The Okinawan language reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Okinawan language

Okinawan (Okinawan Uchināguchi) is a language spoken in Japan on the southern island of Okinawa, as well as the surrounding islands of Kerama, Kume-jima, Tonaki, Aguni, and a number of smaller islands located to the east of the main island of Okinawa. It is part of the Ryūkyūan family of languages, which along with Japanese and its dialects make up the Japonic family of languages. It is divided into three main dialects: Northern (Kunigami), Central (Standard, Shuri-Naha), and Southern. The Shuri dialect was standardized during the era of the Ryūkyūan Kingdom, during the reign of king Sho Shin (1477-1526). It was the official language used by royalty and aristocracy. All of the songs and poems in the language from that era are written in the Shuri dialect.

This language's article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by [ expanding it].

This is the "Okinawan language" reference article from the English Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.