?id=dAbRAgAAQBAJ&q=japanese+isolated+language&pg=PT17 |archive-date=2021-11-15 |url-status=live}}</ref>

According to [[Martine Irma Robbeets]], Japanese has been subject to more attempts to show its relation to other languages than any other language in the world.{{sfn|Robbeets|2005|p=20}} Since Japanese first gained the consideration of linguists in the late 19th century, attempts have been made to show its genealogical relation to languages or language families such as [[Ainu languages|Ainu]], [[Korean language|Korean]], [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]], [[Uralic languages|Uralic]], [[Altaic languages|Altaic]] (or [[Ural–Altaic languages|Ural-Altaic]]), [[Mon–Khmer languages|Mon–Khmer]] and [[Malayo-Polynesian languages|Malayo-Polynesian]]. At the fringe, some linguists have suggested a link to [[Indo-European languages]], including [[Greek language|Greek]], and to [[Lepcha language|Lepcha]]. Main modern theories try to link Japanese either to northern Asian languages, like Korean or the proposed larger Altaic family, or to various [[Southeast Asian language]]s, especially [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]]. None of these proposals have gained wide acceptance (and the Altaic family itself is now considered controversial).{{sfn|Robbeets|2005}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vovin |first=Alexander |title=Proto-Japanese |series=Current Issues in Linguistic Theory |year=2008 |chapter=Proto-Japanese beyond the accent system |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/19253123 |url-status=live |volume=294 |pages=141–156 |doi=10.1075/cilt.294.11vov |isbn=978-90-272-4809-1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327115347/https://www.academia.edu/19253123 |archive-date=2022-03-27 |access-date=2017-12-20}}</ref>{{sfn|Vovin|2010}} As it stands, only the link to Ryukyuan has wide support.{{sfn|Kindaichi|Hirano|1978|pp=30–31}}

Other theories view the Japanese language as an early [[creole language]] formed through inputs from at least two distinct language groups, or as a distinct language of its own that has absorbed various aspects from neighbouring languages.{{sfn|Shibatani|1990}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Austronesian influence and Transeurasian ancestry in Japanese: A case of farming/language dispersal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320915864 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219015825/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320915864 |archive-date=2019-02-19 |access-date=2019-03-28 |website=ResearchGate}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ann Kumar |date=1996 |title=Does Japanese have an Austronesian stratum? |url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/kumar1996does.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211103064933/http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/kumar1996does.pdf |archive-date=2021-11-03 |access-date=2017-09-28}}</ref>