was a Japanese linguist

Linguistics

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....

 who started his career lecturing at Juntendo University

Juntendo University

is a private university in Japan. Its headquarters are on its campus in Bunkyo, Tokyo for School of Medicine and in Hiragagakuendai, Inzai, Chiba for School of Health and Sports Science...

, and went on to become full professor at Kyoto Sangyo University

Kyoto Sangyo University

is a private university in Kita-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan.- History :The university was established in 1965. The founder was an astronomer named Toshima Araki , who intended to nurture students so that they could have their spiritual foundation upon the traditions of Japanese culture and contribute...

. One of the world’s foremost authorities on the Altaic languages

Altaic languages

Altaic is a proposed language family that includes the Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, and Japonic language families and the Korean language isolate. These languages are spoken in a wide arc stretching from northeast Asia through Central Asia to Anatolia and eastern Europe...

, he later made important contributions to the mixed-language theory of the origins of Japanese. Denis Sinor

Denis Sinor

Denis Sinor was a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Central Asian Studies at the Department of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University and a tenured lecturer at Cambridge University between 1948 and 1962, and was one of the world's leading scholars for the history of Central Asia. Sinor...

 regarded him, together with Shiro Hattori

Shiro Hattori

was a Japanese academic and author. He was a linguistics expert, a specialist in early Japanese and Japonic languages and a professor at the University of Tokyo.-Selected works:...

, Samuel E. Martin, and Osada Natsuki as one of the four scholars who have done most to throw light on the origins of the Japanese language.）

Career

Murayama spent much of the Second World War from 1942 to 1945 in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, completing post-graduate studies at Berlin University on Comparative linguistics

Comparative linguistics

Comparative linguistics is a branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages to establish their historical relatedness....

 and Altai languages under the supervision of Nikolaus Poppe with particular attention to written materials in the Mongolian language

Mongolian language

The Mongolian language is the official language of Mongolia and the best-known member of the Mongolic language family. The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5.2 million, including the vast majority of the residents of Mongolia and many of the Mongolian residents of the Inner...

.

Publications

• with Ōbayashi Taryō, Nihongo no kigen, Kōbundō, Tokyo 1973
• Nihongo no kenkyū-hōhō, Kōbundō, Tokyo 1974
• Nihongo no gogen, Kōbundō, Tokyo 1974
• Nihongo no genkai, Kōbundō, Tokyo 1975
• Nihongo keitō no tankyū, Taishūkan Shoten, Tokyo 1978
• Nihongo no tanjō, Chikuma Shobō, Tokyo 1979
• with Kokubu Naoichi,Genshi nihongo to minzoku bunka, San'ichi Shobō,1979
• Ryūkyūgo no himitsu, Kōbundō, Tokyo 1981
• Nihongo no kigen to gogen, San'ichi Shobō, Tokyo 1981
• Nihongo Tamirugo kigensetsu hihan, San'ichi Shobō, Tokyo 1982
• Ainugo no kigen, San'ichi Shobō, Tokyo 1992

See also

• Classification of the Japanese language
• Altaic languages
  Altaic languages
  Altaic is a proposed language family that includes the Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, and Japonic language families and the Korean language isolate. These languages are spoken in a wide arc stretching from northeast Asia through Central Asia to Anatolia and eastern Europe...