How is Japanese related to the Ryukyuan languages?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Japanese calligraphy — Japanese language Record of a haiku exchange on *kaishi* writing paper by Japanese poet Bashō and one of his pupils in the teacher's own handwriting, 17th century, from a hanging scroll (ink on paper).

Japanese and the Ryukyuan languages are genetically related, as both belong to the Japonic language family. This family encompasses the various local dialects spoken on Japan’s main islands alongside the Ryukyuan languages, which include Amami, Okinawan, Miyako, Yaeyama, and Yonaguni. The Hachijō language is also potentially included in this grouping.12

While they share a common ancestry, there is no mutual intelligibility between Japanese and the Ryukyuan languages, nor is there mutual intelligibility among the different Ryukyuan dialect groups themselves. Although Japanese is widely spoken throughout the Ryukyu Islands today, the indigenous Ryukyuan languages remain distinct, reflecting their shared heritage within the Japonic family.34