The Languages of Japan

Masayoshi Shibatani's THE LANGUAGES OF JAPAN, an entry in the Cambridge Language Surveys series, covers but two languages within its pages: Ainu and Japanese. The book is especially valuable for its inclusion of the former, as until recently little scholarship had been done on English on this endangered minority language of northern Japan. I was especially pleased with Shibitani's survey because it is refreshingly diachronic. His first concern in presenting each language is to summarize the various disagreements over genetic affiliation. Ainu's status as an isolate seems secure and theories relating it to other languages seem quaint, but Shibitani gives what seems to be cutting-edge evidence of Japanese as an Altaic superstratum on an Austronesian substratum. The development of the modern phonology out of earlier forms is also discussed, including the problem of the Old Japanese vowel system. There's also some discussion of the evolution of the lexicon, and which dialects retain what. There may be some outcry over Shibatani's decision to consider Ryukyuan a dialect of Japanese, but in forming the survey he seems to have decided to see Japan as having two main languages on the basis of the uncertain origin of each. Since Rykyuan and Japanese are from a common source, they are grouped together. In fact, Shibatani writes, "Once a genetic relationship is established between two languages, it is a moot point whether to regard them as two languages or as two dialects of the same languages." The work also includes a substantial synchronic discussion of general grammar and word-formation. I felt that I, in spite of his attempt to clearly present these languages, I would have gotten far more out of the book if I had better Japanese. The book is not as suitable for hobby reading by the linguistics student as other entries in the Cambridge Language Survey series. Nonetheless, it's worth look at for those interested in Japanese and the little-documented (in English at any rate) Ainu language.

First, whether Ryukyuan is a "dialect" or a "separate" language is just a matter of semantics. As the author states, the only difference between the two is, in most cases, the presence of a separate government. In Japan's case, the Ryukuu islands are a part of Japan, and are therefore their old dialects are just dialects. Also, in the Japanese language, they are refered to as "hogan", which means "dialect" in English. If these islands were a separate nation, they would be a "different language", in the same way that Portuguese is a "different" (i.e., not a dialect) from Spanish. Ultimately, the thing to remember is that they are (were): 1. a closely related part of the small Japanese linguistic family, and 2. very difficult to understand for other Japanese speaking the other major dialects in northern, southern, and central Japan. Anyway, I loved this book. After having learned Japanese, it was a pleasure to read an academic (but easy to understand) survey of the language, its dialects, and its history. Indeed, this book launched my amateur fascination with linguistics; perhaps someday I shall go so far as to get a degree in it. Now, I am reading an interesting book on African linguistics, but that calls for a separate review. Defintely, buy this book! It is well worth the pocket change that they ask. The Ainu section is indeed a bit disappointing, but ultimately there was little information gathered on that language to begin with, and it is probably too late, since the language is essentially dead now.

Linguists (especially English-speaking ones) would do well to look to the Japanese language and test their theories against it *first* before making o'erhasty generalizations about language. I turned to this book after reading Anna Wierzbicka's work on 'semantic universals' and found that it validated my ideas that there is no exact equivalent in the Japanese language for the English word 'you' (or 'Du' in German, 'tu' in French, etc.). However, Shibatani's work is enjoyable and very informative. Non-linguists can (I think) understand it without much difficulty, and students of Japanese (as well as native speakers!) may enjoy his overview of the history and development of the language. He also goes out of his way to disprove certain 'myths' about Japanese. Plus it has a bibliography of works in both Japanese and English.I sincerely hope more books of this kind will emerge.

Shibatani's book "the Languages of Japan" is now 10 years old, but it still proves to be an excellent resource not only for the weathered linguist, but for anyone with any interest in Japanese, Ainu, and their various dialects.This edition gives a concise overview of Ainu and Japanese from phoentics to semantics and more. I found the chapter on Japanese dialects especially fascinating, and the first half of the book that is dedicated to Ainu is one of the most comprehensive modern works on the language of Japan's indigineous peoples.This volume is small and thus limited in its content, but overall it still remains a valuable and excellent resource for linguists and language buffs.