Chapter · Japan · Language
A language with no known relatives
Foreign place names, a recorded accent, and words forbidden about yourself
Nobody knows which family Japanese belongs to, and the sentence saying so is a hundred and forty years old. But a great deal is known about what it sounded like a hundred and fifty years ago, because foreigners transcribed it letter by letter and explained what they heard. This path reads their dictionaries and grammars as recordings.
Context first
A lesson to read before the others, to set the scene.
- The place
- The era
- The people
The lessons in this chapter
- 1When a place name says the same thing twiceA headland in northern Japan is literally called “cape cape”, because a Japanese word was stuck onto an Ainu one nobody understood any more. A name written for its sound is a name that was not understood.10 min
- 2An accent fixed in Latin lettersThe way the world writes Japanese comes from an American doctor's dictionary. Its orthography page describes three cities that sound different, and explains that the f of Fuji is not an f.10 min
- 3Words you are not allowed to use about yourselfIn Japanese some verbs are used only for what the other person does. In 1888 beggars in the street had learned to make the foreigners' mistake on purpose, so as to be understood by them.9 min
How these lessons are written
Each lesson starts from first-hand sources: Wikisource, Gallica, Persée, archives, museums and institutes. A fact without a source does not get written, and every lesson lists its own as direct links.
The rhythm
A lesson is five minutes of cards and four questions. Those questions then come back the next day, then at 3, 7, 21 and 60 days, and that return is what makes it stick. One a day is enough, and you can do several in a row.