Is Japanese a special language

In the picture (English) 4th-grade "writing test," 1. read first, 2. take a walk together, 3. good luck, 4. that's another

「日本語は特殊な言語である」という言説は果たして正しいのか。言語学的に言えば、ありふれた言語の1つに過ぎない。だが日本語には「音声だけでは十分に機能しない」という特徴がある。文字を見なければ正確にはわからないことが多い。わたしたちは、聞きながら無意識に頭の中で漢字に変換しているのである。英語は音の最小単位であるシラブルが3,000以上（数万とも言われる）あるのに対して、日本語は100程度です。いかに少ないかがわかると思います。今日は日本語の特徴について探っていきましょう。(English) Is the discourse that "Japanese is a special language" really true? Linguistically speaking, it is just another familiar language. However, Japanese is characterized by the fact that it does not function adequately on speech alone. Many things cannot be understood accurately without looking at the characters. We unconsciously convert the sounds into kanji in our minds as we listen. English has more than 3,000 syllables, the smallest unit of sound (some say tens of thousands), while Japanese has about 100. You can see how little it is. Let's explore some of the characteristics of the Japanese language today.

Is Japanese a special language?

A)

1)

Is the discourse that "Japanese is a special language" really true? Linguistically speaking, it is just one of the common languages.

However, Japanese has a feature that "speech alone does not work well."

B)

2)

Looking at the world linguistically, Japanese is one of the common languages ​​with the following characteristics.

*Average number of vowels and consonants

*Indistinguish between singular and plural nouns

* Word order where the predicate comes last (S O V)

3)

In other words, the theory that "Japanese is a special language'' is based on a comparison with Western languages, especially English.

It has been pointed out that the use of hiragana, katakana, kanji, and the alphabet is unique.

The peculiarities of the Japanese language need to be pointed out not only in the characters but also in the sounds.

4)

Words are born from the way thoughts are conveyed by sound.

The basis of language is sound.

Currently, 6,500 languages ​​worldwide, of which 400 have a proper writing system.

The Japanese language did not have letters until Chinese characters were introduced from China a thousand and several hundred years ago. It was voice only.

C)

5)

Japanese has a vast number of homonyms.

However, the Japanese we use today does not work well with just the voice.

Without seeing the letters, it is often difficult to know precisely.

This is due to the enormous number of homonyms.

6)

After the Meiji period, many Japanese words were created to translate Western concepts and things that had not existed before.

At that time, focusing only on the meaning of the kanji characters and not considering the sounds resulted in many homonyms.

This is due to the lack of sounds in Japanese.

English has more than 3,000 syllables, the smallest unit of sound (some say tens of thousands), while Japanese has about 100.

You can see how little it is.

D)

7)

For example, look up "kosho" in the Japanese dictionary.

Then, 48 words such as "negotiation, loftiness, notarization, oral tradition, industry, and commerce" appeared.

Since there are few sounds in Japanese, they end up sounding the same.

It makes sense because it often makes sense from the context.

F)

8)

But that's not all.

As we listen, we unconsciously convert it into kanji in our heads.

9)

"Shiritsu" is called "Watakushiritsu (private)" "Ichiritsu (municipal)," and "Kagaku" is called "Kagaku (science)" and "Bakegaku (chemistry)."

This is because it is difficult to distinguish them from context alone.

10)

I often hear people complain that they can't understand English even though they've learned it for years.

However, in the first place, we Japanese cannot rely on voice alone, even in our mother tongue.

If we talk about the peculiarities of Japanese, we should be aware that it is "a language that does not work well with speech alone."

Is Japanese a special language? 

https://www.newsweekjapan.jp/stories/culture/2021/03/post-95900.php