Amami is a language spoken by around 130000 people in the Amami islands south of Kyushu. It is a Ryukyuan language, most closely related to Okinawan. Kyushu region, Japan Kyūshū (九州) is the third largest island of Japan and most southerly and westerly of the four main islands. ... The Ryukyuan languages are spoken in the Ryukyu islands and make up a subfamily of the Japonic family. ... Okinawan (Okinawan Uchinaaguchi) is a Ryukyuan language spoken in Japan on the southern island of Okinawa, as well as the surrounding islands of Kerama, Kume-jima, Tonaki, Aguni, and a number of smaller islands located to the east of the main island of Okinawa. ...

Phonology

Consonants:

• Unvoiced fricatives: h hj hw s sj
• Unvoiced aspirate stops: kʻ kʻj tʻ cʻ cʻj
• Unvoiced laryngeal inaspirate stops: kʼ kʼj kʼw tʼ cʼ cʼj　pʼ pʼj
• Voiced stops: g gj gw d z zj b bj
• Voiced nasals: n nj m mj
• Laryngeal nasals: ʔn ʔnj ʔm
• Liquids: r rj
• Voiced glides: ' 'j 'w
• Laryngeal glides: ʔ ʔj ʔw

Vowels:

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
  • Tanegashima
  • Yakushima
  • Northern Oshima
• Central
  • Oshima
• South
  • Yoron