What is Ryukyuan languages?
{{Infobox language family |name=Ryukyuan |region=[[Ryukyu Islands]] ([[Okinawa Prefecture]], [[Amami Islands]] of [[Kagoshima Prefecture]]) |ethnicity=[[Ryukyuan people]] |familycolor=Altaic |fam1=[[Japonic languages|Japonic]] |child1=[[Amami language|Amami]] |child2=[[Kunigami language|Kunigami]] |child3=[[Okinawan language|Okinawan]] |child4=[[Miyako language|Miyako]] |child5=[[Yaeyama language|Yaeyama]] |child6=[[Yonaguni language|Yonaguni]] |glotto=ryuk1243 |map=Location of the Ryukyu Islands.JPG |mapcaption=Location of Ryukyu Islands }} The '''Ryūkyūan languages''' ([[Okinawan language|Okinawan]]: 琉球口, ''Duuchuuguchi'') are a group of [[Japonic languages]] spoken in the [[Ryūkyū Islands]], the southernmost part of [[Japan]]. The languages are [[amami language|Amami]], [[Kunigami language|Kunigami]], [[okinawan language|Okinawan]], [[Miyako language|Miyako]], [[Yaeyama language|Yaeyama]] and [[Yonaguni language|Yonaguni]]. Although Japan says the Ryukyuan languages are dialects of [[Japanese language|Japanese]], most linguists see them as languages. This is because Japanese speakers would not be able to understand Ryukyuan without learning it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apjjf.org/-Patrick-Heinrich/1596/article.html|title=Language Loss and Revitalization in the Ryukyu Islands {{!}} The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus|website=apjjf.org|access-date=2020-08-02}}</ref> In the past, the Ryukyuan languages were spoken all over Ryukyu. Due to the languages being discriminated against, they have become [[endangered language]]<nowiki/>s. Most Ryukyuans now speak Japanese.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uchinanchu.org/uchinanchu/history_assimilation.htm|title=Assimilation Practices in Okinawa|website=www.uchinanchu.org|access-date=2020-08-02|archive-date=2022-05-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220505004634/http://www.uchinanchu.org/uchinanchu/history_assimilation.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> == History == When a group people called the [[Yayoi people|Yayoi]] came to Japan, they brought over a language ca