Tags: Language.
The Amami language (島口/シマユムタ Shimayumuta) is spoken in the Amami Islands south of Kyūshū. The number of competent native speakers is not known but native speakers can be found mostly among old people—as a result of Japanese language policy the younger generations speak mostly Japanese as their first language. Amami is a Ryukyuan language most closely related to Okinawan.