Amami Japanese (トン普通語, Ton-futsūgo) is a variety of the Japanese language spoken on the island of Amami Ōshima.[1][2] Its native term Ton-futsūgo means "potato standard". Much like Okinawan Japanese, it is a descendant of Standard Japanese but with influences from the traditional Ryukyuan languages (in this case, Amami Japanese is influenced by the Amami Ōshima language).
| Amami Japanese | |
|---|---|
| トン普通語 | |
| Native to | Japan |
| Region | Kagoshima Prefecture (Amami Ōshima) |
| Ethnicity | Ryukyuan |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| IETF | ja-u-sd-jp46 |
History
editIn the past, the locals of Amami Ōshima spoke the Amami Ōshima language, which belongs to the northern group of the larger Ryukyuan language family. However, as a result of Japanese assimilation policies, a language shift towards Japanese began. The same occurrence happened in the other parts of the Ryukyu Islands.[3]
Despite Japanese becoming widespread in Amami Ōshima, a substrate from the Amami language was present.[2] This caused the creation of Amami Japanese, known locally as Ton-futsūgo. Amami Japanese was looked down upon for much of its existence. However, in modern times, the variety is viewed positively by its speakers.[2]
Features
edit| English | Amami Japanese | Standard Japanese |
|---|---|---|
| I, me, myself | ワン (wan) | 私 (watashi) |
| you | ヤー (yaa) | 貴方 (anata) |
| quotations | 〜ちば (chiba) | 〜って (tte) |
| question marker | かい (kai) | か (ka) |
The last two English examples are not words on their own. They instead list the situations in which the Amami Japanese words are used. 〜ちば indicates a quote, and the word かい marks a question when placed at the end of a phrase.
See also
edit- Kagoshima dialect
- Okinawan Japanese, the equivalent of Amami Japanese spoken on the Okinawa Islands
- Amami Ōshima language, the language that influenced this variety of Japanese
- Amami Ōshima, the island where Ton-futsūgo is spoken
References
edit- ^ a b "シマクチ（奄美の方言）". 奄美な生活 (in Japanese). 7 September 2017. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
- ^ a b c Anderson, Mark (January 2019). "Studies of Ryukyu-substrate Japanese". Routledge Handbook of Japanese Sociolinguistics.
- ^ "Assimilation Practices in Okinawa". www.uchinanchu.org. Archived from the original on 2022-05-05. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
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