Languages
Main article: Languages of Asia
Asia is a continent with great linguistic diversity, and is home to various language families and many language isolates. A majority of Asian countries have more than one language that is natively spoken. For instance, according to Ethnologue over 600 languages are spoken in Indonesia while over 100 are spoken in the Philippines. The official figure of 'mother tongues' spoken in India is 1683, of which an estimated 850 are in daily use. Korea, on the other hand, is home to only one language.
The main language families found in Asia, along with examples of each, are:
- Austroasiatic: Khasi, Khmer, Mon, Santali, Vietnamese, Wa
- Austronesian: Cebuano, Cham, Hiligaynon, Ilokano, Javanese, Kapampangan, Kedayan, Malay (Indonesian), Minangkaubau, Pangasinan Sundanese, Tagalog,Tetum, Waray-Waray
- Dravidian: Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu
- Indo-European:Assamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Dhivehi, Gujarati, Hindustani (Hindi, Urdu), Kashmiri, Kurdish, Maithili, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Pashto, Persian (Tajikand Dari), Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Sinhala, Armenian, Russian, Greek
- Japonic: Japanese, Ryukyuan
- Sino-Tibetan: Hakka, Hokkien (Taiwanese), Mandarin, Wu (Shanghainese), Yue (Cantonese), Burmese, Dzongkha, Lepcha, Meitei, Nepal Bhasa, Tibetan, Tshangla
- Tai–Kadai: Bouyei, Isan, Kam, Lao, Shan, Thai, Zhuang
- Turkic: Azeri, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkish, Turkmen, Uyghur, Uzbek
- Afro-Asiatic: Arabic, Aramaic, Hebrew
- Georgian
- Korean
- Miao–Yao: Hmong, Iu Mien
- Mongolic: Buryat, Mongolian
- Romance-based creoles: Chavacano, Macanese
- Dagestanian: Chechen, Ingush
- Circassian: Kabardian
- Tungusic: Manchu
- Uralic: Khanty, Mari, Nenets, Permics
- Vietnam
Literature
Main article: Asian literature
Classical literature
Arabic literature
One of the most famous literary works of West Asia is 1001 Arabian Nights.
Chinese literature
In Tang and Song dynasty China, famous poets such as Li Bai authored works of great importance. They wrote shī (Classical Chinese: 詩) poems, which have lines with equal numbers of characters, as well as cí (詞) poems with mixed line varieties.
Hebrew literature & Jewish literature
Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews.[5] Without doubt, the most important such work is the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh). Many other ancient works of Hebrew literature survive, including religious and philosophical works, historical records, and works of fiction.
Indian literature
The famous poet and playwright Kālidāsa wrote two epics: Raghuvamsha (Dynasty of Raghu) and Kumarasambhava (Birth of Kumar Kartikeya); they were written in Classical Sanskrit rather than Epic Sanskrit. Other examples of works written in Classical Sanskrit include the Pānini's Ashtadhyayi which standardized the grammar and phonetics of Classical Sanskrit. The Laws of Manu is an important text in Hinduism. Kālidāsa is often considered to be the greatest playwright in Sanskrit literature, and one of the greatest poets in Sanskrit literature, whose Recognition of Shakuntala and Meghaduuta are the most famous Sanskrit plays. He occupies the same position in Sanskrit literature that Shakespeare occupies in English literature. Some other famous plays were Mricchakatika by Shudraka, Svapna Vasavadattam by Bhasa, and Ratnavali by Sri Harsha. Later poetic works include Geeta Govinda by Jayadeva. Some other famous works are Chanakya's Arthashastra and Vatsyayana's Kamasutra.
Japanese literature
In the early eleventh century, court lady Murasaki Shikibu wrote Tale of the Genji considered the masterpiece of Japanese literatures and an early example of a work of fiction in the form of a novel. Early-Modern Japanese literature (17th–19th centuries) developed comparable innovations such as haiku, a form of Japanese poetry that evolved from the ancient hokku (Japanese language: 発句) mode. Haiku consists of three lines: the first and third lines each have five morae (the rough phonologicalequivalent of syllables), while the second has seven. Original haiku masters included such figures as Edo period poet Matsuo Bashō (松尾芭蕉); others influenced by Bashō include Kobayashi Issa and Masaoka Shiki.
Korean literature
Korean literature begins in the Three Kingdoms Period, and continues through the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties to the modern day. Examples of Korean poetric forms include sijo and gasa, with Jeong Cheol and Yun Seon-do considered to be the supreme Korean poets. Examples of renowned Korean prose masterpieces include theMemoirs of Lady Hyegyeong, The Cloud Dream of the Nine and the Chunhyangjeon.
Pakistani literature
Pakistani literature has a rich history, and draws influences from both Persian, Muslim and Indian literary traditions. The country has produced a large number of famed poets especially in the national Urdu language. The famous Muhammad Iqbal, regarded as the national poet, was often called "The Poet of the East" (Shair-e-Mashriq).
Persian literatureTurkish literature
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