Japanese language and LabVIEW: Difference between pages

Revision as of 03:35, 21 April 2007

Revision as of 06:55, 11 July 2007

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{{Infobox_Software | name = LabVIEW

{{Infobox Language

| logo = [[Image:Labview-logo.png|right|300px|LabVIEW logo.]]

|name=Japanese |nativename= Nihongo

| screenshot =

|familycolor=Isolate

| caption =

|caption=''Nihongo'' (''Japanese'') in [[Japanese writing system|Japanese script]]

| developer = [[National Instruments]]

|image=[[Image:Nihongo.png|center|50px|日本語 (Japanese language)]]

| latest_release_version = 8.2.1

|states=[[Japan]], [[Brazil]], [[Peru]], [[United States]] (esp. [[Hawaii]]), [[Taiwan]], [[Guam]], [[Marshall Islands]].

| latest_release_date = 2007

|speakers=130 million [http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/march/Japanese.html]

| operating_system = [[Cross-platform]]: [http://ni.com/labview/requirements Windows, Mac OS X, Linux]

|rank=9

| genre = [[Data acquisition|Data Acquisition]], [[Instrument control|Instrument Control]], [[Test automation|Test Automation]], [[Signal processing|Analysis and Signal Processing]], [[Industrial Control Systems|Industrial Control]], [[Embedded|Embedded Design]]

|fam1=Unclassified: perhaps an [[Altaic]] language or a language isolate

| license = [[Proprietary software|Proprietary]]

[[Japonic languages|Japonic]]

| website = [http://www.ni.com/labview/ ni.com/labview]

|script=[[Japanese writing system|Japanese logographs and syllabaries]]

}}

|nation=[[Angaur]] ([[Palau]]) ''(Questionable. See the [[#Geographic distribution|discusion]] below.)''<br/>''De facto'' in [[Japan]]

|agency=None<br/>[[Government of Japan|Japanese government]] plays major role

|iso1=ja|iso2=jpn|iso3=jpn}}

'''LabVIEW''' (short for '''Lab'''oratory '''V'''irtual '''I'''nstrumentation '''E'''ngineering '''W'''orkbench) is a platform and development environment for a [[visual programming language]] from [[National Instruments]].

{{nihongo|'''Japanese'''|日本語|3={{Audio|ja-nihongo.ogg|Nihongo}}}} is a language spoken by over 130 million people, mainly in [[Japan]], but also by Japanese emigrant communities around the world. It is an [[agglutinative language]] and is distinguished by a complex system of [[Japanese honorifics|honorifics]] reflecting the hierarchical nature of Japanese society, with verb forms and particular vocabulary to indicate the relative status of speaker, listener and the person mentioned in conversation. The sound inventory of Japanese is relatively small, and has a lexically distinct [[Japanese pitch accent|pitch-accent]] system. Early Japanese is known largely on the basis of its state in the [[8th century]], when the three major works of [[Old Japanese]] were compiled; but smaller amounts of material, primarily inscriptional, are older. The earliest attestation of Japanese is in a Chinese document from 252 A.D.

The graphical language is named "G". Originally released for the [[Apple Macintosh]] in [[1986]], LabVIEW is commonly used for [[data acquisition]], [[instrument control]], and [[Automation|industrial automation]] on a variety of platforms including [[Microsoft Windows]], various flavors of [[Unix|UNIX]], [[Linux]], and [[Mac OS]]. The latest version of LabVIEW is version 8.20, released in honor of LabVIEW's 20th anniversary.

== Dataflow programming ==

The Japanese language is written with a combination of three different types of scripts: [[Chinese characters]], ''[[kanji]]'', and two [[syllabary|syllabic]] scripts, ''[[hiragana]]'' and ''[[katakana]]''. The [[Latin alphabet]], ''[[rōmaji]]'', is also often used in modern Japanese, especially for company names and logos, advertising, and when inputting Japanese into a computer. Western style [[Arabic numerals]] are generally used for numbers, but traditional [[Sino-Japanese]] numerals are also commonplace.

The programming language used in LabVIEW, called "G", is a [[dataflow language]]. Execution is determined by the structure of a graphical block diagram (the LV-source code) on which the programmer connects different function-nodes by drawing wires. These wires propagate variables and any node can execute as soon as all its input data become available. Since this might be the case for multiple nodes simultaneously, G is inherently capable of parallel execution. [[Multi-processing]] and [[multi-threading]] hardware is automatically exploited by the built-in scheduler, which [[multiplexing|multiplexes]] multiple [[Operating System|OS]] threads over the nodes ready for execution.

Japanese vocabulary has been heavily influenced by loans from other languages. A vast number of words were borrowed from [[Chinese language|Chinese]], or created from Chinese models, over a period of at least 1,500 years. Since the late [[19th century]], Japanese has borrowed a considerable number of words from [[Indo-European languages]], primarily [[English language|English]]. Because of the special trade relationship between Japan and Holland in the 17th century, [[Dutch language|Dutch]] has also been influential, with words like ''bīru'' (from ''bier''; "[[beer]]") and ''kōhī'' (from ''koffie''; "[[coffee]]") being of Dutch origin.

Programmers with a background in conventional programming often show a certain reluctance to adopt the LabVIEW dataflow scheme, claiming that LabVIEW is prone to [[race conditions]]. In reality, this stems from a misunderstanding of the data-flow paradigm. The aforementioned data-flow (which can be "forced", typically by linking inputs and outputs of nodes) completely defines the execution sequence, and that can be fully controlled by the programmer. Thus, the execution sequence of the LabVIEW graphical syntax is as well-defined as with any textually coded language such as [[C (programming language)|C]], [[Visual Basic|Visual BASIC]], [[Python (programming language)|Python]] etc. Furthermore, LabVIEW does not require type definition of the variables; the wire type is defined by the data-supplying node. LabVIEW supports [[Polymorphism (computer science)|polymorphism]] in that wires automatically adjust to various types of data.

== Classification ==

{{main|Japanese language classification}}

Some [[Historical linguistics|historical linguists]] who specialize in Japanese agree that it is one of the two members of a [[Japonic languages|Japonic]] language family, the other member being [[Ryūkyūan languages|Ryūkyūan]].Others, however, regard the kinds of speech found in the various [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryūkyū Islands]] as dialects of Japanese, since it is not yet clear when and how the various islands came to be settled by members of this linguistic and cultural group.

[[Image:LabVIEWCode.png|thumb|right|400px|Screenshot of a simple LabVIEW program that generates, synthesizes, analyzes and displays waveforms, showing the block diagram and front panel. Each symbol on the block diagram represents a LabVIEW subroutine (subVI) which can be another LabVIEW program or a LV library function.]]

The genetic affiliation of the Japonic family is uncertain. Numerous theories have been proposed, relating it to a wide variety of other languages and families, including [[extinct language]]s spoken by historic cultures of the [[Korean Peninsula]]; the [[Korean language]]; the [[Altaic languages]]; and the [[Austronesian languages]], among many others. It is also often suggested that it may be a [[creole language]] combining more than one of these. The various theories are detailed in the [[Japanese language classification|main article]]. At this point, no one theory is generally accepted as correct, and the issue is likely to remain controversial.

