Japanese is an extremely unique language. It evolved over hundreds of years in Japan. According to the eLinguistics.net analysis using specific software modules to assess linguistic relationships, the five languages most similar to Japanese are Hungarian, Indonesian, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Estonian. However, this languages are so different from Japanese that it could be possible their similarities are just by random chance.
- Hungarian (25.7)
Surprisingly, Hungarian, a member of the Finno-Ugric language family, shares some intriguing similarities with Japanese. Both languages are agglutinative, meaning they form words by adding affixes to a root. Additionally, both languages lack grammatical gender, which is a notable departure from many Indo-European languages. Phonologically, Hungarian and Japanese share some common sounds and vowel harmony principles. - Indonesian (25.2)
Indonesian, the official language of Indonesia, may seem worlds apart from Japanese at first glance. However, they share a significant influence from the Chinese language due to historical interactions. Additionally, both languages exhibit a relatively simple grammatical structure, lack gender markers, and utilize honorifics to convey respect. However their vocabulary and syntax still differ vastly. - Mandarin (23.2)
China is another country in East Asia. Both languages employ a subject-verb-object word order. Moreover, Mandarin, like Japanese, utilizes classifiers, albeit with different systems. While Mandarin relies on tones for lexical distinctions and lacks conjugation, Japanese employs pitch accent and intricate verb conjugations. Nonetheless, their shared use of classifiers and grammatical structures hint at a distant linguistic relationship. - Cantonese (22.7)
Another Chinese language, Cantonese, exhibits intriguing parallels with Japanese, despite significant differences. Like Japanese, Cantonese features a complex system of honorifics and politeness markers, reflecting the importance of social hierarchy in both cultures. Furthermore, Cantonese shares some phonological traits with Japanese, such as the presence of nasal vowels and tonal variations. - Estonian (21.2)
Estonian is another Finno-Ugric language on this list, like Hungarian. Both languages share certain structural features, such as vowel harmony and agglutination. Estonian, like Japanese, employs postpositions instead of prepositions and features a relatively simple verb conjugation system. Additionally, both languages prioritize politeness and employ honorifics in social interactions, reflecting a shared emphasis on respect and hierarchy.
(to be considered for the list, the language must be spoken by at least one million people, otherwise North American languages like Apache, Dakota, and Crow would have made this list)
