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The Languages of Japan
Contributor(s): Shibatani, Masayoshi (Author)
ISBN: 0521360706     ISBN-13: 9780521360708
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
OUR PRICE:   $128.25  
Product Type: Hardcover
Published: May 1990
Qty:
Annotation: This book is a detailed survey of the two main indigenous languages of Japan, Japanese and Ainu.
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Foreign Language Study | Japanese
- Literary Criticism | Asian - General
Dewey: 495.6
LCCN: 89000993
Series: Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature
Physical Information: 1.06" H x 6" W x 9" (1.75 lbs) 428 pages
Themes:
- Cultural Region - Asian
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
This book surveys the two main indigenous languages of Japan, Japanese and Ainu. No genetic relationship has been established between them, and structurally they differ significantly. Shibatani has therefore divided his study into two independent parts. The first is the most comprehensive study of the polysynthetic Ainu language yet to appear in English. The second part deals extensively with Japanese. It discusses topics from the evolution of the writing system and the differences between men's and women's speech, to issues of greater theoretical complexity, such as phonology, the lexicon and word formation, and the syntax of agglutinative morphology. As an American trained scholar in Japan, the author is in a unique position that affords him a dual perspective on language deriving from Western linguistic scholarship and the Japanese grammatical tradition.