EntityQ27969· pop 100· linked from 539 articles

Ainu

language(s) spoken by Ainu ethnic groups in Hokkaido, Kuril and Sakhalin

AI overview

The Ainu language is spoken by the Ainu ethnic groups living in Hokkaido, the Kurils, and Sakhalin. It matters because it represents the linguistic heritage of an indigenous people and is considered endangered, making its preservation important for understanding human cultural and linguistic diversity.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Article

Ainu (アィヌイタㇰ, aynu itak), or more precisely Hokkaido Ainu (Japanese: 北海道アイヌ語), is the native language of the Ainu people on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. It is a member of the Ainu language family, considered to be an independent language family with no academic consensus regarding its origin. Until the 20th century, the three Ainu languages – Hokkaido Ainu, Kuril Ainu, and Sakhalin Ainu – were spoken throughout Hokkaido, the southern half of the island of Sakhalin and by small communities in the Kuril Islands, up to the southern tip of Kamchatka.

Following the colonization of Hokkaido, the number of Hokkaido Ainu speakers declined steadily throughout the 20th century, eventually becoming critically endangered. By 2008, only two native speakers of Ainu remained, both elderly. By 2021, there were no native speakers, though some native semi-speakers remained and it remains in use as a heritage language.