== GeographicGraphical distributionprogramming ==

Although Japanese is spoken almost exclusively in Japan, it has been and is still sometimes spoken elsewhere. When [[Imperial Japan|Japan]] occupied [[Korea]], [[Taiwan]], parts of the [[Chinese mainland]], and various Pacific islands during and before [[World War II]], locals in [[Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere|those countries]] were forced to learn Japanese in empire-building programs. As a result, there were many people in these countries until the 1970s, who could speak Japanese in addition to the local languages. Japanese emigrant communities (the largest of which are to be found in [[Brazil]]) frequently employ Japanese as their primary language. Japanese emigrants can also be found in [[Peru]], [[Argentina]], [[Australia]] (especially [[Sydney]], [[Brisbane]], and [[Melbourne]]), and the [[United States]] (notably [[California]] and [[Hawaii]]). There is also a small emigrant community in [[Davao]], [[Philippines]] and in [[Vancouver]], [[Canada]]. Their descendants (known as ''[[nikkei]]'' 日系, literally Japanese descendants), however, rarely speak Japanese fluently. There are estimated to be several million non-Japanese studying the language as well; many schools, both primary and secondary, offer courses.

LabVIEW ties the creation of user interfaces (called front panels) into the development cycle. LabVIEW programs/subroutines are called virtual instruments (VIs). Each VI has three components: a block diagram, a front panel and a connector pane. The latter may represent the VI as a subVI in block diagrams of calling VIs. Controls and indicators on the front panel allow an operator to input data into or extract data from a running virtual instrument. However, the front panel can also serve as a programmatic interface. Thus a virtual instrument can either be run as a program, with the front panel serving as a user interface, or, when dropped as a node onto the block diagram, the front panel defines the inputs and outputs for the given node through the connector pane. This implies each VI can be easily tested before being embedded as a subroutine into a larger program.

According to [[the World Factbook]] by the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], [[Angaur]] state of [[Palau]] is reported to have Japanese as one of three official languages as well as [[Angaur language|Angaur]] and [[English language|English]]. [https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ps.html] The state is the only place in the world where Japanese is the ''de jure'' official language, in case the report is true. However, another report tells that the official languages in Angaur are [[Palauan language|Palauan]] and English, just like other states in the republic. <ref>According to the Japanese blog [http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~massange/cgi-bin/iroiro.cgi/world/belau2.htm massangeana のいろいろ], Hersey Kyota, Palauan ambassador to the United States, stated that the official languages in Angaur are Palauan and English.</ref> Whichever the case, the number of active Japanese speakers in the state is zero, according to the census in [[2005]]. <ref>From the official website of [http://www.spc.int/prism/country/pw/stats/PalauStats/Publication/publications.htm Palauan Office of Planning & Statistics], 2005 census of population and housing, Table 16. The sensus reports there are 124 Japanese speakers in the whole republic, 116 of them live in [[Koror]], none in Angaur.</ref>

The graphical approach also allows non-programmers to build programs by simply dragging and dropping virtual representations of the lab equipment with which they are already familiar. The LabVIEW programming environment, with the included examples and the documentation, makes it simpler to create small applications. This is a benefit on one side but there is also a certain danger of underestimating the expertise needed for good quality "G" programming. For complex algorithms or large-scale code it is important that the programmer possess an extensive knowledge of the special LabVIEW syntax and the topology of its memory management. The most advanced LabVIEW development systems offer the possibility of building stand-alone applications. Furthermore, it is possible to create distributed applications which communicate by a client/server scheme, and thus is easier to implement due to the inherently parallel nature of ''G''-code.

=== Official status ===

Japanese is the ''de facto'' official language of Japan, which is the only country to have Japanese as an official working language. There are two forms of the language considered standard: {{nihongo|''hyōjungo''|標準語|}} or standard Japanese, and {{nihongo|''kyōtsūgo''|共通語|}} or the common language spoken by the people in casual situations (i.e. colloquial). As government policy has modernized Japanese, many of the distinctions between the two have blurred. ''Hyōjungo'' is taught in schools and used on television and in official communications, and is the version of Japanese discussed in this article.

== Benefits ==

Standard Japanese can also be divided into {{nihongo|''bungo''|文語|}} or "literary language," and {{nihongo|''kōgo''|口語|}} or "oral language", which have different rules of grammar and some variance in vocabulary. ''Bungo'' was the main method of writing Japanese until the late 1940s, and still has relevance for historians, literary scholars, and lawyers (many Japanese laws that survived [[World War II]] are still written in ''bungo'', although there are ongoing efforts to modernize their language). ''Kōgo'' is the predominant method of speaking and writing Japanese today, although ''bungo'' grammar and vocabulary are occasionally used in modern Japanese for effect.

One benefit of LabVIEW over other development environments is the extensive support for accessing instrumentation hardware. Drivers and abstraction layers for many different types of instruments and buses are included or are available for inclusion. These present themselves as graphical nodes. The abstraction layers offer standard software interfaces to communicate with hardware devices. The provided driver interfaces save program development time. The sales pitch of National Instruments is, therefore, that even people with limited coding experience can write programs and deploy test solutions in a reduced time frame when compared to more conventional or competing systems. A new hardware driver topology (DAQmxBase), which consists mainly of ''G''-coded components with only a few register calls through NI Measurement Hardware DDK (Driver Development Kit) functions, provides platform independent hardware access to numerous data acquisition and instrumentation devices. The DAQmxBase driver is available for LabVIEW on Windows, MacOSX and Linux platforms.

=== Dialects ===

{{main|Japanese dialects}}

In terms of performance, LabVIEW includes a [[compiler]] that produces native code for the CPU platform. The graphical code is translated into executable machine code by interpreting the syntax and by compilation. The LabVIEW syntax is strictly enforced during the editing process and compiled into the executable machine code when requested to run or upon saving. In the latter case, the executable and the source code are merged into a single file. The executable runs with the help of the LabVIEW run-time engine, which contains some precompiled code to perform common tasks that are defined by the G language. The run-time engine reduces compile time and also provides a consistent interface to various operating systems, graphic systems, hardware components, etc. The run-time environment makes the code portable across platforms. Generally, LV code can be slower than equivalent compiled C code, although the differences often lie more with program optimization than inherent execution speed.

Dozens of dialects are spoken in Japan. The profusion is due to many factors, including the length of time the archipelago has been inhabited, its mountainous island terrain, and Japan's long history of both external and internal isolation. Dialects typically differ in terms of pitch accent, inflectional [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]], [[vocabulary]], and particle usage. Some even differ in [[vowel]] and [[consonant]] inventories, although this is uncommon.

Many libraries with a large number of functions for data acquisition, signal generation, mathematics, statistics, signal conditioning, analysis, etc., along with numerous graphical interface elements are provided in several LabVIEW package options.

The main distinction in Japanese dialects is between {{nihongo|Tokyo-type|東京式|Tōkyō-shiki}} and {{nihongo|Western-type|京阪式|Keihan-shiki}}, though Kyūshū-type dialects form a smaller third group. Within each type are several subdivisions. The Western-type dialects are actually in the central region, with borders roughly formed by [[Toyama Prefecture|Toyama]], [[Kyoto Prefecture|Kyōto]], [[Hyogo Prefecture|Hyōgo]], and [[Mie Prefecture|Mie]] Prefectures; most [[Shikoku]] dialects are also Western-type. Dialects further west are actually of the Tokyo type. The final category of dialects are those that are descended from the Eastern dialect of [[Old Japanese]]; these dialects are spoken in [[Hachijojima]], [[Tosa Province|Tosa]], and very few other locations.

