Japanese language

==Geographic distribution==
Although Japanese is spoken almost exclusively in Japan, it has also been spoken outside of the country. Before and during [[World War II]], through Japanese annexation of [[Taiwan]] and [[Korea]], as well as partial occupation of [[China]], the [[Philippines]], and various Pacific islands,<ref>Japanese is listed as one of the official languages of [[Angaur]] state, [[Palau]] ([http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=PW Ethnologe] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001180034/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=PW |date=2007-10-01 }}, [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/palau/ CIA World Factbook] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203032225/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/palau/ |date=2021-02-03 }}). However, very few Japanese speakers were recorded in the [http://www.spc.int/prism/country/pw/stats/PalauStats/Publication/2005CENSUS.pdf 2005 census] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216045724/http://www.spc.int/prism/country/pw/stats/PalauStats/Publication/2005CENSUS.pdf |date=2008-02-16 }}.</ref> locals in [[Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere|those countries]] learned Japanese as the language of the empire. As a result, many elderly people in these countries can still speak Japanese.

[[Japanese diaspora|Japanese emigrant communities]] (the largest of which are to be found in [[Brazil]],<ref name="IBGE traça perfil dos imigrantes">{{Cite web |date=2008-06-21 |title=IBGE traça perfil dos imigrantes – Imigração – Made in Japan |url=http://madeinjapan.uol.com.br/2008/06/21/ibge-traca-perfil-dos-imigrantes/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119132009/http://madeinjapan.uol.com.br/2008/06/21/ibge-traca-perfil-dos-imigrantes/ |archive-date=2012-11-19 |access-date=2012-11-20 |publisher=Madeinjapan.uol.com.br}}</ref> with 1.4 million to 1.5 million Japanese immigrants and descendants, according to Brazilian [[Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics|IBGE]] data, more than the 1.2 million of the [[United States]])<ref>{{Cite web |title=American FactFinder |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/IPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201PR&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201T&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201TPR&-reg=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201:041;ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201PR:041;ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201T:041;ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201TPR:041&-ds_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_&-_lang=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212035921/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/IPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201PR&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201T&-qr_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201TPR&-reg=ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201:041;ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201PR:041;ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201T:041;ACS_2005_EST_G00_S0201TPR:041&-ds_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_&-_lang=en |archive-date=2020-02-12 |access-date=2013-02-01 |publisher=Factfinder.census.gov }}</ref> sometimes employ Japanese as their primary language. Approximately 12% of [[Hawaii]] residents speak Japanese,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Japanese – Source Census 2000, Summary File 3, STP 258 |url=http://www.mla.org/map_data_results&mode=lang_tops&SRVY_YEAR=2000&lang_id=723 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221175921/http://www.mla.org/map_data_results%26mode%3Dlang_tops%26SRVY_YEAR%3D2000%26lang_id%3D723 |archive-date=2012-12-21 |access-date=2012-11-20 |publisher=Mla.org}}</ref> with an estimated 12.6% of the population of Japanese ancestry in 2008. Japanese emigrants can also be found in [[Peru]], [[Argentina]], [[Australia]] (especially in the eastern states), [[Canada]] (especially in [[Vancouver]], where 1.4% of the population has Japanese ancestry),<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-06-10 |title=Ethnocultural Portrait of Canada – Data table |url=http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/hlt/97-562/pages/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=CMA&Code=933&Data=Count&Table=2&StartRec=1&Sort=3&Display=All&CSDFilter=5000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203011834/http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/hlt/97-562/pages/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=CMA&Code=933&Data=Count&Table=2&StartRec=1&Sort=3&Display=All&CSDFilter=5000 |archive-date=2013-12-03 |access-date=2012-11-20 |publisher=2.statcan.ca}}</ref> the [[United States]] (notably in [[Hawaii]], where 16.7% of the population has Japanese ancestry,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data |url=https://www.census.gov |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210701194655/https://www.census.gov/ |archive-date=1 July 2021 |access-date=8 July 2018 |website=[[United States Census Bureau]]}}</ref>{{Clarify|reason=above it says 12.6%; which is it?|date=September 2022}} and [[California]]), and the [[Philippines]] (particularly in [[Davao Region]] and the [[Laguna (province)|Province of Laguna]]).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6mfCzrbOn80C&q=Japanese+immigrants+to+Davao&pg=PA157 The Japanese in Colonial Southeast Asia – Google Books] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114063046/https://books.google.com/books?id=6mfCzrbOn80C&pg=PA157&lpg=PA157#v=onepage&q=Japanese%20immigrants%20to%20Davao |date=2020-01-14 }}. Books.google.com. Retrieved on 2014-06-07.</ref><ref>[http://www.seapots.com/home/index.php/production-centers-pottery-groups/philippines] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019011022/http://www.seapots.com/home/index.php/production-centers-pottery-groups/philippines|date=October 19, 2014}}</ref><ref>[http://www.philippinealmanac.com/2010/07/528/the-cultural-influences-of-india-china-arabia-and-japan.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120701082957/http://www.philippinealmanac.com/2010/07/528/the-cultural-influences-of-india-china-arabia-and-japan.html|date=July 1, 2012}}</ref>

