Editing Japanese language (section)

===Late Middle Japanese===
{{main|Late Middle Japanese}}
Late Middle Japanese covers the years from 1185 to 1600, and is normally divided into two sections, roughly equivalent to the [[Kamakura period]] and the [[Muromachi period]], respectively. The later forms of Late Middle Japanese are the first to be described by non-native sources, in this case the [[Jesuits|Jesuit]] and [[Franciscans|Franciscan]] missionaries; and thus there is better documentation of Late Middle Japanese phonology than for previous forms (for instance, the ''[[Arte da Lingoa de Iapam]]''). Among other sound changes, the sequence {{IPA|/au/}} merges to {{IPA|/ɔː/}}, in contrast with {{IPA|/oː/}}; {{IPA|/p/}} is reintroduced from Chinese; and {{IPA|/we/}} merges with {{IPA|/je/}}. Some forms rather more familiar to Modern Japanese speakers begin to appear – the continuative ending -''te'' begins to reduce onto the verb (e.g. ''yonde'' for earlier ''yomite''), the -k- in the final mora of adjectives drops out (''shiroi'' for earlier ''shiroki''); and some forms exist where modern standard Japanese has retained the earlier form (e.g. ''hayaku'' > ''hayau'' > ''hayɔɔ'', where modern Japanese just has ''hayaku'', though the alternative form is preserved in the standard greeting ''o-hayō gozaimasu'' "good morning"; this ending is also seen in ''o-medetō'' "congratulations", from ''medetaku'').

Late Middle Japanese has the first loanwords from European languages – now-common words borrowed into Japanese in this period include ''pan'' ("bread") and ''tabako'' ("tobacco", now "cigarette"), both from [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]].