The Languages of Japan [Paperback]

This book is a detailed survey of the two main indigenous languages of Japan, Japanese and Ainu.A survey of the two main indigenous languages of Japan includes the most comprehensive study of the polysynthetic Ainu language yet to appear in English as well as a comprehensive analysis of Japanese linguistics.A survey of the two main indigenous languages of Japan includes the most comprehensive study of the polysynthetic Ainu language yet to appear in English as well as a comprehensive analysis of Japanese linguistics.This book surveys the two main indigenous languages of Japan, Japanese and Ainu. No genetic relationship has been established between them, and structurally they differ significantly. Shibatani has therefore divided his study into two independent parts. The first is the most comprehensive study of the polysynthetic Ainu language yet to appear in English. The second part deals extensively with Japanese. It discusses topics from the evolution of the writing system and the differences between men's and women's speech, to issues of greater theoretical complexity, such as phonology, the lexicon and word formation, and the syntax of agglutinative morphology. As an American trained scholar in Japan, the author is in a unique position that affords him a dual perspective on language deriving from Western linguistic scholarship and the Japanese grammatical tradition.List of maps; Preface; List of abbreviations used in glosses; Part I. The Ainu Language: 1. Introduction; 2. Sound structure; 3. Grammatical structure; Part II. The Japanese Language: 4. Introduction; 5. Genetic affiliation; 6. History; 7. Lexicon; 8. Phonology; 9. Dialects; 10. Word formation; 11. Grammatical structure; 12. Epilogue; References; Index. Shibatani's wide-ranging survey of Japanese is replete with intriguing ideas...it is a significant and timely contribution to the literature from a productive and influential scholar. Linguistic Anthropology This combination of breadth and boldnesl'