Where does “国語” come from?

国語 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 国, from Old Japanese 国.

国語 (Japanese): a language; a national language; the Japanese...

Definitions

  1. a language; a national language; the Japanese...

Ancestry of “国語”, step by step

国語 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 国

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese国a land, a large place; a country in general, a...
2Old Japanese国—

via Japanese 語

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese語a word, term; a proverb; language of, -ese, -ish
2Chinese語—
Every word from Old Japanese 国 →Every word from Japanese 国 →