Amami

Facts

  • Language: Amami
  • Alternate names: Kikai, Kunigami, Northern Amami-Oshima, Oki-no-Erabu, Southern Amami-Oshima, Toku-no-Shima, Yoron, Ryukyuan, Oshima, Osima, Oosima, Northern Ryukyuan, Amami-Osima, Okinoerabu, Okierabu, Tokunosima, 奄美語, 奄美方言, 国頭語, 国頭方言, Shimayumuta, 島口, シマユムタ
  • Language code: kzg, xug, ryn, okn, ams, tkn, yox
  • Language family: Japonic; Ryukyuan; Northern Ryukyuan (SIL classification)
  • Number of speakers: ~37,000
  • Vulnerability: Endangered
  • Script:

More information:

    Pellard (2015), whose classification is used here, considers Okinawan and Amami to be separate. According to Niinaga (2015), Northern Okinawan dialects are grouped together with Amami dialects. According to other analyses, the Amami language consists of Kikai (kzg), Kunigami (xug), Northern Amami-Oshima (ryn), Oki-no-Erabu (okn), Southern Amami-Oshima (ams), Toku-no-Shima (tkn), and Yoron (yox).