===Official status===
Japanese has no [[official language|official status]] in Japan,<ref>{{Cite web |script-title=ja:法制執務コラム集「法律と国語・日本語」 |url=http://houseikyoku.sangiin.go.jp/column/column068.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225073508/http://houseikyoku.sangiin.go.jp/column/column068.htm |archive-date=25 December 2018 |access-date=9 November 2012 |publisher=Legislative Bureau of the House of Councillors |language=ja}}</ref> but is the ''de facto'' [[national language]] of the country. There is a form of the language considered [[Standard language|standard]]: {{nihongo|''hyōjungo''|標準語}}, meaning "standard Japanese", or {{nihongo|''kyōtsūgo''|共通語}}, "common language", or even "Tokyo dialect" at times.<ref name=":2" /> The meanings of the two terms (<nowiki>''hyōjungo'' and ''kyōtsūgo''</nowiki>) are almost the same. ''Hyōjungo'' or ''kyōtsūgo'' is a conception that forms the counterpart of dialect. This normative language was born after the {{nihongo|[[Meiji Restoration]]|明治維新|meiji ishin|1868}} from the language spoken in the higher-class areas of Tokyo (see [[Yamanote]]). ''Hyōjungo'' is taught in schools and used on television and in official communications.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pulvers |first=Roger |date=2006-05-23 |title=Opening up to difference: The dialect dialectic |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2006/05/23/language/opening-up-to-difference-the-dialect-dialectic/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617135203/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2006/05/23/language/opening-up-to-difference-the-dialect-dialectic/ |archive-date=2020-06-17 |access-date=2020-06-17 |website=The Japan Times}}</ref> It is the version of Japanese discussed in this article.

Formerly, standard {{nihongo|Japanese in writing|文語|[[Bungo (Japanese language)|bungo]]|"literary language"}} was different from {{nihongo|colloquial language|口語|[[Kogo (Japanese language)|kōgo]]}}. The two systems have different rules of grammar and some variance in vocabulary. ''Bungo'' was the main method of writing Japanese until about 1900; since then ''kōgo'' gradually extended its influence and the two methods were both used in writing until the 1940s. ''Bungo'' still has some relevance for historians, literary scholars, and lawyers (many Japanese laws that survived [[World War II]] are still written in ''bungo'', although there are ongoing efforts to modernize their language). ''Kōgo'' is the dominant method of both speaking and writing Japanese today, although ''bungo'' grammar and vocabulary are occasionally used in modern Japanese for effect.

The 1982 state constitution of [[Angaur]], [[Palau]], names Japanese along with [[Palauan language|Palauan]] and English as an official language of the state<ref name="const">{{Cite web |title=Constitution of the State of Angaur |url=http://www.pacificdigitallibrary.org/cgi-bin/pdl?e=d-000off-pdl--00-2--0--010-TE--4-------0-1l--10en-50---20-text-Japanese--00-3-1-00bySR-0-0-000utfZz-8-00&d=HASHa4b7077d472c4cdb9c8ddf.10&p=text |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924063100/http://www.pacificdigitallibrary.org/cgi-bin/pdl?e=d-000off-pdl--00-2--0--010-TE--4-------0-1l--10en-50---20-text-Japanese--00-3-1-00bySR-0-0-000utfZz-8-00&d=HASHa4b7077d472c4cdb9c8ddf.10&p=text |archive-date=24 September 2015 |access-date=4 August 2014 |publisher=Pacific Digital Library |at=Article XII |quote=The traditional Palauan language, particularly the dialect spoken by the people of Angaur State, shall be the language of the State of Angaur. Palauan, English and Japanese shall be the official languages.}}</ref> as at the time the constitution was written, many of the elders participating in the process had been educated in Japanese during the [[South Seas Mandate]] over the island<ref>{{Cite report|title=The Japanese Language in Palau|last1=Long|first1=Daniel|last2=Imamura|first2=Keisuke|last3=Tmodrang|first3=Masaharu|date=2013|page= |publisher=National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics|location=Tokyo, Japan|pages=85–86|url=https://www.ninjal.ac.jp/research/cr-project/project/a/creole/files/creole_Palau.pdf|access-date=July 11, 2022}}</ref> shown by the 1958 census of the Trust Territory of the Pacific that found that 89% of Palauans born between 1914 and 1933 could speak and read Japanese,<ref name="1958 Census of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands">{{cite web |title=1958 Census of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands|url=https://pacificweb.org/DOCS/cnmi/1958%20Census/1958%20Census%20tables.pdf|access-date=22 March 2024 |publisher=The Office of the High Commissioner}}</ref> but as of the 2005 Palau census there were no residents of Angaur that spoke Japanese at home.<ref name="2005census">{{Cite web |title=2005 Census of Population & Housing |url=http://palaugov.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/2005-Census-of-Population-Housing.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424211256/http://palaugov.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/2005-Census-of-Population-Housing.pdf |archive-date=24 April 2014 |access-date=4 August 2014 |publisher=Bureau of Budget & Planning}}</ref>

===Dialects and mutual intelligibility===
{{Main|Japanese dialects}}
[[File:Japanese dialects-en.png|thumb|Map of Japanese dialects and Japonic languages]]

Japanese dialects typically differ in terms of [[Japanese pitch accent|pitch accent]], inflectional [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]], [[vocabulary]], and particle usage. Some even differ in [[vowel]] and [[consonant]] inventories, although this is less common.

