Ryukyuan languages in Japan

要旨

This chapter discusses the case of the six Ryukyuan languages spoken in the southwest of the Japanese Archipelago. Ryukyuan languages are sister languages of Japanese and are in danger of becoming extinct by midcentury because of the modernist language regime in Japan that works against linguistic diversity, plurality, and variety. Japan’s self-invented image of constituting a monolingual country stands crucially in the way of maintaining autochthonous languages. As an effect, no overt language policy exists at present. We therefore discuss the limited opportunities that the current language policy in Japan offers for revitalizing Ryukyuan languages; resistance against existing policies that work against language maintenance; and grassroots efforts by nongovernmental organizations, media, and individuals. The chapter reveals positive language attitudes, with more than 70% supporting the idea of introducing Ryukyuan into the education system. Also, numerous and varied grassroots efforts are made to maintain the languages. The Internet and social media play a key role thereby. The effects on language proficiency and use remain limited, though. While there is growing pressure on the government to provide for a language policy supportive of the Ryukyuan languages, achieving this quickly will prove vital for the future fate of Ryukyuan languages.

主題