Editing Japanese dialects (section)

{{Short description|Dialects of the Japanese language}}
{{Infobox language family
|name=Japanese
|region=[[Japan]]
|familycolor=altaic
|fam1=[[Japonic languages|Japonic]]
|child1=[[Eastern Japanese]]
|child2=[[Western Japanese]]
|child3=[[#Kyushu Japanese|Kyūshū]]
|child4=''[[Hachijō language|Hachijō]]'' ?
|glotto=japa1256
|glottoname=Japanesic
|glotto2=nucl1643
|glottorefname2=Japanese
|map=Japanese dialects-en.png
|mapcaption=Map of Japanese dialects (north of the heavy grey line)
}}
The {{nihongo|[[dialect]]s|方言|hōgen}} of the [[Japanese language]] fall into two primary clades, Eastern (including modern capital [[Tokyo]]) and Western (including old capital [[Kyoto]]), with the dialects of [[Kyushu]] and [[Hachijō Island]] often distinguished as additional branches, the latter perhaps the most divergent of all.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Shibatani|2008|p=196}} </ref> The [[Ryukyuan languages]] of [[Okinawa Prefecture]] and the southern islands of [[Kagoshima Prefecture]] form a separate branch of the [[Japonic languages|Japonic family]], and are '''not''' Japanese dialects, although they are sometimes referred to as such.

The setting of Japan with its numerous islands and mountains has the ideal setting for developing many dialects.<ref name=":0">{{Harvcoltxt|Shibatani|2008|p=185}} </ref>

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