Information from: “personal communication on Japonic languages” . Thomas Dougherty (2014)
Endangered
100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
Unknown; perhaps only a few thousand
0
0
Most speakers are over the age of 50 and are bilingual in Yaeyama and Japanese.
DATE OF INFO
2014
DOMAINS OF USE
SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS
TRANSMISSION
MORE ON VITALITY
"Younger Yaeyama speakers are L1 Japanese speakers, and L2 Yaeyama learners (most people under 40 who learn are involved in traditional Okinawan culture, like the theater, with a growing number of language activists). And basically no children learn it at home from their parents, though there have been efforts to establish a language nest."
OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
Japanese
LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS
"'Language nest' is implemented at the community level, though the government has issued statements that it is certainly not opposed."
Scripts (Writing system)
kana
More on Orthography
It's not written until quite recently and speakers don't write much.
PLACES
Japan
LOCATION DESCRIPTION
The Yaeyama (八重山) Islands
Information from: “Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger” . Christopher Moseley (ed.) (2010) UNESCO Publishing
Information from: “Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)” . M. Paul Lewis · SIL International
47,636
DATE OF INFO
2000
PLACES
Japan;
Information from: “Hateruma Yaeyama Grammar” (423-447) . Aso, Rieko (2015) , Heinrich, P., Miyara, S., & Shimoji, M. · De Gruyter Mouton
Severely endangered
60 percent certain, based on the evidence available
7,000 ~ 10,000
Aso states that her "fieldwork observations indicate that Yaeyama is primarily spoken by people over the age of 70. The 2010 national census counted 6,842 inhabitants older than 70 in Yaeyuma’s geographical area. However, one would need to add those people who moved away from Yaeyama to this number and subtract all those who came from outside and settled in Yaeyama. A realistic range for the number of speakers of Yaeyama is thus roughly 7,000 to 10,000."
TRANSMISSION
LOCATION DESCRIPTION
Yaeyama is spoken in the Yaeyama Islands, at the very south of the Ryukyu Archipelago. The geographic spread of the isalnds has led to decreased intelligibility between dialects.