The LabVIEW Professional Development System allows creating stand-alone executables and the resultant executable can be distributed an unlimited number of times. The run-time engine and its libraries can be provided freely along with the executable.

Dialects from peripheral regions, such as [[Tōhoku Region|Tōhoku]] or [[Tsushima]], may be unintelligible to speakers from other parts of the country. The several dialects used in [[Kagoshima]] in southern [[Kyūshū]] are famous for being unintelligible not only to speakers of standard Japanese but to speakers of nearby dialects elsewhere in Kyūshū as well, probably due in part to the Kagoshima dialects' peculiarities of pronunciation, which include the existence of closed syllables (i.e., syllables that end in a consonant, such as {{IPA|/kob/}} or {{IPA|/koʔ/}} for Standard Japanese {{IPA|/kumo/}} "spider"). The vocabulary of Kagoshima dialect is 84% cognate with standard Tokyo dialect. [[Kansai-ben]], a group of dialects from west-central Japan, is spoken by many Japanese; the Osaka dialect in particular is associated with comedy.

A benefit of the LabVIEW environment is the platform independent nature of the ''G''-code, which is (with the exception of a few platform-specific functions) portable between the different LabVIEW systems for different operating systems (Windows, MacOSX and Linux). National Instruments is increasingly focusing on the capability of deploying LabVIEW code onto an increasing number of targets including devices like [[Phar Lap (company)|Phar Lap]] OS based LabVIEW real-time controllers, PocketPCs, PDAs, [[FieldPoint]] modules and into [[FPGA]]s on special boards.

The [[Ryūkyūan languages]], while closely related to Japanese, are distinct enough to be considered a separate branch of the [[Japonic languages|Japonic]] family, and are not dialects of Japanese. They are spoken in the [[Ryukyu Islands]] and in some islands that are politically part of [[Kagoshima Prefecture]]. Not only is each language unintelligible to Japanese speakers, but most are unintelligible to those who speak other Ryūkyūan languages.

There is a low cost LabVIEW Student Edition aimed at educational institutions for learning purposes. There is also an active community of LabVIEW users who communicate through several e-mail groups and Internet forums.

Recently, Standard Japanese has become prevalent nationwide (including portions of the Ryūkyū islands like Okinawa) due not only to [[television]] and [[radio]], but also to increased mobility within Japan due to its system of roads, railways, and airports. Young people usually speak their local dialect and the standard language, though in most cases, the local dialect is influenced by the standard, and regional versions of "standard" Japanese have local-dialect influence.

== Sounds Criticism==

{{main|Japanese phonology}}

{{IPA notice}}

LabVIEW is a [[proprietary software|proprietary]] product of [[National Instruments]]. Unlike common programming languages such as [[C Programming Language|C]] or [[FORTRAN]], LabVIEW is not managed or specified by a third party standards committee such as [[ANSI]].

Japanese vowels are "pure" sounds, similar to their [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Greek language|Greek]] or [[Italian language|Italian]] counterparts. The only unusual vowel is the high back vowel {{IPA|/ɯ/}} ''{{Audio|U (Japanese).ogg|listen}}'', which is like {{IPA|/u/}}, but [[roundedness|compressed]] instead of rounded. Japanese has five vowels, and [[vowel length]] is phonemic, so each one has both a short and a long version.

[[Image:LabVIEW 8dot20 Splash Screen.jpg|right|300px|LabVIEW Splash Screen.]]In addition, as of version 8, all LabVIEW installs require customers to contact National Instruments by Internet or phone to "activate" the product.<ref name="Activation FAQ">{{cite news |url=http://www.ni.com/support/licensing/licensefaq.htm

Some Japanese consonants have several [[allophone]]s, which may give the impression of a larger inventory of sounds. However, some of these allophones have since become phonemic. For example, in the Japanese up to and including the first half of the twentieth century, the phonemic sequence {{IPA|/ti/}} was [[palatalization|palatalized]] and realized phonetically as {{IPA|[tɕi]}}, approximately ''chi'' ''{{Audio|Chi_(Japanese).ogg|listen}}''; however, now {{IPA|/ti/}} and {{IPA|/tɕi/}} are distinct, as evidenced by words like ''pātī'' {{IPA|[paːtiː]}} "party" and ''chi'' {{IPA|[tɕi]}} "ground."

|publisher=National Instruments |title=Product Activation FAQ}}</ref> The increasing dependence on the vendor suggests possible privacy and data security concerns. For example, although National Instruments claims the process is "secure and anonymous" the immediate implication is that a legal but privately installed instance of LabVIEW seems no longer possible.

Building a stand-alone application with LabVIEW requires the Application Builder component which is included with the Professional Development System but requires a separate purchase if using the Base Package or Full Development System.<ref name="Building a Stand-Alone Application">{{cite news |url= http://zone.ni.com/reference/en-XX/help/371361B-01/lvhowto/building_a_stand_alone_app/ | publisher=National Instruments |title= Building a Stand-Alone Application }}</ref> Compiled [[executable]]s produced by the Application Builder are not truly standalone in that they also require that the LabVIEW run-time engine be installed on any target computer on which users run the application.<ref name="Using the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine">{{cite news |url= http://zone.ni.com/reference/en-XX/help/371361B-01/lvhowto/using_the_lv_run_time_eng/ | publisher=National Instruments |title= Using the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine }}</ref> Although this run-time engine can be freely downloaded from National Instruments' website, this added requirement is in contrast to other compiled languages, such as [[C Programming Language|C]], where a stand-alone executable file can be created, run and distributed without the need for additional files or installation procedures. These requirements can cause problems if an application is distributed to a user who may be prepared to run the application but does not have the inclination or permission to install additional files on the host system prior to running the executable. The need for a separately-installed LabVIEW run-time engine makes the development and distribution of truly [[portable application]]s using LabVIEW difficult.

The r of the Japanese language (technically a [[lateral]] [[apical]] postalveolar flap), is of particular interest, sounding to most Europeans' ears to be something between an l and a [[retroflex]] r depending on its position in a word.

There is some debate as to whether LabVIEW is really a general purpose programming language (or in some cases whether it is really a programming language at all) as opposed to an application-specific development environment for measurement and automation.<ref>[http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/5313 Is LabVIEW a general purpose programming language?]</ref> Critics point to a lack of features, common in most other programming languages, such as native recursion and, until version 8.20, object oriented features. While it is possible to write complex applications in LabVIEW that involve no measurement or automation, it is not best suited to the task.

The syllabic structure and the [[phonotactics]] are very simple: the only [[consonant cluster]]s allowed within a syllable consist of one of a subset of the consonants plus /j/. This type of clusters only occurs in onsets. However, consonant clusters across syllables are allowed as long as the two consonants are a nasal followed by a homo-organic consonant. [[Consonant length]] (gemination) is also phonemic.

