The Amami language or languages (島口, シマユムタ, Shimayumuta), also known as Amami Ōshima or simply Ōshima ('Big Island'), is a Ryukyuan language spoken in the Amami Islands south of Kyūshū. The southern variety of the Setouchi township may be a distinct language more closely related to Okinawan than it is to northern Ōshima.

As Amami does not have recognition within Japan as a language, it is officially known as the Amami dialect (奄美方言, Amami Hōgen).

The number of competent native speakers is not known, but native speakers are found mostly among old people—as a result of Japan's language policy which suppresses proliferation of minority languages, the younger generations speak mostly Japanese as their first language. Estimates run around 10,000 for the northern variety and 2,000 for the southern (Setouchi) variety.^[1]

Linguists mostly agree on the validity of the Amami–Okinawan languages as a family. The subdivisions of Amami–Okinawan, however, remain a matter of scholarly debate, with two major hypotheses:

• In a two-branch hypothesis, posited by Nakasone (1961), Hirayama (1964) and Nakamoto (1990), among others, Amami–Okinawan divides into Amami and Okinawan, with the northern and southern varieties of Amami Ōshima both falling within the Amami branch.
• In a three-subdivision hypothesis, proposed by Uemura (1972) as one of several possible classifications and supported by Karimata (2000),^[2] Northern Amami Ōshima (perhaps together with Kikai) and Central/Southern Okinawa form two branches, while the intervening varieties – Southern Amami Ōshima (Setouchi), Kunigami, and the dialects/languages of the islands between – form a third branch. In this proposal, Amami Ōshima does not constitute a single language, and the northern and southern varieties are not even more closely related to each other than they are to other Ryukyuan languages.

The two-subdivision hypothesis is convenient for discussing the modern languages since the posited linguistic boundary corresponds to the centuries-old administrative boundary that today separates Kagoshima and Okinawa Prefectures. In addition, several isoglosses do group Northern and Southern Amami together. In Amami, word-medial /k/ is changed to /h/ or even dropped when it is surrounded by /a/, /e/ or /o/. This can rarely be observed in Okinawan dialects. Standard Japanese /-awa/ becomes /-oː/ in Amami and /-aː/ in Okinawan.^[2]

The three-subdivision hypothesis is more phylogenetically-oriented. A marked isogloss is the vowel systems. Standard Japanese /e/ corresponds to /ɨ/ in Northern Amami Ōshima while it was merged into /i/ in Southern Amami Ōshima through Okinawan.^[2]

The vowel system-based classification is not without complication. The northern three communities of Kikai Island share the seven-vowel system with Amami Ōshima and Tokunoshima to the south, while the rest of Kikai falls in with Okinoerabu and Yoron even further south. Based on other evidence, however, Karimata (2000)^[2] and Lawrence (2011)^[3] tentatively group Kikai dialects together.

Amami Ōshima can be divided into Northern Amami Ōshima and Southern Amami Ōshima despite conflicting patterns of isoglosses.^[4] The distribution of Southern Amami Ōshima roughly corresponds to Setouchi Town, including offshore islands. The rest of the main island speaks Northern Amami Ōshima.^[4]

Shibata et al. (1984) takes a lexicostatistic approach to subgrouping Northern Amami Ōshima dialects:^[5]

• East China Sea side
  • Akatana^{[clarification needed]}
  • Yamato Village
  • Uken Village
• Pacific Ocean side
  • Komi (Kominato)^{[clarification needed]}
  • Northern Sumiyō
  • Southern Sumiyō

In addition, Sani, a small community on a peninsula at the northern tip of the island, is known to have distinct phonology.

Based on phonetic and lexical evidence, Shibata et al. (1984) subdivide Southern Amami Ōshima into

• Higashi (Eastern) Magiri
• Nishi (Western) Magiri

reflecting the administrative divisions during the Edo period. While Uke Island belonged to the Nishi Magiri district, its dialect is closer to that of Higashi Magiri.^[5]

Southern Amami Ōshima contrasts with Northern Amami Ōshima in its final unreleased consonants. For example, "shrimp" is [ʔip] in Ōshama^{[clarification needed]} (Southern) and [ʔibi] in Tatsugō (Northern); "blade" is [katna] in Ōshama and [katana] in Tatsugō.^[6]

According to Osada Suma (1902–1998), the dialect of Yamatohama, Yamato Village of Amami Ōshima had yumuta /ˈjumuθa/ for 'language', shimayumuta /simaˈjumuθa/ for 'island language' (i.e. Amami Ōshima) and Yamatoguchi /ˈjamaθoɡuci/^{[clarification needed]} for the language of mainland Japan (i.e. Standard Japanese).^[7] Another term, shimaguchi /simaɡuci/, is absent from Osada's dictionary. According to Kurai Norio (b. 1923), a local historian from Amami Ōshima, shimaguchi contrasted with Yamatoguchi, while shimayumuta was associated with accentual and intonational differences among various shima (villages).^[8] Ebara Yoshimori (1905–1988), a folklorist from Naze, Amami Ōshima, conjectured that shimaguchi was of relatively recent origin, possibly made through analogy with Yamatoguchi. He thought that the dialect of one's home community was better referred to as shimayumuta.^[9]

• Amami hōgen bunrui jiten (1977–1980) by Osada Suma, Suyama Nahoko and Fujii Misako. A dictionary for the dialect of Osada's home community, Yamatohama, Yamato Village of Amami Ōshima (part of Northern Amami Ōshima). Its phonemic romanization was designed by Hattori Shirō. He also supervised the early compilation process. This dictionary is partially available online as the Amami Dialect Dictionary .
• The Phonetics and Vocabulary of the Sani Dialect (Amami Oshima Island, Ryukyuan language group)' (2003) by Karimata Shigehisa. Sani is known as a language island.
• Kikaijima hōgen-shū (1977 [1941]) by Iwakura Ichirō. A dictionary for the author's home community, Aden, and a couple of other southern communities on Kikai Island of the Amami Islands (its membership disputed).
• Samuel E. Martin, 1970. Shodon: A Dialect of the Northern Ryukyus
• Shigehisa Karimata, 1995–1996. The Phonemes of the Shodon dialect in Amami-Oshima Archived 2015-04-10 at the Wayback Machine Archived 2016-01-31 at the Wayback Machine