Plan.

1. History.

2. Alphabet.

3. Dialects.

4. Facts.

5. References.

1. History.

   As the systematic position, history of the Japanese language is a highly debated question. Proponents of the most widespread versions regarding Altai origin of the Japanese language relates its formation to the period after the conquest of the Japanese Islands alticane — immigrants from the Asian continent, whose language was influenced by autochthonous-austriast. It is difficult to specify the exact date of the birth of the Japanese nation, as before the introduction of Chinese characters, the Japanese had no written language, and almost there is no evidence of historical development. Traces of the Japanese nation can be traced from III century a. E., when most of the tribes of Japan obeyed the Yamato clan, though some Chinese sources contain earlier mention of the Japanese.

Around the VI century there is an active introduction of Chinese culture as a result of diplomatic relations, the Japanese Yamato rulers, China and state of Baekje, which was an important center for the export of the continental (Chinese) culture in Japan. Together with the advent of government, crafts, culture and art, Buddhism in Japan appears writing. The "Kojiki" and "Nihon Shoki", the first major Japanese literary works.

2. Alphabet:

   During this period, Japanese language appeared numerous Chinese words, and to this day 40 % of the vocabulary are the Chinese borrowing. The introduction of Chinese writing was created, however, some problems associated with the difference in accent, the use of tones, morphology and syntax of the two languages. From the VII century. Chinese characters used with the format of the Japanese language, Japanese morphology and syntax.

   First there was Manyogana — selected Chinese characters. When trying to create the Japanese alphabet (alphabet analogue of European countries) was created katakana and hiragana — Japanese syllabary. Both the syllabary, in a modified form, exist in modern Japanese. At the time of writing of the epic "Heike Monogatari" in the XII century on the basis of katakana, hiragana and kanji the Japanese writing system is formed.

Oral Japanese it is divided into the following periods: ancient (up to the VIII century. n. e inclusive), late ancient, or classical Japanese (IX — XI centuries), intermediate (XIII — XVI centuries) and modern (from the seventeenth century to the present day).

3. Dialects:

Since ancient times in Japan there were a large number of dialects. In the VI century the main dialect was Kyoto. In the XII century, the main dialect was the dialect Kamakura (near modern Tokyo). Since that time, the Tokyo dialect is the main dialect of the Japanese language.

In the era of Sengoku in the XVI century the Portuguese and other Europeans come to Japan, bring technology, religion, in the Japanese language appear Portuguese borrowing. Later, the great politician Toyotomi Hideyoshi brought from Korea a printing press with movable letters. In the Tokugawa period develops the printing press, growing literacy of the population, gradually evened out differences between dialects. With the coming to power of Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1603, Japan became a closed country, the government prohibits Christianity and contact with foreigners.

4. Facts:

Fact №1. "In the Japanese language there are not many sounds".

It is not strange to hear this, but the Japanese language is phonetically very poor. For example, a number of familiar sounds such as "l", "f", "C", "b" is not by definition. So, if your name is, for example, Elena — get ready to hear from the Japanese is uncertain "arena" respectively.

Fact №2."Knowledge of the English language can help you to learn Japanese".

A rather unexpected fact. For example, try to guess the meaning of the following words: "petto", "naifu", "hoteru", "basu". Don't forget that the pronunciation of English words a little distorted in the absence of some sounds and the presence of a component of the system instead of the alphabet. So, drumroll and answers ready: petto — pet (with eng. "home pet"), naifu — knife (with eng. "what"), hoteru — hotel (with eng. "hotel"), basu — bus (from the English "bus"). English loanwords in the Japanese language, especially in the field of advertising and IT, a vocabulary which sometimes is almost half of those words.

Fact №3. "Generation forms of the Japanese language — one more puzzle for foreigners".

Still not creepy? Then we go further. These "generation" form — nothing like special words and grammatical constructions particularly of politeness. Japan has always been and remains a country where there is a clear and strict hierarchy in society, so their respect to the elder status, age and position in society it is accepted to Express not only their actions, but also speech. For example, in Japanese language the verb "to drink" there are at least three options: "nomu", "itadaku", "meshigaru ", the first — neutral-polite variant, the second is used by people of lower status in relation to themselves in order to magnify the interlocutor, the latter on the contrary is applicable to persons who occupy high tier in the social hierarchy, and emphasizes respect for them.

Fact №4. "The politeness of the Japanese people knows no bounds".

So, continuing the theme of civility of the Japanese, it's time to remember the differences in the names of relatives. For example, his father's native language can be called "chicha," when I remember the father of his friend, then use only the word "O to : San». In Japanese language there are many names for the same family member, and because the desire to be polite the Japanese above all else. So, my family they call "kazoku" and family companion "gokazoku", where "go" is a prefix of courtesy.

Fact №5. "The hieroglyphs you need not to draw but to write."

There is a misconception about hieroglyphs, namely, the tendency to associate them with pictures. Hieroglyphs are signs that carry some information, not just a set of "sticks and whorls". Each character has its own key that is the element on which it is possible to find in the dictionary. Due to the presence of characters with the same keys, they are memorizing much easier. For example, in pairs of kanji 指 拾 and 防 限 not difficult to see similar graphic elements. Practice is the only way to "make friends" with the hieroglyphs.