The Joys of Japanese: Part I

I have to clear up some things that have come to my attention recently. Although I'm only at a Community College and will only graduate with an Associate of Arts degree without having to trouble myself to declare a major until I enter an actual University, as far as I am concerned, I will more than likely major in Japanese and possibly file for a concurrent major in Spanish. My beef doesn't concern Spanish, though, because no one seems to have any trouble discerning Spanish from any other language. It seems, however, that a majority of Westerners seem to think that all Asian languages are the same. Often, when I am asked in what I am majoring, I say Japanese. Later, when it's brought up again in another conversation, it goes, without fail, like this:

Person: "Aren't you majoring in Chinese?"
Me: "No, Japanese."
Person: "Oh, but aren't those the same thing?"
Me: (Rolls eyes) "No."

Let's clarify a few things.

Japanese's linguistic ancestry is widely debated. If classification is necessary, you can be sure to find it either as a Japonic or Altaic language. I'm not that researched since, mind you, I am still a student and do not have enough reliable resources into the scientific writings and theories behind all of this, but as far as my own personal research has gone, it seems that Japanese would more than likely be classified as a Japonic language because its only certain roots are linked to Ryukyuan languages, and those dialects spoken in and around Okinawa. These Ryukyuan languages hold keys to Old Japanese because they have preserved much of its original phonology. The Altaic classification, alternatively, is because grammatical similarities have been identified between Japanese and Korean (Korean's classification here is likewise doubted), but they are not substantial enough to confidently claim a link. However, those in support of such a theory support the argument that Japanese may have originally been a dialect of Ancient Korean.

Mandarin Chinese, in comparison, is said to be a part of the Sino-Tibetan family tree, which includes all major dialects of Chinese.

Grammatically speaking, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese are by no means alike. Japanese follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word-order, while Mandarin Chinese follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) word-order, much like English. These, obviously, aren't set in stone. English allows for an Object-Subject-Verb structure, and due to its use of enclitics, Japanese may allow for other orders as well, but the general rule is that the main verb of the clause must remain at the end of the sentence for coherency. Compare:

English: I am Chase.
Japanese: Cheisu to moushimasu.
Mandarin Chinese: Wŏ jiào Chase.

I will do my best to avoid an indepth lecture on the grammatical structures of the three languages, but a fairly detailed explanation is required for greater comprehension of the above statements.

The Japanese and Mandarin Chinese both literally mean, "I call myself Chase" as opposed to the English, "I am Chase." You may, however, use the same expression in both languages. Japanese uses the polite copula 'desu' in place of 'to moushimasu' to yield "Cheisu desu." The said expression above uses a verb that belongs to the honorific vocabulary (dubbed keigo) used in Japanese, and literally can be thought of as meaning, "I humbly call myself Chase." Mandarin Chinese calls for the replacement of "jiào" with "shì" (to be), giving "Wŏ shì Chase." Japanese and Mandarin Chinese, in accordance with tradition, however, usually prefer the use of a surname in place of a given name. Given names are generally reserved for family and very close friends. It is only kept herein for the example's sake.

Mandarin Chinese and English also keep the pronoun in the sentence. Though, I'm not studied enough to say that Mandarin Chinese always keeps it. Japanese favors dropping pronouns, or at least if the subject or topic of discussion is understood or you are referring to yourself. This doesn't mean that Japanese doesn't have pronouns; in fact, it has been said that there are thousands of pronouns. The general guideline is to use the surname of the person to or about whom you are talking, plus the suffix -san (roughly equivalent to Mr., Mrs., Ms.), -sama (same as -san but far more polite and even honorific), and a plethora of others.