| Proto-Japonic | |
|---|---|
| Proto-Japanese–Ryukyuan | |
| Reconstruction of | Japonic languages |
| Lower-order reconstructions |
|
Proto-Japonic, Proto-Japanese, or Proto-Japanese–Ryukyuan is the reconstructed language ancestral to the Japonic language family. It has been reconstructed by using a combination of internal reconstruction from Old Japanese and by applying the comparative method to Old Japanese (both the central variety of the Nara area and Eastern Old Japanese dialects) and the Ryukyuan languages.[1] The major reconstructions of the 20th century were produced by Samuel Elmo Martin and Shirō Hattori.[1][2]