==Articles Grammaron LabVIEW==

===Articles about specific applications of LabVIEW===

<!--Please keep in mind that this section is intended to be a summary and should not dominate the article. If you feel like going in-depth about something regarding Japanese grammar, please add it to the main article linked below.-->

*{{cite journal

{{main|Japanese grammar}}

| last = Desnica V, Schreiner M

| first =

| authorlink =

| coauthors =

| title = A LabVIEW-controlled portable x-ray fluorescence spectrometer for the analysis of art objects

| journal = X-Ray Spectrometry

| volume = 35

| issue = 5

| pages = 280-286

| publisher =

| date = Oct 2006

| url = http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/112748693/ABSTRACT

| doi = 10.1002/xrs.906

| id =

| accessdate = }}

*{{cite journal

=== Sentence structure ===

| last = Keleshis C, Ionita C, Rudin S

The basic Japanese word order is [[Subject Object Verb]]. Subject, Object, and other grammatical relations are usually marked by [[Japanese particles|particles]], which are suffixed to the words that they modify, and are thus properly called [[postposition]]s.

| first =

| authorlink =

| coauthors =

| title = Labview graphical user interface for micro angio-fluoroscopic high resolution detector

| journal = Medical Physics

| volume = 33

| issue = 6

| pages = 2007

| publisher =

| date = Jun 2006

| url = http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=MPHYA6000033000006002007000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=Yes

| doi = 10.1118/1.2240285

| id =

| accessdate = }}

*{{cite journal

The basic sentence structure is [[topic-comment]]. For example, ''Kochira-wa Tanaka-san desu.''

| last = Fedak W, Bord D, Smith C, Gawrych D, Lindeman K

( こちらは田中さんです )''Kochira'' ("this") is the topic of the sentence, indicated by the particle ''-wa''. The verb is ''desu'', a [[copula]], commonly translated as "to be" or "it is" (though there are other verbs that can be translated as "to be"). As a phrase, ''Tanaka-san desu'' is the comment. This sentence loosely translates to "As for this person, (it) is Mr./Mrs./Miss Tanaka." Thus Japanese, like [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Korean language|Korean]], and many other Asian languages, is often called a [[topic-prominent language]], which means it has a strong tendency to indicate the topic separately from the subject, and the two do not always coincide. The sentence ''Zō-wa hana-ga nagai (desu)''　( 象は鼻が長いです ) literally means, "As for elephants, (their) noses are long". The topic is ''zō'' "elephant", and the subject is ''hana'' "nose".

| first =

| authorlink =

| coauthors =

| title = Automation of the Franck-Hertz experiment and the Tel-X-Ometer x-ray machine using LABVIEW

| journal = American Journal of Physics

| volume = 71

| issue = 5

| pages = 501-506

| publisher = AAPT

| date = May 2003

| url = http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=AJPIAS000071000005000501000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=Yes

| doi = 10.1119/1.1527949

| id =

| accessdate = }}

===Articles about using LabVIEW in education===

Japanese is a [[pro-drop language]], meaning that the subject or object of a sentence need not be stated if it is obvious from context. In addition, it is commonly felt, particularly in spoken Japanese, that the shorter a sentence is, the better. As a result of this grammatical permissiveness and tendency towards brevity, Japanese speakers tend naturally to omit words from sentences, rather than refer to them with [[pronoun]]s. In the context of the above example, ''hana-ga nagai'' would mean "[their] noses are long," while ''nagai'' by itself would mean "[they] are long." A single verb can be a complete sentence: ''Yatta!'' "[I / we / they / etc] did [it]!". In addition, since adjectives can form the predicate in a Japanese sentence (below), a single adjective can be a complete sentence: ''Urayamashii!'' "[I'm] jealous [of it]!".

*{{cite journal

| last = Belletti A, Borromei R, Ingletto G

| first =

| authorlink =

| coauthors =

| title = Teaching physical chemistry experiments with a computer simulation by LabVIEW

| journal = Journal of Chemical Education

| volume = 83

| issue = 9

| pages = 1353-1355

| publisher = ACS

| date = Sep 2006

| url = http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/Journal/Issues/2006/Sep/abs1353.html

| doi =

| id =

| accessdate = }}

*{{cite journal

While the language has some words that are translated as pronouns, these are not used as frequently as pronouns in some [[Indo-European language]]s, and function differently. Instead, Japanese typically relies on special verb forms and auxiliary verbs to indicate the direction of benefit of an action: "down" to indicate the out-group gives a benefit to the in-group; and "up" to indicate the in-group gives a benefit to the out-group. Here, the in-group includes the speaker and the out-group doesn't, and their boundary depends on context. For example, ''oshiete moratta'' (literally, "explained" with a benefit from the out-group to the in-group) means "[he/she/they] explained it to [me/us]". Similarly, ''oshiete ageta'' (literally, "explained" with a benefit from the in-group to the out-group) means "[I/we] explained [it] to [him/her/them]". Such beneficiary auxiliary verbs thus serve a function comparable to that of pronouns and prepositions in Indo-European languages to indicate the actor and the recipient of an action.

| last = Moriarty PJ, Gallagher BL, Mellor CJ, Baines RR

| first =

| authorlink =

| coauthors =

| title = Graphical computing in the undergraduate laboratory: Teaching and interfacing with LabVIEW

| journal = American Journal of Physics

| volume = 71

| issue = 10

| pages = 1062-1074

| publisher = AAPT

| date = Oct 2003

| url = http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=AJPIAS000071000010001062000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=Yes

| doi = 10.1119/1.1582189

| id =

| accessdate = }}

*{{cite journal

Japanese "pronouns" also function differently from most modern Indo-European pronouns (and more like nouns) in that they can take modifiers as any other noun may. For instance, one cannot say in English:

| last = Lauterburg

: *The big he ran down the street. (ungrammatical)

| first = Urs

But one ''can'' grammatically say essentially the same thing in Japanese:

| authorlink =

: ''Ōkii kare-wa michi-o hashitte itta.'' (grammatically correct<!--but sounds strange-->)

| coauthors =

| title = LabVIEW in Physics Education

| journal = A white paper about using LabVIEW in physics demonstration and laboratory experiments and simulations.

| volume =

| issue =

| pages =

| publisher =

| date = June 2001

| url = http://www.clab.unibe.ch/labview/whitepaper/LV-PhysicsWPScreen.pdf

| doi =

| id =

| accessdate = }}

*{{cite journal

This is partly due to the fact that these words evolved from regular nouns, such as ''kimi'' "you" (君 "lord"), ''anata'' "you" (あなた "that side, yonder"), and ''boku'' "I" (僕 "servant"). This is why some linguists do not classify Japanese "pronouns" as pronouns, but rather as referential nouns. Japanese personal pronouns are generally used only in situations requiring special emphasis as to who is doing what to whom.

| last = Drew SM

| first =

| authorlink =

| coauthors =

| title = Integration of national instruments' LabVIEW software into the chemistry curriculum

| journal = Journal of Chemical Education

| volume = 73

| issue = 12

| pages = 1107-1111

| publisher = ACS

| date = Dec 1996

| url = http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/Journal/Issues/1996/Dec/abs1107.html

| doi =

| id =

| accessdate = }}

*{{cite journal

The choice of words used as pronouns is correlated with the sex of the speaker and the social situation in which they are spoken: men and women alike in a formal situation generally refer to themselves as ''watashi'' (私 "private") or ''watakushi'' (also 私), while men in rougher or intimate conversation are much more likely to use the word ''ore'' (俺 "oneself", "myself") or ''boku''. Similarly, different words such as ''anata'', ''kimi'', and ''omae'' (お前, more formally 御前 "the one before me") may be used to refer to a listener depending on the listener's relative social position and the degree of familiarity between the speaker and the listener. When used in different social relationships, the same word may have positive (intimate or respectful) or negative (distant or disrespectful) connotations.

