Kunigami

XUG

shifting

Dialects: Nago. Inherent intelligibility generally impossible, or very difficult, of Ryukyuan languages and Japanese ,. Ryukyuan languages are 62%-70% cognate with Tokyo dialect of Japanese. Lexical similarity: Ryukyu languages: 62%–70% with Tokyo dialect of Japanese.

Genealogy:

Japonic
Ryukyuan
Amami-Okinawan
Southern Amami-Okinawan

Demographics: 5,000 (2004).

Language Use: Those under 20 are mainly monolingual in Japanese (1989 T. Fukuda). Mainly older adults. The younger the generation, the more fluently they speak Japanese [jpn] (Wurm 1981).

Nation of Origin: Japan