1.
消 滅 危 機 言 語 の た め の 書 体 開 発
A Typeface for Endangered Languages
小川 晋史 (OGAWA Shinji)
山田 真寛 (YAMADA Masahiro)
林 由華 (HAYASHI Yuka)
上田 寛人 (UEDA Hiroto)

2.
Presentation Outline
１．Endangered Languages in Japan
２．The “Unified writing system for the
Ryukyuan Languages”
３．“Shima Shotai,” a typeface for the
Ryukyuan Languages

3.
Ainu
Hachijo
Amami
Kunigami
Okinawa
Miyako
YaeyamaYonaguni
Ryukyuan
Languages
Endangered Languages in Japan

4.
Kurima Dialect of Miyako Ryukyuan

5.
Heritage speakers’ comprehension ability
0
5
10
15
20
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
ComprehensionScore(max20)
Age
Comprehension Scores
of Three Language Communities
Kunjai-Okinoerabu
Hyoo-Okinoerabu
Ikema-Miyako

6.
The “Gap”
Japanese native speakers have a
writing system for general use.
Ryukyuan native speakers have never
had such a writing system.

7.
“Ryukyu no kotoba no
kakikata”
（Kuroshio Publisher, 2015）
ーThe “Unified Writing
System for the Ryukyuan
Languages”

8.
Charactaristics of the Unified Writing System
☞ Using Kana -based letters including “new”
letters for Ryukyuan languages.
☞ Not using Kanji (Chinese characters)
☞ Leaving a space between words
☞ All dialects of Ryukyuan languages are written
under one system.

9.
Ex. Nums and Kinds of Vowels in Different
Ryukyuan Languages
Yonaguni (3)
i, a, u
Hateruma-
Yaeyama (6)
i, e, ï, a, o, u
Ogami-
Miyako (5)
i, ