Old Japanese
Linguistics term for the oldest attested stage of the Japanese language, roughly corresponding to the Nara period (8th century).
See also: 上代語
The phonological system of Old Japanese differs greatly from that of modern Japanese.
万葉集は上代日本語の重要な資料である。
The Man'yōshū is an important source for Old Japanese.
Compound of 上代 (jōdai, 'ancient times') and 日本語 (Nihongo, 'Japanese language'). The term is a modern linguistic classification.