Japanese has several historical connections to the Japonic, Ural-Altaic, Polynesian and Chinese languages. The Ural-Altaic family is comprised of languages such as Turkish, Mongolian, Manchu, and Korean. Korean has more comparative characteristics with Japanese than other languages such as vowel harmony, lack of conjunctions and general structure suggesting greater historical links to this language and an emphasis on Ural-Altaic origin than some other historical possibilities.
There is some ambiguity surrounding the exact origins of the language, however, just as there is a lack of clarity concerning the beginnings of Japanese culture and the growth of the Japanese population. There have been some obvious cultural influences from the rice and horse culture however the existence of the Japanese can only be estimated as coming into being around 3AD. Yet during the sixth century a proportionate amount of Chinese culture saturated Japan changing styles of art , politics, religion and inevitably as a result of the cultural changes; changes in language. Most significantly the Chinese Characters system of writing was adopted to produce the Chronicles of Japan, the first Japanese books ever to be written as there had been no written language up to this point only a spoken one. The vocabulary was also boosted by Chinese language and today it is estimated that around forty per cent of the Japanese vocabulary is adapted from the Chinese language.
The Chinese writing system was problematic in transferring the Japanese language to the page. The structure did not allow for the free expression of the Japanese language which was what was ideally required. Soon Chinese Characters were used to develop a written format of their own language. It was the Buddhist priests, however, that developed a more simplified phonetic system that was to lead to the current katakana script. The second script of hiragana was developed by the women of the Heian Court and used for literary texts and is more of an artistic script. By the twelfth century writing had thus far so far developed as to merge Chinese Characters, phonetic scripts and the structure of Japanese itself. Forms of both katakana and hiragana are used today although they are assigned to different aspects of language; hiragana being the more functional and katakana relating to loan and italicized words.
Spoken Japanese underwent around four significant changes which actually reduced rather than increased the growth of the language, such as the reduction in vowel sounds. The evolution of this language in this way owed much perhaps to the series of dialects that Japanese originally formed. The language was also influenced by historical events and the connections made with other cultures. It has been influenced by Portuguese, Dutch, German and English. In turn the Japanese language influenced other cultures and became more widespread in Asian areas. This was due to the development of the Japanese Militia and economy in the nineteenth century. Japan expanded into parts of Asia including China, South East Asia and the Philippines and many learned the Japanese language. Much of the vocabulary remains embedded in other languages, particularly Korean. In turn, today, the Japanese language is more greatly subject to the influence of Western languages, slang terms are developing and a youth-specific grammar.
Japanese is spoken in Brazil, South America, the United States, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, Philippines and Guam. It is spoken by around 130 million people world wide and the numbers look set to increase with the impact of international business and the significant contributions made by Japanese technological development which have firmly rooted Japanese companies in the Western world.
Visiting Japan
A few useful phrases to know when visiting Japan are some basic greetings such as 'Ohayo gozaimasu' (Good morning), 'Konnichiwa (Good day), and Konbanwa (Good evening). You could follow this with 'O genki desu ka?' (How are you?) and reply, 'Hai genki desu' (I am fine), 'Anata wa? (and you?). You could ask, 'Anat-no namae wa?' (What is your name?) and tell someone, 'Watashi no namae wa.desu' (my name is.). When introducing yourself you could tell someone, 'Dozo yoroshiku' or 'Yoroshiku onegaishimasu' (pleased to meet you). At the end of the conversation say, 'Sayonara' (Goodbye).
Useful questions you could also ask include, 'Doko desu ka?' (Where is it?), 'Nan-ji desu ka?' (What time is it?) or 'Sore wa ikura desu ka? (How much is it?). You might also need to ask 'Anata wa eigo o hanashimasu ka?' (Do you speak English?), 'Wakarimasu ka?' (Do you understand?) or 'Yukkuri hanashi te kudasai' (Please speak slowly). Other useful words might include, 'Sumi masen' (excuse me- to get attention), Dozo (Please- when offering something), 'Kudasai' ( Please- when requesting something) and 'Arigato' (Thank you).
Japanese Culture
Japanese culture is famous the world over particularly some of its more popular culture which has infiltrated the Western world such as Manga Art and Japanese horror films.
Japan has a thriving business culture which is guided by harmony, the education of teaching and working together and the interdependence of people. It is crucial to show deference to persons of status in relation to your own. It is a formal culture with a certain etiquette that is followed in the business world. The Japanese are polite in business but feel embarrassed by a lack of understanding of the English language. Some knowledge of Japanese culture and language may help to alleviate some of this.
Relationships can be built by extending small gestures such as greeting cards, establishing a good correspondence and making appointments weeks in advance. When meeting use formal greetings such as head bowing and be aware that the Japanese may well rely on non-verbal communication for the meeting and take into account expression, posture and so on. The Japanese do not like to say the word 'no' so you may need to read into their non-verbal communication. Although as the culture is different be careful not to mis-read signs such as closed eyes which is usually a sign of intently listening. They also find 'saving face' very important and do no appreciate open criticism or put-downs. When they have entered into a business agreement a contract might be drawn up but the Japanese do not see these as fixed but as something that can be changed or re-negotiated.
Japanese is a useful language to learn given the growing impact of the culture on the Western world, their progress in technology and growing role in the business world.
Language Courses
+44 (0)20 3370 8580
