Ryukyuan language spoken in the Yaeyama Islands
Yaeyama (八重山物言 / ヤイマムニ, Yaimamuni) is spoken in the Yaeyama Islands, in the Okinawa prefecture of Japan.
There are significant dialectal differences between the islands and the following phrasebook is based on the dialect of Ishigaki, the largest and most populous island. See the separate Yonaguni phrasebook for the version spoken on Yonaguni.
A few examples:
| Ishigaki | Shiroyasu | Yonaguni | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "sea" | tumoːrɨ | inaga | unnaga |
| "head" | tsuburɨ | amasukuru | mimburu |
| "cloud" | hwumu | hwumoŋ | mmu |
"j" is pronounced like a "y" in English. Some syllables begin with a "ng", and this may be difficult for some English speakers. The triangular colon indicates a long vowel.