Amami language

Amami is a language spoken by around 130,000 people in the Amami Islands south of Kyūshū. It is a Ryukyuan language, most closely related to Okinawan. ISO 639-3 code for Northern dialect is [http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/documentation.asp?id=ryn ryn] , for Southern dialect is [http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/documentation.asp?id=ams ams] .

Phonology

Consonants in Amami:

Vowels in Amami:

Short vowels:

* Closed: i ï u
* Half-open: (e) ë o
* Open: a

Long vowels:

* Closed: iː ïː uː
* Half-open: (eː) ëː oː
* Open: aː

Dialects

It is usually classified into the following dialect groupings:

*North
**Kikai
**Northern Oshima
**Southern Oshima (including Kakeroma, Uke and Yoro)
**Tokunoshima
*South
**Erabu
**YoronErabu and Yoron are often alternatively classified as dialects of the Kunigami (Northern Okinawan) language.

External links

* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ryn Northern] and [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ams Southern] Amami-Oshima on Ethnologue