Japonic language
| Japonic | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution |
Japan |
| Linguistic classification | One of the world's primary language families |
| Subdivisions | |
| ISO 639-5 | |
| Glottolog | japo1237 |
 The Japonic languages
| |
The Japonic or Japanese-Ryukyuan language family includes the Japanese language spoken on the main islands of Japan as well as the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands. The term "Japonic languages" was coined by Leon Serafim, and the family is widely accepted by linguists. The common ancestral language is known as Proto-Japonic. The essential feature of this classification is that the first split in the family resulted in the separation of all dialects of Japanese from all varieties of Ryukyuan. According to Shirō Hattori, this separation occurred during the Yamato period (250–710).
The Japonic (or Japanese–Ryukyuan) languages are:
Beckwith includes toponymic material from southern Korea as evidence of an additional ancient Japonic language there:
It is not clear if "pre-Kara" was related to the language of the later Gaya (Kara) confederacy.
The relationship of the Japonic (or Japanese–Ryukyuan) languages to other languages and language families is controversial. There are numerous hypotheses, none of which is generally accepted. Japonic is classified as an isolated language family and shows in its proto-form strong similarities to Southeast Asian languages.
Scholarly discussions about the origin of Japonic languages present an unresolved set of related issues. The clearest connections seem to be with toponyms in today's southern Korea, which may be from the ancient isolated Gaya language (Kara) or other scarcely attested languages.Alexander Vovin (2008, 2013) finds many toponyms of Japonic origin in the central and southern parts of the Korean Peninsula, in Silla and Paekche. Japonic-speaking agriculturalists were resident in the central and southern Korean Peninsula, and were conquered afterwards by Koreanic speakers from the north (most likely in central and southern Manchuria) who were familiar with Central Asian equestrian warfare. By the 6th to 7th centuries, Japonic languages had become marginalized in Silla (southeastern South Korea) (Vovin 2013:227–228). Some Japonic speakers emigrated to the Japanese archipelago, while others were assimilated by Koreanic speakers.
...
Wikipedia