| last = Muyskens MA, Glass SV, Wietsma TW, Gray TM

| first =

| authorlink =

| coauthors =

| title = Data acquisition in the chemistry laboratory using LabVIEW software

| journal = Journal of Chemical Education

| volume = 73

| issue = 12

| pages = 1112-1114

| publisher = ACS

| date = Dec 1996

| url = http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/Journal/Issues/1996/Dec/abs1112.html

| doi =

| id =

| accessdate = }}

*{{cite journal

Japanese often use titles of the person referred to where pronouns would be used in English. For example, when speaking to one's teacher, it is appropriate to use ''sensei'' (先生, teacher), but inappropriate to use ''anata''. This is because ''anata'' is used to refer to people of equal or lower status, and one's teacher has higher status.

| last = Ogren PJ, Jones TP

| first =

| authorlink =

| coauthors =

| title = Laboratory interfacing using the LabVIEW software package

| journal = Journal of Chemical Education

| volume = 73

| issue = 12

| pages = 1115-1116

| publisher = ACS

| date = Dec 1996

| url = http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/Journal/Issues/1996/Dec/abs1115.html

| doi =

| id =

| accessdate = }}

== Alternatives ==

It is very common for English speakers to include ''watashi-wa'' or ''anata-wa'' at the beginning of every Japanese sentence. Though these sentences are grammatically correct, they sound terribly strange even in very formal situations. It is roughly the equivalent of using a noun over and over in English, when a pronoun would suffice: "John is coming over, so make sure you make John a sandwich, because John loves sandwiches. I hope John likes the dress I'm wearing..."

National Instruments also offers a product called [http://www.ni.com/mstudio/ Measurement Studio], which offers many of the test, measurement and control capabilities of LabVIEW, as a set of classes for use with [[Microsoft]] [[Visual Studio]]. This allows developers to harness some of LabVIEW's strengths within the text-based [[.NET framework]].

National Instruments also offers [http://www.ni.com/lwcvi/ LabWindows/CVI] as an alternative for ANSI C programmers.

=== Inflection and conjugation ===

Japanese has no grammatical number or gender. The noun ''hon'' (本) may refer to a single book or several books; ''hito'' (人) can mean "person" or "people"; and ''ki'' (木) can be "tree" or "trees". Where number is important, it can be indicated by providing a quantity (often with a [[Japanese counter word|counter word]]) or (rarely) by adding a suffix.<!--example? meaning "hito-tachi" and "mono-domo"?--> Words for people are usually understood as singular. Thus ''Tanaka-san'' usually means ''Mr./Mrs./Miss. Tanaka''. Words that refer to people and animals can be made to indicate a group of individuals through the addition of a collective suffix (a noun suffix that indicates a group), such as ''-tachi'', but this is not a true plural: the meaning is closer to the English phrase "and company". A group described as ''Tanaka-san-tachi'' may include people not named Tanaka. Some Japanese nouns are effectively plural, such as ''hitobito'' "people" and ''wareware'' "we/us", but these are sporadic and irregular.

[[Agilent Technologies]] positions their [[Agilent VEE|VEE]] product as a similar alternative to LabVIEW.

Verbs are [[Japanese verb conjugations|conjugated]] to show tenses, of which there are two: past and present, or non-past, which is used for the present and the future. For verbs that represent an ongoing process, the ''-te iru'' form indicates a continuous (or progressive) tense. For others that represent a change of state, the ''-te iru'' form indicates a perfect tense. For example, ''kite iru'' means "He has come (and is still here)", but ''tabete iru'' means "He is eating".

== See also ==

Questions (both with an interrogative pronoun and yes/no questions) have the same structure as affirmative sentences, but with intonation rising at the end. In the formal register, the question particle ''-ka'' is added. For example, ''Ii desu'' "It is OK" becomes ''Ii desu-ka'' "Is it OK?". In a more informal tone sometimes the particle ''-no'' is added instead to show a personal interest of the speaker: ''Dōshite konai-no?'' "Why aren't (you) coming?". Some simple queries are formed simply by mentioning the topic with an interrogative intonation to call for the hearer's attention: ''Kore-wa?'' "(What about) this?"; ''Namae-wa?'' "(What's your) name?".

* [[Data acquisition]]

* [[Graphical programming]]

* [[National Instruments]]

* [[Virtual instrumentation]]

* [[Agilent VEE]]

* [[ATEasy]]

== External links ==

Negatives are formed by inflecting the verb. For example, ''Pan-o taberu'' "I will eat bread" or "I eat bread" becomes ''Pan-o tabenai'' "I will not eat bread" or "I do not eat bread".

* [http://www.ni.com/labview/ Official Home Page] - The National Instruments web site for the LabVIEW product line.

* [http://zone.ni.com/reference/en-XX/help/371361B-01/ LabVIEW Help] - NI's entire set of online help documentation for LabVIEW 8.2.

The so-called ''-te'' verb form is used for a variety of purposes: either progressive or perfect aspect (see above); combining verbs in a temporal sequence (''Asagohan-o tabete sugu dekakeru'' "I'll eat breakfast and leave at once"), simple commands, conditional statements and permissions (''Dekakete-mo ii?'' "May I go out?"), etc.

* [http://www.ni.com/labviewzone Official LabVIEW Community Home Page] - NI's "LabVIEW Zone" web site.

The word ''da'' (plain), ''desu'' (polite) is the [[copula]] verb. It corresponds approximately to the English ''be'', but often takes on other roles. Two additional common verbs are used to indicate existence ("there is") or, in some contexts, property: ''aru'' (negative ''nai'') and ''iru'' (negative ''inai''), for inanimate and animate things, respectively. For example, ''Neko ga iru'' "There's a cat", ''Ii kangae-ga nai'' "[I] haven't got a good idea".

The verb "to do" (''suru'', polite form ''shimasu'') is often used to make verbs from nouns (''ryōri suru'' "to cook", ''benkyō suru'' "to study", etc.) and has been productive in creating modern slang words. Japanese also has a huge number of compound verbs to express concepts that are described in English using a verb and a preposition (e.g. ''tobidasu'' "to fly out, to flee," from ''tobu'' "to fly, to jump" + ''dasu'' "to put out, to emit").

There are three types of [[Japanese adjectives|adjective]] (see also [[Japanese adjectives]]):

# ''形容詞 keiyōshi'', or ''i'' adjectives, which have a [[Japanese verb conjugations|conjugating]] ending ''i'' (such as ''atsui'', "to be hot") which can become past (''atsukatta'' - "it was hot"), or negative (''atsuku nai'' - "it is not hot"). Note that ''nai'' is also an ''i'' adjective, which can become past (''atsuku nakatta'' - it was not hot).

#: ''暑い日 atsui hi'' "a hot day".

# ''形容動詞 keiyōdōshi'', or ''na'' adjectives, which are followed by a form of the [[copula]], usually ''na''. For example ''hen'' (strange)

#: ''変なひと hen na hito'' "a strange person".

# ''連体詞 rentaishi'', also called true adjectives, such as ''onaji'' "the same"

#: ''同じ日 onaji hi'' "the same day".

Both ''keiyōshi'' and ''keiyōdōshi'' may [[predicate (grammar)|predicate]] sentences. For example,

: ''ご飯が熱い。 Gohan-ga atsui.'' "The rice is hot."

: ''彼は変だ。Kare-wa hen da.'' "He's strange."

