The Ryukyu island arc span the southwestern parts of Japan, straddling the boundary between the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean, from around Taiwan to Kyushu. It is this island chain in which we will find Japan's westernmost inhabited island, at just 108km to Taiwan's east, which goes by the name of Yonaguni-jima, or … Continue reading The language in Japan’s westernmost island
Japan
Exploring the other languages of Japan (Miyakoan)
Previously, we have looked at the Hachijō language, a Japonic language spoken in the Izu islands and the Daitō islands in the south of Japan. Today, we will take a look at Okinawa Prefecture, in which we can find the Ryukyuan languages. The Ryukyuan languages form a distinct branch in the Japonic language family, making … Continue reading Exploring the other languages of Japan (Miyakoan)
The contest where you create new kanji
The Japanese kanji system is infamous for its difficulty for new learners to pick up, with various readings, stroke orders, and compound words formed from these characters. There are several thousand kanji characters in regular use today, with just around 2000 of them being taught in Japanese schools, and perhaps in Japanese classes following the … Continue reading The contest where you create new kanji
Exploring the other languages of Japan (Pt 1)
We often like to think of Japanese as a language isolate. After all, it is the language we most often associate with being predominantly spoken in Japan. But as travelers to prefectures like Hokkaido and Okinawa would see, this is not quite the case. After all, Ainu is a language, and a language isolate, mainly … Continue reading Exploring the other languages of Japan (Pt 1)
The rise and fall of the Tōyō kanji
To say that Japanese has a convoluted writing system is a rather huge understatement. More accurately described as three writing systems in an orthographical trenchcoat, filtering out which kanji to use, teach, and write in Japanese has posed as a persistent challenge since its first mention in the Meiji period. Previously, we have seen the … Continue reading The rise and fall of the Tōyō kanji
Exploring ‘character amnesia’
Here in the Language Closet, we cover a lot about writing systems, and some interesting bits surrounding the way we read and write. But there is one phenomenon I was introduced to back in high school regarding the loss of ability to write because one is too used to typing on text input media like … Continue reading Exploring ‘character amnesia’
Word Bites — Is Japan “Nihon” or “Nippon”? Or both?
Described by the West as "The Land of the Rising Sun", the country of Japan is known to us English speakers as, well, Japan. In Japanese, this name is written as the kanji 日本, but carry two commonly used pronunciations, "Nihon" and "Nippon". We see and hear both forms across Japanese media and maybe some … Continue reading Word Bites — Is Japan “Nihon” or “Nippon”? Or both?
Speaking Japanese — The Interchangeability of /s/ and /h/
It is said that, before the Second World War, there were curious differences in the writings on signboards of pawnshops, which seemed to differ based on the prefecture one was in. If you were in Tokyo, you might see 「しちや」 (shichiya). But if you were in the Kansai region, particularly Osaka, you might see 「ひちや」 … Continue reading Speaking Japanese — The Interchangeability of /s/ and /h/
Zuni vs Japanese — More than just a coincidence?
Searching up language mysteries or weird coincidences, chances are, two languages would pop up. Spoken in Arizona and New Mexico, Zuni is considered by many linguists and anthropologists as a language isolate, a language with no established genealogical relationships with any other language. However, one anthropologist, Nancy Yaw Davis, has picked up some possible similarities … Continue reading Zuni vs Japanese — More than just a coincidence?
Speaking Japanese — The Four Kana (Yotsugana)
If you have learnt Japanese, you most likely have been introduced to how it is spoken in Tokyo, or to a lesser extent, Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, or any Kansai variant. However, there are some kana sounds that may or may not sound different based on the prefecture you are in. These four, づ, ず, じ, … Continue reading Speaking Japanese — The Four Kana (Yotsugana)
Speaking Japanese — Understanding Aidzuchi
Verbal communication brings out a lot of colour in a language, way beyond the confines of the materials upon which the language is recorded in. Everyday expressions, slang terms, and other kinds of word variants can be picked up through speaking and listening in a conversational context. Very often, when listening to Japanese conversations, or … Continue reading Speaking Japanese — Understanding Aidzuchi
Exploring Deeper into Japanese
Having studied Japanese for three years as of the time of writing, I decided to delve deeper into the depths of the Japanese kanji. This little exploration would take up a few posts due to the extensive system behind this script, but anyway, some time in the first century CE, the Japanese people had encountered Chinese … Continue reading Exploring Deeper into Japanese
Language Islands — On Language Isolates
Imagine a map showing the languages of the world, not in a 'where they are spoken' sense, but more rather, based on how closely is one related to another. We would see the vast continents of Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan and Niger-Congo, some large islands like the Eskimo-Aleut and Finno-Ugric, and then we have the remotest of … Continue reading Language Islands — On Language Isolates
The Language Closet 