Introduction to Japanese Linguistics 1

Outline of the basic structure of Japanese, from writing and phonology to morphology, syntax and discourse:
- writing: definition of writing, types of writing: pleremic, cenemic; outline of the historical development of writing; outline of the historical development and of the structural principles of Chinese characters; principles and outline of the historical development of Japanese syllabaries;
- phonology and phonetics: basic notions in phonetics and phonology: speech production apparatus, units of sound, sound system, suprasegmental properties; Japanese sound system, Japanese specifics (short and long vowels, accent system, contrast with the Slovene sound system);
- word classes and their characteristics;
- syntax (structure of predicate and actants, voice, aspect and tense, modality, discourse particles);
- fundamentals of Japanese discourse analysis (role of discourse particles);
- fundamentals of Japanese pragmatics (politeness, male and female speech).