Yaeyama Language
Yaeyama (やいまむに, Yaimamuni) is a Ryukyuan language that is spoken in the Yaeyama Islands, the southernmost inhabited island group in Japan, with a combined population of about 50,000 (as of 2011). The Yaeyama Islands are situated to the southwest of the Miyako area of the Ryukyus and to the east of Taiwan. Yaeyama (Yaimamunii) is most closely related to Miyako. The number of competent native speakers is not known - as a consequence of Japanese language policy, reflected in the education system, people below the age of 60 tend to not use the language except in songs and rituals, and the younger generation exclusively uses Japanese as their first language. Yaeyama has three main dialects, named after the islands they are found on:
- Ishigaki
- Iriomote
- Taketomi
The speech of the island of Yonaguni, while related, is usually considered a separate language.
Read more about Yaeyama Language: History
Famous quotes containing the word language:
“While you are divided from us by geographical lines, which are imaginary, and by a language which is not the same, you have not come to an alien people or land. In the realm of the heart, in the domain of the mind, there are no geographical lines dividing the nations.”
—Anna Howard Shaw (1847–1919)