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Japonic languages
 
 
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Japonic or Japanese-Ryukyuan is a language family
Language family

A language family is a group of languages related Genetic from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family.As with Alpha taxonomy, the evidence of relationship is observable shared characteristics....
 composed of Japanese
Japanese language

IPA: [n?iho?go] is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is related to the Ryukyuan languages....
 and Ryukyuan
Ryukyuan languages

The Ryukyuan languages are spoken in the Ryukyu Islands, and make up a subfamily of the Japonic languages language family.The Ryukyuan languages and Japanese diverged "not long before the first written evidences of Japanese appeared, that is to say, at some point before the 7th century"....
. Their common ancestral language is known as Proto-Japonic or Proto-Japanese-Ryukyuan. The essential feature of this classification is that the first split in the family resulted in the separation of all dialects of Japanese from all dialects of Ryukyuan. Hattori in 1954 placed this separation event in the Yamato period
Yamato period

The is the period of history of Japan when the Japanese Imperial court ruled from modern-day Nara Prefecture, then known as Yamato Province.While conventionally assigned to the period 250?710 , the actual start of Yamato rule is disputed....
.

Some linguists reserve judgment on this point because much is still unknown about the history of the settlement of the Ryukyu Islands
Ryukyu Islands

The Ryukyu Islands are part of the . From around 1800 on, they have spelled Luchu, Loo-choo, or Lewchew, from the Chinese Liuqiu. They consist of a chain of Islands of Japan in the western Pacific Ocean at the eastern limit of the East China Sea and stretch southwest from the island of Kyushu to the island of Taiwan....
 by the ancestors of their current inhabitants (when each island was settled, and where each group came from).






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Japonic or Japanese-Ryukyuan is a language family
Language family

A language family is a group of languages related Genetic from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family.As with Alpha taxonomy, the evidence of relationship is observable shared characteristics....
 composed of Japanese
Japanese language

IPA: [n?iho?go] is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is related to the Ryukyuan languages....
 and Ryukyuan
Ryukyuan languages

The Ryukyuan languages are spoken in the Ryukyu Islands, and make up a subfamily of the Japonic languages language family.The Ryukyuan languages and Japanese diverged "not long before the first written evidences of Japanese appeared, that is to say, at some point before the 7th century"....
. Their common ancestral language is known as Proto-Japonic or Proto-Japanese-Ryukyuan. The essential feature of this classification is that the first split in the family resulted in the separation of all dialects of Japanese from all dialects of Ryukyuan. Hattori in 1954 placed this separation event in the Yamato period
Yamato period

The is the period of history of Japan when the Japanese Imperial court ruled from modern-day Nara Prefecture, then known as Yamato Province.While conventionally assigned to the period 250?710 , the actual start of Yamato rule is disputed....
.

Some linguists reserve judgment on this point because much is still unknown about the history of the settlement of the Ryukyu Islands
Ryukyu Islands

The Ryukyu Islands are part of the . From around 1800 on, they have spelled Luchu, Loo-choo, or Lewchew, from the Chinese Liuqiu. They consist of a chain of Islands of Japan in the western Pacific Ocean at the eastern limit of the East China Sea and stretch southwest from the island of Kyushu to the island of Taiwan....
 by the ancestors of their current inhabitants (when each island was settled, and where each group came from). In their view, the term Proto-Japanese is preferable until clearer evidence on these questions emerges.

Members

The Japonic (or Japanese-Ryukyuan) languages are:

  • Japanese language
    Japanese language

    IPA: [n?iho?go] is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is related to the Ryukyuan languages....
     
    • Hachijo
      Japanese dialects

      comprise many regional variants. The lingua franca of Japan is called hyojungo or kyotsugo , and while it was based initially on the Tokyo dialect, the language of Japan's capital has since gone in its own direction to become one of Japan's many dialects....
       (conservative dialects of the Hachijojima
      Hachijojima

      is a Islands of Japan in the Pacific Ocean, administered by Tokyo and located 300 kilometers south of the Special Wards of Tokyo. Hachijo, Tokyo governs the island....
       and Daito Islands
      Daito Islands

      Daito Islands are three islands which lie about 217 miles east of Okinawa. From north to south, the islands are:* Data from 2004 Nov 20, 08:55 version of Japanese Wikipedia...
      , including Aogashima)
    • Mainland Japanese
      • Eastern Japanese
        Japanese dialects

        comprise many regional variants. The lingua franca of Japan is called hyojungo or kyotsugo , and while it was based initially on the Tokyo dialect, the language of Japan's capital has since gone in its own direction to become one of Japan's many dialects....
        , most dialects from Nagoya east
      • Western Japanese
        Japanese dialects

        comprise many regional variants. The lingua franca of Japan is called hyojungo or kyotsugo , and while it was based initially on the Tokyo dialect, the language of Japan's capital has since gone in its own direction to become one of Japan's many dialects....
        , most dialects west of Nagoya
      • Kyushu
        Japanese dialects

        comprise many regional variants. The lingua franca of Japan is called hyojungo or kyotsugo , and while it was based initially on the Tokyo dialect, the language of Japan's capital has since gone in its own direction to become one of Japan's many dialects....
        , most of Kyushu
      • Satsugu
        Japanese dialects

        comprise many regional variants. The lingua franca of Japan is called hyojungo or kyotsugo , and while it was based initially on the Tokyo dialect, the language of Japan's capital has since gone in its own direction to become one of Japan's many dialects....
        , southern Kyushu, around Satsuma
        Satsuma Province

        was an old provinces of Japan of Japan that is now the western half of Kagoshima prefecture on the island of Kyushu. Its abbreviation is Sasshu ....


