The classification of the Japonic languages

Abstract

The chapter starts with an overview of the history of dialect classification in Japan. A puzzling aspect of the distribution pattern of the Japanese dialects is the fact that many features, which cannot all be explained as retentions or simplifications, recur in geographically distant areas. These similarities have been commonly but unsatisfyingly regarded as the result of parallel independent developments. Phonological (including tonal), morphological, and lexical features are selected to illustrate the splits that result in the different branches of Japonic. Based on shared innovations, the new classification at the end of the chapter proposes a Izumo-Tōhoku branch, as well as a Kyūshū-Ryūkyū branch.