<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>In this article, I deal with the historical development of the Japanese language by applying a multi-disciplinary approach that uses data from a variety of fields. My research indicates that the home-land of the Japonic language family may have been in the lower Yangtze River Valley, from where its speakers moved to the Korean Peninsula and eventually to Japan during the Yayoi period. This spread is associated with the dispersal of wet rice agriculture from the area south of the Yangtze River via the northeastern Asian mainland, where it was in contact with cultures cultivating millet. Old Japanese mythology and genealogical data suggests that the earliest known ethnic group that spoke Japonic may have been the Hayato people of southern Kyūshū.<sup>1</sup></p></abstract>

In this article, I deal with the historical development of the Japanese language by applying a multi-disciplinary approach that uses data from a variety of fields. My research indicates that the home-land of the Japonic language family may have been in the lower Yangtze River Valley, from where its speakers moved to the Korean Peninsula and eventually to Japan during the Yayoi period. This spread is associated with the dispersal of wet rice agriculture from the area south of the Yangtze River via the northeastern Asian mainland, where it was in contact with cultures cultivating millet. Old Japanese mythology and genealogical data suggests that the earliest known ethnic group that spoke Japonic may have been the Hayato people of southern Kyūshū.1

On the Origins of the Japanese Language

Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"On the Origins of the Japanese Language"}

In this article, I deal with the historical development of the Japanese language by applying a multi-disciplinary approach that uses data from a variety of...

On the Origins of the Japanese Language

Published Online: Dec 30, 2019

Page range: 212 - 239

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/vjeas-2019-0008

Keywords
Language origins, Japonic, Hayato, Wa, farming/language dispersal hypothesis

© 2019 Patrick Elmer, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

On the Origins of the Japanese Language

Published Online: Dec 30, 2019

Page range: 212 - 239

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/vjeas-2019-0008

KeywordsLanguage origins, Japonic, Hayato, Wa, farming/language dispersal hypothesis

© 2019 Patrick Elmer, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Language origins, Japonic, Hayato, Wa, farming/language dispersal hypothesis