Linguistics and Linguistics of Modern Japanese

All human beings, without exception, have some language: a complex knowledge internalized in the human mind and brain. It enables us to communicate with each other, to express ideas, emotions, desires and so on. It is noteworthy that all human languages share many properties in common.

This major has two sub-fields: Linguistics and Linguistics of Modern Japanese. Linguistics is the scientific study of these properties, and which tries to explain why human languages are what they are. Linguistics of Modern Japanese is a sub-field of linguistics. Its main concern is Modern Japanese. It explores the grammar of Modern Japanese, the way we communicate in the language, the relation between the language and society, and how best to teach the language to non-native speakers. Modern Japanese is also contrasted with other languages.

Here are some of the sample questions the two studies explore:

What is linguistics?

How many languages are there in the world?

What is an endangered language?

How is the grammar of Modern Japanese different from those of other languages, such as English, Korean and Chinese?

How is Modern Japanese different from Old Japanese? How did the language change?

What are dialects? Are there any properties that differentiate them from “Standard Japanese”?

The research conducted in the field of linguistics and linguistics of Modern Japanese at Okayama University concerns general linguistics (including Modern Japanese), Turkish and Turkic languages, Philippine languages, sociolinguistics, Japanese discourse, demonstratives, teaching Japanese as a foreign/second language, among many others.

All members of this major share the common goal of understanding human language through empirical research, and both our teaching and research reflect this goal.