Also Known As:
Uchinaaguchi, うちなーぐち, Uchināguchi, Luchu, Ryukyuan, Central Ryukyuan, Okinawa, Central Group, Okinawan, Central, Central Okinawan, 沖縄語, 沖縄方言, シマクトゥバ, Okinawan
Dialects & Varieties
- Shuri
- Naha
- Kudaka
- Torishima
Number of Speakers of Central Okinawan
Zachary Read. 2011. "Number of Speakers of Central Okinawan." In A Guide to Okinawan, JLect. Online: http://www.jlect.com/downloads/Number-of-Central-Okinawan-Speakers.pdf.
Severely Endangered
80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
95,000
Native Speakers Worldwide
Speaker Number Trends
Speaker Number Trend 5
A small percentage of the community speaks the language, and speaker numbers are decreasing very rapidly.
5
Transmission
Transmission 4
Many of the grandparent generation speak the language, but younger people generally do not.
4
Speakers
Native or fluent speakers:
No results found.
Second-language speakers and learners
190,000
Semi-speakers or rememberers
No results found.
Children:
No results found.
Young adults
0
Older adults
No results found.
Elders
No results found.
Ethnic or community population
950,000
Year information was gathered
No results found.
Comments on speakers
"...strong language policies that were enacted in the late 19th century up until the mid-20th century outright discouraged and banned the use of the language, an ideology which permeated into the regional culture with the language not having been passed down by the older generations and not having been taught in schools."
Location and Context
Countries
No results found.
Location Description
No results found.
Government Support
No results found.
Institutional Support
No results found.
Speakers' Attitude
No results found.
Other Languages Used By The Community
None
Number of Other Language Speakers:
None
Domains of Other Languages:
None
Writing Systems
Standard orthography:
No results found.
Writing system:
No results found.
Other writing systems used:
No results text.
Comments on writing systems:
No results found.
Recent Resources
Bibliographic information
Bibliographic information
Contributor:
Patrick Heinrich
Appplication of the UNESCO framework