japonic

Japonic is a proposed language family that encompasses Japanese and the Ryukyuan languages spoken in and around the Japanese archipelago. The family’s core comprises two major groups: Japanese, the language of the main islands, and the Ryukyuan languages, a cluster including Okinawan, Amami, Miyako, Yaeyama, Yonaguni, Kunigami, and related varieties spoken in the Ryukyu Islands. The Ryukyuan languages are generally treated as a distinct subbranch within Japonic, with substantial differences making mutual intelligibility with Japanese and among Ryukyuan varieties limited.

Classification within and beyond Japonic is a subject of ongoing debate among linguists. Some historic proposals connected Japonic to Koreanic or broader Altaic families, but there is no consensus or widely accepted external grouping. More conservative approaches consider Japonic to be an independent language family, with any links to other families remaining unproven. The Ainu language is sometimes discussed in speculative macrofamily discussions, but Japanese and Ainu are not regarded as closely related in mainstream linguistics.

Geographic distribution and status vary by group. Japanese is the dominant language throughout the main islands and in diaspora communities. The Ryukyuan languages are spoken in the Ryukyu Islands and are generally endangered, with many varieties having only a small number of aging speakers. Efforts to document and revitalize Ryukyuan languages include local education programs, linguistic documentation, and community initiatives.

Linguistically, Japonic languages are typically described as agglutinative with a subject–object–verb order and extensive use of particles. Japanese features a complex honorific system; Ryukyuan languages show related but distinct grammatical and phonological characteristics. Writing systems for Japanese deviate from those used in some Ryukyuan contexts, which have historically employed local scripts or relied on transcription in neighboring languages.