Both inflect, though they do not show the full range of conjugation found in true verbs.

The ''rentaishi'' in Modern Japanese are few in number, and unlike the other words, are limited to directly modifying nouns. They never predicate sentences. Examples include ''ookina'' "big" and ''onaji'' "the same" (although there is also a noun ''onaji'' that can be followed by ''da'', as in ''onaji da'').

Both ''keiyōdōshi'' and ''keiyōshi'' form [[adverb]]s, by following with ''ni'' in the case of ''keiyōdōshi'':

: ''変になる hen ni naru'' "become strange",

and by changing ''i'' to ''ku'' in the case of ''keiyōshi'':

: ''熱くなる atsuku naru'' "become hot".

The grammatical function of nouns is indicated by [[postposition]]s, also called [[Japanese particles|particles]]. These include for example:

* '''''が ga''''' for the [[nominative case]]. Not necessarily a subject.

: ''Kare '''ga''' yatta.'' "'''He''' did it."

* '''''に ni''''' for the [[dative case]].

: ''田中さん'''に'''聞いて下さい。 Tanaka-san '''ni''' kiite kudasai'' "Please ask '''Mr. Tanaka'''."

* '''''の no''''' for the [[genitive case]], or nominalizing phrases.

: ''私'''の'''カメラ。 watashi '''no''' kamera'' "'''my''' camera"

: ''スキー'''に'''行くのが好きです。 Sukī-ni iku '''no''' ga suki desu'' "(I) like go'''ing''' skiing."

* '''''を o''''' for the [[accusative case]]. Not necessarily an object.

: ''何'''を'''食べますか。 Nani '''o''' tabemasu ka?'' "'''What''' will (you) eat?"

* '''''は wa''''' for the topic. It can co-exist with case markers above except ''no'', and it overrides ''ga'' and ''o''.

: ''私'''は'''タイ料理がいいです。 Watashi '''wa''' tai-ryōri ga ii desu.'' "As for me, Thai food is good." The nominative marker ''ga'' after ''watashi'' is hidden under ''wa''. <small>(Note that English generally makes no distinction between sentence topic and subject.)</small>

Note: The difference between '''''wa''''' and '''''ga''''' goes beyond the English distinction between sentence topic and subject. While ''wa'' indicates the topic, which the rest of the sentence describes or acts upon, it carries the implication that the subject indicated by ''wa'' is not unique, or may be part of a larger group.

: ''Ikeda-san '''wa''' yonjū-ni sai da.'' "As for Mr. Ikeda, he is forty-two years old." Others in the group may also be of that age.

Absence of ''wa'' often means the subject is the [[focus (linguistics)|focus]] of the sentence.

: ''Ikeda-san '''ga''' yonjū-ni sai da.'' "It is Mr. Ikeda who is forty-two years old." This is a reply to an implicit or explicit question who in this group is forty-two years old.

=== Politeness ===

{{main|Japanese honorifics|Japanese titles}}

Unlike most western languages, Japanese has an extensive grammatical system to express politeness and formality.

Since most relationships are not equal in Japanese [[society]], one person typically has a higher position. This position is determined by a variety of factors including job, age, experience, or even psychological state (e.g., a person asking a favour tends to do so politely). The person in the lower position is expected to use a polite form of speech, whereas the other might use a more plain form. Strangers will also speak to each other politely. Japanese children rarely use polite speech until they are teens, at which point they are expected to begin speaking in a more adult manner. ''See [[uchi-soto]]''.

Whereas ''teineigo'' (丁寧語) (polite language) is commonly an [[inflection]]al system, ''sonkeigo'' (尊敬語) (respectful language) and ''kenjōgo'' (謙譲語) (humble language) often employ many special honorific and humble alternate verbs: ''iku'' "to go" becomes ''ikimasu'' in polite form, but is replaced by ''irassharu'' in honorific speech and ''mairu'' in humble speech.

The difference between honorific and humble speech is particularly pronounced in the Japanese language. Humble language is used to talk about oneself or one's own group (company, family) whilst honorific language is mostly used when describing the interlocutor and his/her group. For example, the ''-san'' suffix ("Mr" "Mrs." or "Miss") is an example of honorific language. It is not used to talk about oneself or when talking about someone from one's company to an external person, since the company is the speaker's "group". When speaking directly to one's superior in one's company or when speaking with other employees within one's company about a superior, a Japanese person will use vocabulary and inflections of the honorific register to refer to the in-group superior and his or her speech and actions. When speaking to a person from another company (i.e., a member of an out-group), however, a Japanese person will use the plain or the humble register to refer to the speech and actions of his or her own in-group superiors. In short, the register used in Japanese to refer to the person, speech, or actions of any particular individual varies depending on the relationship (either in-group or out-group) between the speaker and listener, as well as depending on the relative status of the speaker, listener, and third-person referents. For this reason, the Japanese system for explicit indication of social register is known as a system of "relative honorifics." This stands in stark contrast to the [[Korean language|Korean]] system of "absolute honorifics," in which the same register is used to refer to a particular individual (e.g. one's father, one's company president, etc.) in any context regardless of the relationship between the speaker and interlocutor. Thus, polite Korean speech can sound very presumptuous when translated verbatim into Japanese, as in Korean it is acceptable and normal to say things like "Our '''Mr.''' Company-President..." when communicating with a member of an out-group, which would be very inappropriate in a Japanese social context.

Most [[noun]]s in the Japanese language may be made polite by the addition of ''o-'' or ''go-'' as a prefix. ''o-'' is generally used for words of native Japanese origin, whereas ''go-'' is affixed to words of Chinese derivation. In some cases, the prefix has become a fixed part of the word, and is included even in regular speech, such as ''gohan'' 'cooked rice; meal.' Such a construction often indicates deference to either the item's owner or to the object itself. For example, the word ''tomodachi'' 'friend,' would become ''o-tomodachi'' when referring to the friend of someone of higher status (though mothers often use this form to refer to their children's friends). On the other hand, a polite speaker may sometimes refer to ''mizu'' 'water' as ''o-mizu'' in order to show politeness.

Most Japanese people employ politeness to indicate a lack of familiarity. That is, they use polite forms for new acquaintances, but if a relationship becomes more intimate, they no longer use them. This occurs regardless of age, social class, or gender.

== Vocabulary ==

The original language of Japan, or at least the original language of a certain population that was ancestral to a significant portion of the historical and present Japanese nation, was the so-called ''yamato kotoba'' (大和言葉 or 大和詞, i.e. "[[Yamato period|Yamato]] words"), which in scholarly contexts is sometimes referred to as ''wa-go'' (倭語 or 和語, i.e. the "[[Wa (Japan)|Wa]] language"). In addition to words from this original language, present-day Japanese includes a great number of words that were either borrowed from [[Chinese language|Chinese]] or constructed from Chinese roots following Chinese patterns. These words, known as ''[[Sino-Japanese|kango]]'', entered the language from the fifth century onwards via contact with Chinese culture, both directly and through the Korean peninsula. According to some estimates, Chinese-based words comprise as much as 60% of the total vocabulary of the modern Japanese language and form as much as 30%-35% of words used in speech.

Like Latin-derived words in English, ''[[Sino-Japanese|kango]]'' words typically are perceived as somewhat formal or academic compared to equivalent Yamato words. Indeed, it is generally fair to say that an English word derived from Latin/French roots typically corresponds to a Sino-Japanese word in Japanese, whereas a simpler Anglo-Saxon word would best be translated by a Yamato equivalent.

