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The Ainu Language: A Linguistic Island in Japan
On the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, a language isolate with no known relatives is fighting for survival. The Ainu language, with its unique polysynthetic grammar and rich oral traditions of epic poems, tells the story of Japan’s indigenous Ainu people. This post explores its fascinating structure, its history of suppression, and the recent efforts to bring it back from the brink.
