Kikai

KZG

shifting

Dialects: Onotsu. Inherent intelligibility generally impossible or very difficult with Ryukyuan languages and Japanese ,.

Genealogy:

Japonic
Ryukyuan
Amami-Okinawan
Northern Amami-Okinawan

Demographics: Ethnic population: 13,100 (2000). Those under 20 are mainly monolingual in Japanese (1989 T. Fukuda).

Language Use: Mainly older adults. The younger the generation, the more fluently they speak Japanese [jpn] (Wurm 1981).

Nation of Origin: Japan