A much smaller number of words has been borrowed from [[Korean language|Korean]] and [[Ainu language|Ainu]]. Japan has also borrowed a number of words from other languages, particularly ones of European extraction, which are called ''[[gairaigo]]''. This began with [[Japanese words of Portuguese origin|borrowings from Portuguese]] in the [[16th century]], followed by borrowing from Dutch during Japan's [[sakoku|long isolation]] of the [[Edo period]]. With the [[Meiji Restoration]] and the reopening of Japan in the [[19th century]], borrowing occurred from [[German language|German]], [[French language|French]] and [[English language|English]]. Currently, words of English origin are the most commonly borrowed.

In the Meiji era, the Japanese also coined many neologisms using Chinese roots and morphology to translate Western concepts. The Chinese and Koreans imported many of these pseudo-Chinese words into [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Korean language|Korean]], and [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] via their [[kanji]] characters in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For example, 政治 ''seiji'' ("politics"), and 化学 ''kagaku'' ("chemistry") are words derived from Chinese roots that were first created and used by the Japanese, and only later borrowed into Chinese and other East Asian languages. As a result, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese share a large common corpus of vocabulary in the same way a large number of Greek- and Latin-derived words are shared among modern European languages, although many academic words formed from such roots were certainly coined by native speakers of other languages, such as English.

In the past few decades, ''[[wasei-eigo]]'' (made-in-Japan English) has become a prominent phenomenon. Words such as ''wanpatān'' ワンパタアン (< ''one'' + ''pattern'', "to be in a rut", "to have a one-track mind") and ''sukinshippu''　スキンシップ (< ''skin'' + ''-ship'', "physical contact"), although coined by compounding English roots, are nonsensical in a non-Japanese context. A small number of such words have been borrowed back into English.

Additionally, many native Japanese words have become commonplace in English, due to the popularity of many Japanese cultural exports. Words such as [[sushi]], [[judo]], [[karate]], [[sumo]], [[karaoke]], [[origami]], [[tsunami]], [[samurai]], [[haiku]], [[ninja]], [[sayonara]], [[rickshaw]] (from 人力車 ''jinrikisha''), [[futon]], [[tycoon]] and many others have become part of the English language. See [[list of English words of Japanese origin]] for more.

== Writing system ==

{{main|Japanese writing system}}

Before the [[5th century]], the Japanese had no [[writing]] system of their own. They began to adopt the [[Chinese writing]] script along with many other aspects of [[Culture of China|Chinese culture]] after their introduction by [[Korea]]n monks and scholars during the 5th and 6th centuries AD.

[[Image:Nihongo ichiran 01.png|thumb|200px|The table of Kana]]

At first, the Japanese wrote in [[Classical Chinese]], with Japanese names represented by characters used for their meanings and not their sounds. Later, this latter principle was used to write pure Japanese poetry and prose; however, some Japanese words were written with characters for their meaning and not the original Chinese sound. An example of this mixed style is the [[Kojiki]], which was written in 712 AD. They then started to use Chinese characters to write Japanese in a style known as ''man'yōgana'', a syllabic script which used Chinese characters for their sounds in order to transcribe the words of Japanese speech syllable by syllable.

Over time, a writing system evolved. [[Chinese characters]] ([[kanji]]) were used to write either words borrowed from Chinese, or Japanese words with the same or similar meanings. Chinese characters were also used to write grammatical elements, were simplified, and eventually became two syllabic scripts: [[hiragana]] and [[katakana]].

Modern Japanese is written in a mixture of three main systems: [[kanji]], characters of Chinese origin used to represent both Chinese [[loanword]]s into Japanese and a number of native Japanese [[morpheme]]s; and two [[syllabary|syllabaries]]: [[hiragana]] and [[katakana]]. The [[Latin alphabet]] is also sometimes used. Arabic numerals are much more common than the kanji characters when used in counting, but kanji numerals are still used in compounds, such as 統一 ''tōitsu'' ("unification").

Hiragana are used for words without kanji representation, for words no longer written in kanji, and also following kanji to show conjugational endings. Because of the way verbs (and adjectives) in Japanese are [[conjugated]], kanji alone cannot fully convey Japanese tense and mood, as kanji cannot be subject to variation when written without losing its meaning. For this reason, hiragana are suffixed to the ends of kanji to show verb and adjective conjugations. Hiragana used in this way are called [[okurigana]]. Hiragana are also written in a superscript called [[furigana]] above or beside a kanji to show the proper reading. This is done to facilitate learning, as well as to clarify particularly old or obscure (or sometimes invented) readings.

Katakana, like hiragana, are a syllabary; katakana are primarily used to write foreign words, plant and animal names, and for emphasis. For example "Australia" has been adapted as ''Ōsutoraria'', and "supermarket" has been adapted and shortened into ''sūpā''. [[romaji|''Rōmaji'']] (ローマ字), literally "Roman letters," is the Japanese term for the [[Latin alphabet]]. ''Rōmaji'' are used for some loan words like "CD", "DVD", etc., and also for some Japanese creations like "Sony."

Japanese students begin to learn kanji characters from their first year at elementary school. A guideline created by the Japanese Ministry of Education, the list of [[kyōiku kanji]], specifies the 1,006 simple characters a child is to learn by the end of sixth grade. Children continue to study another 939 characters in junior high school, covering in total 1,945 ''[[jōyō kanji]]'' ("common use kanji") characters, which is generally considered sufficient for everyday life, although many kanji used in everyday life are not included in the list. An appendix of 290 additional characters for names was decreed in 1951. Various semi-official bodies were set up to monitor and enforce restrictions on the use of kanji in the press, publishing, in television broadcasts, etc. Thereafter, the official list of [[kyōiku kanji]] was repeatedly revised, but the total number of officially sanctioned characters remained largely unchanged.

A different list of officially approved kanji is used for purposes of registering personal names. Names containing unapproved characters are denied registration. However, as with the list of [[kyōiku kanji]], criteria for inclusion were often arbitrary and led to many common and popular characters being disapproved for use. Under popular pressure and following a court decision holding the exclusion of common characters unlawful, the list of "approved" characters was substantially extended. Furthermore, families whose names are not on these lists were permitted to continue using the older forms.

Historically, attempts to limit the number of kanji in use commenced in the mid-19th century, but did not become a matter of government intervention until after Japan's defeat in the Second World War. During the period of post-war occupation (and influenced by the views of some U.S. officials), various schemes including the complete abolition of kanji and exclusive use of rōmaji were considered. The [[kyōiku kanji]] scheme arose as a compromise solution.

== Learning Japanese ==

Many major universities throughout the world provide Japanese language courses, and a number of secondary and even primary schools worldwide offer courses in the language. International interest in the Japanese language dates from the 1800s but has become more prevalent following Japan's economic bubble of the 1980s and the global popularity of Japanese pop culture since the 1990s. About 2.3 million people studied the language worldwide in 2003: 900,000 South Koreans, 389,000 [[People's Republic of China|Chinese]], 381,000 Australians, and 140,000 Americans study Japanese in lower and higher educational institutions. In Japan, more than 90,000 foreign students study at [[List of universities in Japan|Japanese universities]] and Japanese [[language school]]s, including 77,000 Chinese and 15,000 South Koreans in 2003. In addition, local governments and some [[NPO]] groups provide free Japanese language classes for foreign residents, including [[Japanese Brazilians]] and foreigners married to Japanese nationals.

