Japanese history

Origin of the language

400 BCE

The origin of the Japanese language is heavily debated. Evidence could link several language families, including Chinese, Polynesian, and Ural-Altaic. Many even consider Japanese to be a language isolate! Yet it is most widely believed that the Japan language belongs to the Ryukyuan family of languages, brought to Japan via the Korean peninsula in the 4th century BC.

Early Middle Japanese

794

The language of Japan evolved and underwent several phonological changes, becoming Early Middle Japanese in the Heian period (794 to 1185). This language was the literary standard in Japan and incorporated many Chinese loanwords. The Late Middle Japanese period followed and spanned from 1185 to 1600, characterized by the addition of European loanwords.

Modern “Japanese Language”

1600

The Modern Japanese period moves further from the origin of the Japanese language. Previously, the Kansai dialect of Japanese was considered the language standard. But in the Modern Japanese era, there was a shift towards the dialect spoken in Edo (modern-day Tokyo). From the 1600s onwards, the city developed into the largest in Japan, and the regional language variety was used to speak Japanese professionally and day-to-day.
The Japanese language continued to evolve as time passed.