Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa Prefecture, Amami Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture)
Linguistic classification
Japonic
Ryukyuan
Proto-language
Proto-Ryukyuan
Subdivisions
Northern Ryukyuan
Southern Ryukyuan
Glottolog
ryuk1243
Map of Ryukyuan languages
Traffic safety slogan signs in Kin, Okinawa, written in Japanese (center) and Okinawan (left and right).
The Ryukyuan languages (琉球語派, Ryūkyū-goha, also 琉球諸語, Ryūkyū-shogo or 島言葉 in Ryukyuan, Shima kutuba, literally "Island Speech"), also Lewchewan or Luchuan (/luːˈtʃuːən/), are the indigenous languages of the Ryukyu Islands, the southernmost part of the Japanese archipelago. Along with the Japanese language and the Hachijō language, they make up the Japonic language family.[1]
Although Japanese is spoken in the Ryukyu Islands, the Ryukyu and Japanese languages are not mutually intelligible. It is not known how many speakers of these languages remain, but language shift toward the use of Standard Japanese and dialects like Okinawan Japanese has resulted in these languages becoming endangered; UNESCO labels four of the languages "definitely endangered" and two others "severely endangered".[2]
^An Introduction to Ryukyuan Languages
^"UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". Unesco.org. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
and 25 Related for: Ryukyuan languages information
The Ryukyuanlanguages (琉球語派, Ryūkyū-goha, also 琉球諸語, Ryūkyū-shogo or 島言葉 in Ryukyuan, Shima kutuba, literally "Island Speech"), also Lewchewan or Luchuan...
comprising Japanese, spoken in the main islands of Japan, and the Ryukyuanlanguages, spoken in the Ryukyu Islands. The family is universally accepted...
The Northern Ryukyuanlanguages are a group of languages spoken in the Amami Islands, Kagoshima Prefecture and the Okinawa Islands, Okinawa Prefecture...
The Southern Ryukyuanlanguages (南琉球語群, Minami Ryūkyū gogun) form one of two branches of the Ryukyuanlanguages. They are spoken on the Sakishima Islands...
within Japan. They speak one of the Ryukyuanlanguages, considered to be one of the two branches of the Japonic language family, the other being Japanese...
Japanese language, Ryūkyūanlanguages are spoken in Okinawa and parts of Kagoshima in the Ryūkyū Islands. Along with Japanese, these languages are part...
As compared to the Japanese kokugo, or Japanese national language, other Ryukyuanlanguages such as Okinawan and Amami have also been referred to as dialects...
The Okinawan language (沖縄口, ウチナーグチ, Uchināguchi, [ʔut͡ɕinaːɡut͡ɕi]) or Central Okinawan is a Northern Ryukyuanlanguage spoken primarily in the southern...
it is the national language, and within the Japanese diaspora worldwide. The Japonic family also includes the Ryukyuanlanguages and the variously classified...
majority of Ryukyuan Americans speak English and Japanese as a first language. There are also some who can speak one of the many Ryukyuanlanguages, with the...
additional branches, the latter perhaps the most divergent of all. The Ryukyuanlanguages of Okinawa Prefecture and the southern islands of Kagoshima Prefecture...
Japonic languages (Insular Japonic), with the other varieties of Old Japanese, which all descend from proto-Japanese (separate from Proto-Ryukyuan, following...
The Yonaguni language (与那国物言/ドゥナンムヌイ Dunan Munui) is a Southern Ryukyuanlanguage spoken by around 400 people on the island of Yonaguni, in the Ryukyu...
nonliving thing). The Ryukyuanlanguages, spoken in the Ryukyu Islands agree in animacy in their case systems. Slavic languages that have case (all of...
Southern Ryukyuanlanguage, most closely related to Yaeyama. The number of competent native speakers is not known; as a consequence of Japanese language policy...
different languages. Examples include Japanese and Georgian: Japanese is now part of the Japonic language family with the Ryukyuanlanguages, and Georgian...
The Ryukyuan diaspora are the Ryukyuan emigrants from the Ryukyu Islands, especially Okinawa Island, and their descendants that reside in a foreign country...
The Kunigami or Northern Okinawan language (Yanbaru Kutūba (山原言葉/ヤンバルクトゥーバ)), is a Ryukyuanlanguage of Northern Okinawa Island in Kunigami District and...
included the Ryukyuanlanguages in its atlas. The Yaeyama and Yonaguni languages are classified as "severely endangered", whereas the other 4 Ryukyuan varieties...
Southern Ryukyuanlanguages. It is thus plausible to assume a borrowed term.[verification needed] (See Classification of the Japonic languages or Comparison...
the Onotsu dialect, which is based on Shirata (2013b). As with most Ryukyuanlanguages to the north of Central Okinawan, stops are described as "plain" C’...
developments in the Japanese pronunciation, and the comparative study of the Ryukyuanlanguages. Miyake reconstructed the following consonant inventory: The voiceless...
Northern Ryukyuan Okinawan and Kunigami languages (which are, nevertheless, also officially considered as "Japanese" dialects in Japan). The Ryukyuan languages...
Okinawan language, the most widely spoken Ryukyuanlanguage, is related to Japanese, the two being in the Japonic languages. Ryukyuanlanguages were heavily...
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