The goal of this class is to give students a basic understanding of how the Japanese language functions from a linguistic perspective. Topics include the origin of the language, phonology, grammar, orthography, lexicon, sociolinguistics, language contact, dialects and government language policy.

Through this class, students will gain the ability to answer basic questions and take part in academic discussions about Japanese linguistics and linguistics in general.

Japanese linguistics, history of the Japanese language, general linguistics

By discussing a large range of topics concerning Japanese linguistics, students will gain the ability to think critically about the Japanese language, and language in general, from an academic perspective.

Each class will consist of a lecture covering 2–3 units from the textbook, Japanese Linguistics, by Mark Irwin and Matthew Zisk. On the last day of class, each student will give a final presentation using PowerPoint in which they summarize and expand upon one of the topics we covered in class.
Note that the order and content of each individual lesson is subject to change. Additional topics may also be added upon request from the students.

1. Introduction
2. Origins and typology of the Japanese language
3. Phonetics and phonology I: vowels, consonants, timing, phonotactics
4. Phonetics and phonology II: historical overview
5. Grammar and syntax I: overview of parts of speech, verbal morphology
6. Grammar and syntax II: historical overview
7. Writing and orthography I: kanji
8. Writing and orthography II: hiragana and katakana
9. Lexicon and word formation I: derivation, compounding, rendaku
10. Lexicon and word formation II: onomatopoeia and mimetics
11. Language and society I: honorifics and anti-honorifics
12. Language and society II: language in subculture
13. Language contact and dialects I: Sino-Japanese and Western loanwords
14. Language contact and dialects II: Major Japanese dialects
15. Final presentations

This class will largely follow the contents of the textbook. Students are required to purchase the textbook and bring it to class each week. Classes will be taught in a lecture style, but with an emphasis on student involvement.

Each week, students will be asked to read and answer questions about a portion of the textbook (usually 5-10 pages). We will then cover the topics introduced in the textbook in further detail in class the following week.

Grades will be based on a combination of participation, homework questions and the final presentation in which students will present about one of the topics we covered in class.

Grades will be calculated as follows.
Participation: 40%
Homework questions: 30%
Final presentation: 30%

Irwin, Mark & Zisk, Matthew. 2019. Japanese Linguistics. Asakura Shoten.

Have you ever wondered where the Japanese language comes from, why the Japanese use three different writing systems or what are the differences between the major Japanese dialects? I hope to answer all of these questions and many more that you may have about the Japanese language in this class.

I work at Tohoku University and only come to Yamagata University once a week to teach this class, so I do not have any office hours at Yamagata University. Feel free to ask me questions after class or if you would like, send me and email and we can set up a meeting over Zoom or Google Meet.