Editing Japanese language (section)

== Classification ==
{{Main|Classification of the Japonic languages}}
Japanese is a member of the [[Japonic language]] family, which also includes the [[Ryukyuan languages]] spoken in the [[Ryukyu Islands]]. As these closely related languages are commonly treated as dialects of the same language, Japanese is sometimes called a [[language isolate]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kindaichi |first=Haruhiko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dAbRAgAAQBAJ&q=japanese+isolated+language&pg=PT17 |title=Japanese Language: Learn the Fascinating History and Evolution of the Language Along With Many Useful Japanese Grammar Points |date=2011-12-20 |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |isbn=978-1-4629-0266-8 |access-date=2020-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115024826/https://books.google.com/books?id=dAbRAgAAQBAJ&q=japanese+isolated+language&pg=PT17 |archive-date=2021-11-15 |url-status=live}}</ref>

According to [[Martine Robbeets]], Japanese has been subject to more attempts to show its relation to other languages than any other language in the world. Since Japanese first gained the consideration of linguists in the late 19th century, attempts have been made to show its genealogical relation to languages or language families such as [[Ainu languages|Ainu]], [[Korean language|Korean]], [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]], [[Uralic languages|Uralic]], [[Altaic languages|Altaic]] (or [[Ural-Altaic languages|Ural-Altaic]]), [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]], [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] and [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]].{{sfn|Robbeets|2005|p=20}} At the fringe, some linguists have even suggested a link to [[Indo-European languages]], including [[Greek language|Greek]], or to [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]].{{sfn|Shibatani|1990|p=94}} Main modern theories try to link Japanese either to northern Asian languages, like Korean or the proposed larger Altaic family, or to various [[Classification of Southeast Asian languages|Southeast Asian languages]], especially [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]]. None of these proposals have gained wide acceptance (and the Altaic family itself is now considered controversial).{{sfn|Robbeets|2005}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vovin |first=Alexander |title=Proto-Japanese |series=Current Issues in Linguistic Theory |year=2008 |chapter=Proto-Japanese beyond the accent system |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/19253123 |url-status=live |volume=294 |pages=141–156 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |location=Amsterdam |doi=10.1075/cilt.294.11vov |isbn=978-90-272-4809-1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327115347/https://www.academia.edu/19253123 |archive-date=2022-03-27 |access-date=2017-12-20|issn = 0304-0763 }}</ref>{{sfn|Vovin|2010}} As it stands, only the link to Ryukyuan has wide support.{{sfn|Kindaichi|Hirano|1978|pp=30–31}}

Other theories view the Japanese language as an early [[creole language]] formed through inputs from at least two distinct language groups, or as a distinct language of its own that has absorbed various aspects from neighboring languages.{{sfn|Shibatani|1990}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Austronesian influence and Transeurasian ancestry in Japanese: A case of farming/language dispersal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320915864 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219015825/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320915864 |archive-date=2019-02-19 |access-date=2019-03-28 |website=ResearchGate}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ann Kumar |date=1996 |title=Does Japanese have an Austronesian stratum? |url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/kumar1996does.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211103064933/http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/kumar1996does.pdf |archive-date=2021-11-03 |access-date=2017-09-28}}</ref>