Kunigami

A language of Japan

ISO 639: xug
Population: 5,000 (2004).
Location:: Okinawa prefecture: central and north Okinawa island; Ie-jima, Iheya, Izena, and Sesoko islands.
Language Status: 7 (Shifting).
Classification: Japonic, Ryukyuan, Amami-Okinawan, Southern Amami-Okinawan
Dialects: Nago. Inherent intelligibility generally impossible, or very difficult, of Ryukyuan languages and Japanese [jpn]. Ryukyuan languages are 62%–70% cognate with Tokyo dialect of Japanese. Lexical similarity: Ryukyu languages: 62%–70% with Tokyo dialect of Japanese.
Language Use: Those under 20 are mainly monolingual in Japanese (1989 T. Fukuda). Adults only. Shifting to Japanese [jpn].

Location: Okinawa prefecture: central and north Okinawa island; Ie-jima, Iheya, Izena, and Sesoko islands.