Language Crisis In The Ryukyus

Long denigrated as dialects of Japanese, the Ryukyuan languages are today recognized as languages in their own right. However, speakers of Ryukyuan languages have suffered from stigmatization, oppressive language policies and domination from outside the Ryukyu Archipelago. As a result, the Ryukyuan languages are now severely endangered. This volume depicts, roughly in chronological order, aspects which have led to the language crisis in the Ryukyus today. Taking account of these factors is important because endangered languages can only be maintained and revitalized on the basis of a comprehensive understanding of why these languages became endangered in the first place. The chapters of this book have been written by leading experts in Ryukyuan sociolinguistics and the scope encompasses the entire field. It sheds light on the dark side of language modernization, on a misplaced obsession with monolingualism, and on Japan’s difficulties in surmounting its invented self-image.

The UNESCO atlas on endangered languages recognizes the Ryukyuan languages as constituting languages in their own right. This represents a dramatic shift in the ontology of Japan’s linguistic make-up. Ryukyuan linguistics needs to be established as an independent field of study with its own research agenda and objects. This handbook delineates that the UNESCO classification is now well established and adequate. Linguists working on the Ryukyuan languages are well advised to refute the ontological status of the Ryukyuan languages as dialects. The Ryukyuan languages constitute a branch of the Japonic language family, which consists of five unroofed Abstand (language by distance) languages.The Handbook of Ryukyuan Languages provides for the most appropriate and up-to-date answers pertaining to Ryukyuan language structures and use, and the ways in which these languages relate to Ryukyuan society and history. It comprises 33 chapters, written by the leading experts of Ryukyuan languages. Each chapter delineates the boundaries and the research history of the field it addresses, comprises the most important and representative information.

Sakishima comprises a group of islands situated between Okinawa and Taiwan, forming a culturally important bridge between Japan and Taiwan. Studies of the languages of the Ryukyuan islands are valuable for an accurate understanding of the linguistic history of Japan as a whole.

The Routledge Handbook of Language Revitalization is the first comprehensive overview of the language revitalization movement, from the Arctic to the Amazon and across continents. Featuring 47 contributions from a global range of top scholars in the field, the handbook is divided into two parts, the first of which expands on language revitalization issues of theory and practice while the second covers regional perspectives in an effort to globalize and decolonize the field. The collection examines critical issues in language revitalization, including: language rights, language and well-being, and language policy; language in educational institutions and in the home; new methodologies and venues for language learning; and the roles of documentation, literacies, and the internet. The volume also contains chapters on the kinds of language that are less often researched such as the revitalization of music, of whistled languages and sign languages, and how languages change when they are being revitalized. The Routledge Handbook of Language Revitalization is the ideal resource for graduate students and researchers working in linguistic anthropology and language revitalization and endangerment.

This book looks into the accentual history of the Japanese and the Ryukyuan languages. Applying the comparative method, the author has reconstructed the accentual history of the Japonic languages. The reconstruction is based on modern dialects of Japanese and Ryukyuan, and also on historical materials.

Heritage language policies define the context in which heritage languages are maintained or abandoned by communities, and this volume describes and analyzes international policy strategies, as well as the implications for the actual heritage language speakers. This volume brings together heritage language policy case studies from around the world, foregrounding globalization by covering five regions: the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australasia. The countries profiled include the United States, Canada, Argentina, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Uganda, Namibia, Morocco, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji. This volume also highlights an expanded definition of ‘heritage language’, choosing to focus on individual and community identities, and therefore including both Indigenous and immigrant languages. Focusing specifically on language policy relating to heritage languages, the chapters address key questions such as Are heritage languages included or excluded from the national language policy discourse? What are the successes and shortcomings of efforts to establish heritage language policies? What is the definition of ‘heritage language’ in official usage by the local/regional government and stakeholders? How are these language policies perceived by the actual heritage language communities?

This book aims to clarify the present situation of the relations between small island countries and territories on the one hand and the great powers, mainland areas, and mega-islands on the other, and explores how small island countries and territories preserve and build their identity under globalization. This book is divided into five parts. The first part presents papers on issues that are related to Okinawa: the American military presence, the formation of a global human network, and the history of and language revitalization in Okinawa. The second part includes papers on security in East Asia and the Pacific Region: the history of and present issues in international relations within the South and East China Sea areas. The third part presents papers on economic issues and social developments on small islands. The fourth part deals with ocean policies and marine resource management in the Pacific Region by the United States, Australia, and Japan. Finally, the fifth part presents papers on the revitalization of three indigenous languages. All the chapters of the book are based on the achievements of the research project “Towards New Island Studies: The Ryukyus as an academic node between East Asia and Oceania” conducted by the International Institute for Okinawan Studies at the University of the Ryukyus. This 5-year project was funded by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and aimed to contribute academically to the creation of sustainable and self-determinable societies in small island regions. This work will be extremely useful and informative for readers in small island countries and territories and for researchers who are interested in small island issues to understand the current situation and who wish to consider effectual and feasible solutions.

Analyses how linguistic diversity in Japan, and indeed recognition of this phenomenon, presents a wide range of sociolinguistic challenges and opportunities in fundamental institutions such as schools, in cultural patterns and in social behaviours and attitudes.