(The) people in Japan speak Japanese.

I was wondering if prepositional phrases alone were strong enough to give the nouns that they modify the definite article the.

Upon reading (1), without any context for the sentence known to you, which do you feel is the reason the people has the before it, that they are already mentioned before or there is any other reason other than that there is the prepositional phrase in Japan, or that there is in Japan?

1. The people in Japan speak Japanese.
2. People in Japan speak Japanese.

Also, do my paraphrases for the above sentences, which are in some sort of unknown contexts, work? If there is any flaw, please point to it.

1. The people in Japan speak Japanese. = The people that are in Japan speak Japanese. = All the people that are in Japan speak Japanese.
2. People in Japan speak Japanese. = People that are in Japan speak Japanese. = People, who are in Japan, speak Japanese = Most of the people that are in Japan speak Japanese.

Japanese people speak Japanese. 'The people that are in Japan' include some (many?) who don't. Informally it's acceptable to say 'In Japan they speak Japanese. The first and fourth of your paraphrases for 2 are OK.

b

HSS said:

I was wondering if prepositional phrases alone were strong enough to give the nouns that they modify the definite article the.

Upon reading (1), without any context for the sentence known to you, which do you feel is the reason the people has the before it, that they are already mentioned before or there is any other reason other than that there is the prepositional phrase in Japan, or that there is in Japan?

1. The people in Japan speak Japanese.
2. People in Japan speak Japanese.

Both of these are acceptable. As you imply, they could both be misinterpreted to mean "all the people in Japan", but the context would rule that out. You say there's no context, which is partly true, but no one would assume that all people in Japan can speak Japanese.

Also, do my paraphrases for the above sentences, which are in some sort of unknown contexts, work? If there is any flaw, please point to it.

1. The people in Japan speak Japanese. OK = The people that are in Japan speak Japanese. OK = All the people that are in Japan speak Japanese. No, the pragmatics of the sentence would almost always rule out that interpretation
2. People in Japan speak Japanese. OK = People that are in Japan speak Japanese. OK = People, who are in Japan, speak JapaneseNo, see below Most of the people that are in Japan speak Japanese. Yes, but most people would interpret this to mean that native Japanese people speak Japanese.

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I say no to your sentence with the non-defining, non-restrictive clause because it does not equal the previous sentence with the defining restrictive clause.
People in general are not in Japan, so "People, who are in Japan ..." is not correct.
This would be correct: "A hundred people died in an earthquake yesterday. The people, who are in Japan, ..." This is not the best example, but it demonstrate the correct use of the comma here in a clause that adds information, and doesn't restrict "which people" are meant.

PS: I just noticed Bob's reply. I agree. The second sentence of 2 should use "who".

BobK said:

[...] 'The people that are in Japan' include some (many?) who don't. [...]

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Because 'the people that are in Japan' include all the persons physically living or staying in Japan, correct?

BobK said:

[...] The first and fourth of your paraphrases for 2 are OK. [...]

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You mean first and third, don't you?

Thanks.

Raymott said:

[...]
PS: I just noticed Bob's reply. I agree. The second sentence of 2 should use "who".

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I don't see him saying that in his post. Please point to it for me. Thanks!

HSS said:

I don't see him saying that in his post. Please point me out to it. Thanks!

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Bob wrote, "The first and fourth of your paraphrases for 2 are OK." This implies that the 2nd and 3rd are not OK.
I've told you why the 3rd is not OK, and I've inferred the reason that Bob said the 2nd was not OK. If Bob had a different reason, I'm sure he'll correct me.

Raymott said:

Bob wrote, "The first and fourth of your paraphrases for 2 are OK." This implies that the 2nd and 3rd are not OK.
I've told you why the 3rd is not OK, and I've inferred the reason that Bob said the 2nd was not OK. If Bob had a different reason, I'm sure he'll correct me.

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Hi, Raymott. Yes, but I only have three paraphrases for #2 .... There is no fourth ....:-(

HSS said:

Hi, Raymott. Yes, but I only have three paraphrases for #2 .... There is no fourth ....:-(

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OK, but you have four sentences. That is what I was referring to, and no doubt so was Bob.

Raymott said:

OK, but you have four sentences. That is what I was referring to, and no doubt so was Bob.

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Oh, I see it, Raymott! So you meant paraphrase #1 = my original, paraphrase #2 = my first paraphrase, paraphrase ....

Thanks, Raymott! Thanks, Bob!

One more thing, Raymott.

Raymott said:

People in general are not in Japan, so "People, who are in Japan ..." is not correct.

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By the same token, are the following then are not correct, either?
3 Tira is going to give Hiro a pencil, which she bought at the store last week.
4 Tira is going to give Hiro pencils, which she bought at the store last week.

Your help would be very much appreciated.

HSS said:

One more thing, Raymott.

By the same token, are the following then [STRIKE]are[/STRIKE] not correct, either?
3 Tira is going to give Hiro a pencil, which she bought at the store last week.
4 Tira is going to give Hiro pencils, which she bought at the store last week.

Your help would be very much appreciated.

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They are correct if you're adding additional information about the pencils that doesn't say which pencils you mean.
If you using the clause to define which pencils, the comma is wrong, and you need, "Tira is going to give Hiro the pencils which she bought at the store last week.
Which pencils? - The pencils which she bought at the store. (No comma)
You can look here (and elsewhere):
Clauses - Restrictive and Nonrestrictive