From: Rick McCallister
Message: 52480
Date: 2008-02-07
> I read this quickly. Did I miss the word "majority"____________________________________________________________________________________
> someplace?
>
>
> Patrick
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Rick McCallister" <gabaroo6958@...>
> To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 3:14 PM
> Subject: [tied] was Punk Ekk, now Japanese
>
>
> > Here's what the Wik has to say about Japanese
> >
> > Japanese vocabulary has been heavily influenced by
> > loans from other languages. A vast number of words
> > were borrowed from Chinese, or created from
> Chinese
> > models, over a period of at least 1,500 years.
> Since
> > the late 19th century, Japanese has borrowed a
> > considerable number of words from Indo-European
> > languages, primarily English. Because of the
> special
> > trade relationship between Japan and first
> Portugal in
> > the 16th century, and then mainly Holland in the
> 17th
> > century, Portuguese and Dutch have also been
> > influential.
> >
> > Formerly, standard Japanese in writing
> > (文語 bungo , "literary language")
> was
> > different from colloquial language
> (口語
> > kōgo ). The two systems have different
> rules
> > of grammar and some variance in vocabulary. Bungo
> was
> > the main method of writing Japanese until about
> 1900;
> > since then kōgo gradually extended its
> influence
> > and the two methods were both used in writing
> until
> > the 1940s. Bungo still has some relevance for
> > historians, literary scholars, and lawyers (many
> > Japanese laws that survived World War II are still
> > written in bungo, although there are ongoing
> efforts
> > to modernize their language). Kōgo is the
> > predominant method of both speaking and writing
> > Japanese today, although bungo grammar and
> vocabulary
> > are occasionally used in modern Japanese for
> effect.
> >
> > Main article: Japanese dialects
> > Dozens of dialects are spoken in Japan. The
> profusion
> > is due to many factors, including the length of
> time
> > the archipelago has been inhabited, its
> mountainous
> > island terrain, and Japan's long history of both
> > external and internal isolation. Dialects
> typically
> > differ in terms of pitch accent, inflectional
> > morphology, vocabulary, and particle usage. Some
> even
> > differ in vowel and consonant inventories,
> although
> > this is uncommon.
> > The main distinction in Japanese accents is
> between
> > Tokyo-type (東京式
> > Tōkyō-shiki ) and Western-type
> > (京阪式 Keihan-shiki ),
> though
> > Kyūshū-type dialects form a third,
> smaller
> > group. Within each type are several subdivisions.
> The
> > Western-type dialects are actually in the central
> > region, with borders roughly formed by Toyama,
> > Kyōto, Hyōgo, and Mie Prefectures; most
> > Shikoku dialects are also Western-type. Dialects
> > farther west are actually of the Tokyo type. The
> final
> > category of dialects are those that are descended
> from
> > the Eastern dialect of Old Japanese; these
> dialects
> > are spoken in Hachijojima, Kōchi Prefecture,
> and
> > very few other locations.
> > Dialects from peripheral regions, such as
> Tōhoku
> > or Tsushima, may be unintelligible to speakers
> from
> > other parts of the country. The several dialects
> used
> > in Kagoshima in southern Kyūshū are
> famous
> > for being unintelligible not only to speakers of
> > standard Japanese but to speakers of nearby
> dialects
> > elsewhere in Kyūshū as well[citation
> > needed]. This is probably due in part to the
> Kagoshima
> > dialects' peculiarities of pronunciation, which
> > include the existence of closed syllables (i.e.,
> > syllables that end in a consonant, such as /kob/
> or
> > /koʔ/ for Standard Japanese /kumo/ "spider").
> The
> > vocabulary of Kagoshima dialect is 84% cognate
> with
> > standard Tokyo dialect.[citation needed]
> Kansai-ben, a
> > group of dialects from west-central Japan, is
> spoken
> > by many Japanese; the Osaka dialect in particular
> is
> > associated with comedy.
> > The Ryūkyūan languages, while closely
> > related to Japanese, are distinct enough to be
> > considered a separate branch of the Japonic
> family,
> > and are not dialects of Japanese. They are spoken
> in
> > the Ryukyu Islands and in some islands that are
> > politically part of Kagoshima Prefecture. Not only
> is
> > each language unintelligible to Japanese speakers,
> but
> > most are unintelligible to those who speak other
> > Ryūkyūan languages. See Classification
> of
> > the japanese language.
> > Recently, Standard Japanese has become prevalent
> > nationwide (including portions of the
> Ryūkyū
> > islands like Okinawa) due not only to television
> and
> > radio, but also to increased mobility within Japan
> due
> > to its system of roads, railways, and airports, as
> > well as economic integration. Young people usually
> > speak their local dialect and the standard
> language,
> > though in most cases, the local dialect is
> influenced
> > by the standard, and regional versions of
> "standard"
> > Japanese have local-dialect influence.
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
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> >
>
> >____________________________________________________________________________________
>