Amami Islands - Language

Language

Idiolects spoken in a large part of the Amami Islands are collectively known as the Amami language/dialect. It has several dialects: the Kikai dialect, North Amami dialect, South Amami dialect, and Tokunoshima dialect. Dialects spoken in the southern islands of Okinoerabu and Yoron are closer to those of Kunigami of northern Okinawa, and hence called Okinoerabu-Yoron-Northern Okinawan dialect.

These dialects all belong to the North Ryukyuan group of the Ryukyuan languages. Although the Ryukyuan languages belong to the Japonic family along with Japanese, they are mutually unintelligible. There is a dispute about the status of these languages, with some thinking that these are different (independent) languages from Japanese, while others think these are merely dialects.

Just as anywhere else in Japan, standard Japanese is used in all the formal situations. The de facto common speech among locals under 60, on the other hand, is Amami-accented Mainland Japanese called Ton-futsūgo (トン普通語?, lit. "Potato standard"). The speech is different from Uchinā-Yamatuguchi (Okinawan Japanese), an Okinawan-accented Mainland Japanese used in Okinawa. Ton-futsūgo is affected not only by standard Japanese, but also by the Satsugū (Mainland Kagoshima) dialect and the Kansai dialect.

Communities on the Amami Islands using sign language as their primary mode of communication have been described.