The japanese

 

The Japanese language is a member of the Japonic language family, which also includes the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands. The history of the Japanese language can be divided into four main periods: Old Japanese (8th century to 794), Early Middle Japanese (794-1185), Late Middle Japanese (1185-1600), and Modern Japanese (1600 to present).

Old Japanese is the earliest attested stage of the Japanese language, with the oldest written records dating back to the 8th century. Old Japanese was heavily influenced by the Chinese language, which was the dominant written language in East Asia at the time. Old Japanese was a complex agglutinative language, with a large number of grammatical particles and a complex honorific system.

During the Early Middle Japanese period, the Japanese language began to develop its own unique writing system, known as kanji, which was based on Chinese characters but adapted to fit the Japanese language. The phonology of the language also underwent significant changes during this period, including the loss of many final consonants and the development of a distinction between the "o" and "e" vowels.

In the Late Middle Japanese period, the language continued to evolve and develop, with the emergence of new forms of literature such as the haiku and the kabuki play. During this period, the language also underwent significant simplification and regularization, with many of the complex honorific forms of Old Japanese being replaced by simpler forms.

In the Modern Japanese period, the language continued to evolve, with the influence of Western languages becoming increasingly important. The Meiji Restoration in 1868 brought about major changes in Japanese society and culture, and the language underwent significant modernization and simplification during this period. Many loanwords from English and other Western languages were incorporated into Japanese during this period, leading to the emergence of a distinctive style of Japanese known as wasei-eigo or "Japanese-made English."

Today, Japanese is spoken by approximately 128 million people worldwide, including approximately 126 million in Japan and around 2 million overseas. Japanese is the official language of Japan and is also spoken by significant numbers of people in other countries such as Brazil, the United States, and Canada. The language continues to evolve and change, with new loanwords and expressions being incorporated into the language on a regular basis.