In terms of [[mutual intelligibility]], a survey in 1967 found that the four most unintelligible dialects (excluding [[Ryūkyūan languages]] and [[Tōhoku dialects]]) to students from Greater Tokyo were the [[Kiso, Nagano (town)|Kiso]] dialect (in the deep mountains of [[Nagano Prefecture]]), the [[Himi, Toyama|Himi]] dialect (in [[Toyama Prefecture]]), the [[Kagoshima dialect]] and the [[Katsuyama, Okayama|Maniwa]] dialect (in [[Okayama Prefecture]]).<ref name="Dialect Intelligibility 1967" /> The survey was based on 12- to 20-second-long recordings of 135 to 244 [[phoneme]]s, which 42 students listened to and translated word-for-word. The listeners were all [[Keio University]] students who grew up in the [[Kanto region]].<ref name="Dialect Intelligibility 1967">{{Cite journal |last=Yamagiwa |first=Joseph K. |date=1967 |title=On Dialect Intelligibility in Japan |journal=Anthropological Linguistics |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=4, 5, 18}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Intelligibility to students from Tokyo and [[Kanto region]] (1967)<ref name="Dialect Intelligibility 1967" />
!Dialect
| [[Kyoto City]] || [[Ōgata, Kōchi]] || [[Tatsuta, Aichi]] || [[Kumamoto City]] || [[Osaka City]] || [[Kanagi, Shimane]] || [[Maniwa, Okayama]]|| [[Kagoshima City]]|| [[Kiso, Nagano (town)|Kiso, Nagano]] || [[Himi, Toyama]] 
|-
! Percentage
| 67.1% || 45.5% || 44.5% || 38.6% || 26.4% || 24.8% || 24.7% || 17.6%|| 13.3% || 4.1% 
|}

There are some [[language island]]s in mountain villages or isolated islands{{clarify|date=March 2024}} such as [[Hachijōjima|Hachijō-jima island]], whose dialects are descended from [[Eastern Old Japanese]]. Dialects of the [[Kansai region]] are spoken or known by many Japanese, and [[Osaka]] dialect in particular is associated with comedy (see [[Kansai dialect]]). Dialects of Tōhoku and North [[Kantō region|Kantō]] are associated with typical farmers.

The Ryūkyūan languages, spoken in [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]] and the [[Amami Islands]] (administratively part of [[Kagoshima Prefecture|Kagoshima]]), are distinct enough to be considered a separate branch of the [[Japonic languages|Japonic]] family; not only is each language unintelligible to Japanese speakers, but most are unintelligible to those who speak other Ryūkyūan languages. However, in contrast to linguists, many ordinary Japanese people tend to consider the Ryūkyūan languages as dialects of Japanese.

The imperial court also seems to have spoken an unusual variant of the Japanese of the time,<ref>See the comments of George Kizaki in {{Cite news |last=Stuky |first=Natalie-Kyoko |date=8 August 2015 |title=Exclusive: From Internment Camp to MacArthur's Aide in Rebuilding Japan |work=The Daily Beast |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/08/from-internment-camp-to-macarthur-s-aide.html |url-status=live |access-date=4 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018091714/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/08/from-internment-camp-to-macarthur-s-aide.html |archive-date=18 October 2015}}</ref> most likely the spoken form of [[Classical Japanese language|Classical Japanese]], a writing style that was prevalent during the [[Heian period]], but began to decline during the late [[Meiji period]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Coulmas |first=Florian |url=https://archive.org/details/languageadaptati0000unse/page/106 |title=Language Adaptation |publisher=Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-521-36255-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/languageadaptati0000unse/page/106 106]}}</ref> The Ryūkyūan languages are classified by [[UNESCO]] as 'endangered', as young people mostly use Japanese and cannot understand the languages. [[Okinawan Japanese]] is a variant of Standard Japanese influenced by the Ryūkyūan languages, and is the primary dialect spoken among young people in the [[Ryukyu Islands]].<ref name="ryukyuan-tongue">{{Cite web |last=Patrick Heinrich |date=25 August 2014 |title=Use them or lose them: There's more at stake than language in reviving Ryukyuan tongues |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/08/25/voices/use-lose-theres-stake-language-reviving-ryukyuan-tongues/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107141707/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/08/25/voices/use-lose-theres-stake-language-reviving-ryukyuan-tongues/ |archive-date=2019-01-07 |access-date=2019-10-24 |publisher=The Japan Times}}</ref>

Modern Japanese has become prevalent nationwide (including the Ryūkyū islands) due to [[education]], [[mass media]], and an increase in mobility within Japan, as well as economic integration.