  • Ryukyuan languages
    Ryukyuan languages

    The Ryukyuan languages are spoken in the Ryukyu Islands, and make up a subfamily of the Japonic languages language family.The Ryukyuan languages and Japanese diverged "not long before the first written evidences of Japanese appeared, that is to say, at some point before the 7th century"....
     
    • Amami
      Amami language

      The Amami language is spoken by around 130,000 people in the Amami Islands south of Kyushu. It is a Ryukyuan languages, most closely related to Okinawan language....
       
      • Northern Amami
        • Tanegashima
          Tanegashima

          Tanegashima is an island lying to the south of Kyushu, in southern Japan, and is part of Kagoshima Prefecture. The island is the second largest of the Osumi Islands....
           dialect
        • Yakushima
          Yakushima

          , one of the Osumi Islands, is an island of about 500 km? and roughly 15,000 islanders to the south of Kyushu in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The Vincennes Strait separates it from Tanegashima....
           dialect
        • Northern Oshima
          Oshima

          Oshima, Oshima may refer to:...
           dialect
      • Southern Amami
        • Southern Oshima
          Oshima

          Oshima, Oshima may refer to:...
           dialect
        • Yoron
          Yoron

          Yoron may refer to:* Yoronjima, Yoronto, or Yoron Island , part of Amami Islands in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, the town that makes up the island...
           dialect
    • Okinawan languages
      • Kunigami
        Kunigami language

        The Kunigami language is a Okinawan languages spoken largely in the Kunigami district of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Like other Okinawan languages, Kunigami is part of the Ryukyuan languages family....
         (or Northern Okinawan)
      • Ie
        Ie, Okinawa

        Ie is a Villages of Japan located in Kunigami district, Okinawa, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The village lies on the island of Iejima.As of 2003, the village has an estimated population of 5,128 and the population density of 225.41 persons per km?....
      • (South-Central) Okinawan
        Okinawan language

        Okinawan is a Ryukyuan languages spoken in Japan on the southern island of Okinawa, as well as the surrounding islands of Kerama, Kumejima, Okinawa, Tonaki, Okinawa, Aguni, Okinawa, and a number of smaller islands located to the east of the main island of Okinawa....
         (Standard Okinawan)
      • Shimajiri
        Shimajiri District, Okinawa

        Shimajiri is a districts of Japan located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Roughly translated, Shimajiri means "Butt of the island" which refers to its southerly position on the island of Okinawa....
         (the classification of the Shimajiri dialects are uncertain, but are often included geographically as Southern Okinawan)
    • Miyako
      Miyako language

      Miyako is a language spoken by an unknown number of people in the Miyako Islands south of Okinawa Island. It is a Ryukyuan languages, most closely related to Yaeyama language....
       
      • Miyako
        Miyako

        Miyako may refer to:...
         dialect
      • Irabu
        Irabu, Okinawa

        Irabu was a towns of Japan located in Miyako district, Okinawa, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.On October 12005, Irabu merged with the city of Hirara, Okinawa, the towns of Gusukube, Okinawa and Shimoji, Okinawa, and the village of Ueno, Okinawa to form the city of Miyakojima, Okinawa....
         dialect
    • Yaeyama
      Yaeyama language

      Yaeyama is a language spoken by around 44,650 people in the Yaeyama Islands, south of the Miyako area of the Ryukyus. It is a Ryukyuan languages, most closely related to Miyako language....
       
      • Ishigaki dialect
      • Iriomote
        Iriomote

        Iriomote is the largest of the Yaeyama Islands and the second largest in Okinawa Prefecture after Okinawa Island itself.Despite its having an area of 289 km? the island's total population is less than 2,000, and infrastructure is limited to a single coastal road connecting the hamlets on the northern and eastern shores....
         dialect
      • Taketomi
        Taketomi

        Taketomi is an island in the Yaeyama District, Okinawa of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Located a ten-minute boat ride away from Ishigaki island, this island has a village in the center, also named Taketomi, Okinawa....
         dialect
    • Yonaguni
      Yonaguni language

      Yonaguni is a language spoken by around 1800 people on the island of Yonaguni, in Ryukyu Islands, just east of Taiwan. It is a Ryukyuan languages, most closely related to Yaeyama language....
       


Classification

The relationship of the Japonic (or Japanese-Ryukyuan) languages to other languages and language families is controversial. There are numerous hypotheses, none of which is generally accepted.

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