The Japanese government provides standardized tests to measure spoken and written comprehension of Japanese for second language learners; the most prominent is the [[Japanese Language Proficiency Test]] (JLPT). The Japanese External Trade Organization [[JETRO]] organizes the ''Business Japanese Proficiency Test'' which tests the learner's ability to understand Japanese in a business setting. See also [[British Association for Japanese Studies]].

== References ==

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[[Category:Domain-specific programming languages]]

== Bibliography ==

[[Category:Numerical software]]

* Bloch, Bernard. (1946). Studies in colloquial Japanese I: Inflection. ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'', ''66'', 97-130.

[[Category:Visual programming languages]]

* Bloch, Bernard. (1946). Studies in colloquial Japanese II: Syntax. ''Language'', ''22'', 200-248.

[[Category:Numerical programming languages]]

* Chafe, William L. (1976). Giveness, contrastiveness, definiteness, subjects, topics, and point of view. In C. Li (Ed.), ''Subject and topic'' (pp. 25-56). New York: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-447350-4.

[[Category:Programming languages]]

* Kuno, Susumu. (1973). ''The structure of the Japanese language''. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-11049-0.

* Kuno, Susumu. (1976). Subject, theme, and the speaker's empathy: A re-examination of relativization phenomena. In Charles N. Li (Ed.), ''Subject and topic'' (pp. 417-444). New York: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-447350-4.

* Martin, Samuel E. (1975). ''A reference grammar of Japanese''. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-01813-4.

* McClain, Yoko Matsuoka. (1981). ''Handbook of modern Japanese grammar:'' 口語日本文法便覧 ''[Kōgo Nihon bumpō]''. Tokyo: Hokuseido Press. ISBN 4-590-00570-0; ISBN 0-89346-149-0.

* Miller, Roy. (1967). ''The Japanese language''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

* Miller, Roy. (1980). ''Origins of the Japanese language: Lectures in Japan during the academic year, 1977-78''. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-95766-2.

* Mizutani, Osamu; & Mizutani, Nobuko. (1987). ''How to be polite in Japanese:'' 日本語の敬語 ''[Nihongo no keigo]''. Tokyo: Japan Times. ISBN 4789003388 ;

* Shibatani, Masayoshi. (1990). Japanese. In B. Comrie (Ed.), ''The major languages of east and south-east Asia''. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-04739-0.

* Shibatani, Masayoshi. (1990). ''The languages of Japan''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-36070-6 (hbk); ISBN 0-521-36918-5 (pbk).

* Shibamoto, Janet S. (1985). ''Japanese women's language''. New York: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-640030-X. Graduate Level

* Tsujimura, Natsuko. (1996). ''An introduction to Japanese linguistics''. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-631-19855-5 (hbk); ISBN 0-631-19856-3 (pbk). Upper Level Textbooks

* Tsujimura, Natsuko. (Ed.) (1999). ''The handbook of Japanese linguistics''. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-631-20504-7. Readings/Anthologies

== See also ==

{{Wikibookspar||Japanese}}

* [[Romanization of Japanese]]

** [[Hepburn romanization]]

* [[Common phrases in different languages#Japanese|Common phrases in Japanese]]

* [[Henohenomoheji]]

* [[Ryūkyūan languages]]

* [[Japanese culture]]

* [[Japanese dialects]]

* [[Japanese language and computers]]

* [[Japanese literature]]

* [[Japanese name]]

* [[Late Old Japanese]]

* [[Old Japanese]]

* The lists of [[Wiktionary:Category:Japanese language|Japanese words]] and [[Wiktionary:Category:Japanese derivations|words in other languages that have been derived from Japanese]] at [[Wiktionary]], the free dictionary and Wikipedia's sibling project

* [[Japanese dictionaries]]

* [[Sino-Japanese]]

* [[Yojijukugo]]

== External links ==

<!--Please do not add links to Japanese learning sites here: they will probably be removed, because Wikipedia is not a directory of links, however useful they may be. The [[Open Directory Project]] (http://dmoz.org/), however, IS a directory of links. Consider adding your site there instead.-->

{{Wiktionarylang|code=ja}}

{{interwiki|code=ja}}

* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=jpn Ethnologue report for language code JPN]

* [http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/wwwjdic.html Jim Breen's dictionary and translation server]

* [http://buna.arts.yorku.ca/japanese/eljp/ejlecnotes.html Video lectures from York University]

* {{PDFlink|[http://brng.jp/50renshuu.pdf Kana Copybook]|290&nbsp;[[Kibibyte|KiB]]<!-- application/pdf, 297366 bytes -->}}

* [http://www.furigana.jp/ Furigana.jp], Converts Japanese web pages or text into one of three formats for easier reading: furigana, kana or romaji

[[Category:Japanese language| ]]

{{Link FA|ja}}

{{Link FA|ro}}

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[[et:Jaapani keel]]

[[el:Ιαπωνική γλώσσα]]

[[es:Idioma japonés]]

[[eo:Japana lingvo]]

[[eu:Japoniera]]

[[fa:زبان ژاپنی]]

[[fr:Japonais]]

[[ga:Seapáinis]]

[[gl:Lingua xaponesa]]

[[ko:일본어]]

[[hy:Ճապոներեն]]

[[hi:जापानी भाषा]]

[[hsb:Japanšćina]]

[[hr:Japanski jezik]]

[[io:Japoniana linguo]]

[[id:Bahasa Jepang]]

[[ia:Lingua japonese]]

[[is:Japanska]]

[[it:Lingua giapponese]]

[[he:יפנית]]

[[ka:იაპონური ენა]]

[[kw:Nihonek]]

[[sw:Kijapani]]

[[ku:Zimanê japonî]]

[[lad:Idioma japonezo]]

[[la:Lingua Iaponica]]

[[lv:Japāņu valoda]]

[[lt:Japonų kalba]]

[[li:Japans]]

[[jbo:ponbau]]

[[hu:Japán nyelv]]

[[mk:Јапонски јазик]]

[[ms:Bahasa Jepun]]

[[nah:Xapontlahtōlli]]

[[nl:Japans]]

[[nds-nl:Japans]]

[[ja:日本語]]

[[no:Japansk språk]]

[[nn:Japansk språk]]

[[ug:ياپون تىلى]]

[[pl:Język japoński]]

[[pt:Língua japonesa]]

[[ro:Limba japoneză]]

[[ru:Японский язык]]

[[se:Japánagiella]]

[[sq:Gjuha japoneze]]

[[ru-sib:Японской говор]]

[[scn:Lingua giappunisa]]

[[simple:Japanese language]]

[[sk:Japončina]]

[[sl:Japonščina]]

[[sr:Јапански језик]]

[[sh:Japanski jezik]]

[[su:Basa Jepang]]

[[fi:Japanin kieli]]

[[sv:Japanska]]

[[tl:Wikang Hapon]]

[[ta:ஜப்பானிய மொழி]]

[[tt:Yapon tele]]

[[th:ภาษาญี่ปุ่น]]

[[vi:Tiếng Nhật Bản]]

[[tr:Japonca]]

[[uk:Японська мова]]

[[zh-yue:日語]]

[[zh:日语]]

[[zh-classical:日本語]]