Ryukyuan Languages - Classification and Varieties

Classification and Varieties

The Ryukyuan languages belong to the Japonic language family, related to the Japanese language. The Ryukyuan languages are not mutually intelligible with Japanese -- in fact, they are not even mutually intelligible with each other -- and thus may be considered separate languages. However, for socio-political and ideological reasons, they have sometimes been classified as dialects of Japanese.

The Okinawan language is only 71% lexically similar to Tokyo Japanese. Even the southernmost Japanese dialect (Kagoshima dialect) is only 72% lexically similar to the northernmost Ryukyuan language (Amami). The Kagoshima dialect of Japanese, however, is 80% lexically similar to Standard Japanese.

Since the beginning of World War II, most mainland Japanese have regarded the Ryukyuan languages as a dialect or group of dialects of Japanese. During World War II, in an effort to build consciousness in people as subjects of the Japanese Empire, not only Ryukyuan, but also Korean, Palauan, and various other languages were referred to as "dialects" of Japanese.

There is general agreement among experts in the field that Ryukyuan varieties can be divided into 6 languages, conservatively.

Each Ryukyuan language is generally unintelligible to others in the same family. There is a wide diversity between them. For example, Yonaguni has only three vowels, whereas varieties of Amami may have up to 7, excluding long vowels. The table below illustrates the different phrases used in each language for "thank you" and "welcome", with standard Japanese provided for comparison.

Many speakers of the Amami, Miyako, Yaeyama and Yonaguni languages may also be familiar with Okinawan since the language counts the most speakers and once acted as the regional standard. Speakers of Yonaguni are also likely to know the Yaeyama language due to its proximity. Since Amami, Miyako, Yaeyama, and Yonaguni are less urbanised than the Okinawan mainland, their languages are not declining as quickly as that of Okinawa proper, and some children continue to be brought up in these languages.

A widely-accepted hypothesis among linguists categorizes the Ryukyuan languages into two groups, Northern Ryukyuan (Amami–Okinawa) and Southern Ryukyuan (Miyako–Yaeyama).

In Okinawa, a variety of standard Japanese, known as Okinawan Japanese (ウチナーヤマトゥグチ Uchinaa Yamatuguchi), has developed.