Layers of words and volcanic ash in Japan and Korea

Proto-Japanese was not spoken in Japan during the Jomon period, yet archaeo logists doubt that Japanese was introduced by conquest just prior to the fi rst large tumuli. But if proto-Korean-Japanese accompanied the introduction of Yayoi techniques, the rise of Kofun culture may nevertheless have witne ssed significant linguistic changes. A number of uncommon or semantically n arrow Japanese words have Korean cognates, yet more common or broader nears ynonyms do not. A Koguryo. Paekche, or Tungusic cognate is often found inst ead. Such word-pairs suggest an adstratum of borrowings. Early Yamato seems to have been more willing than Silla to adopt words from its neighbors.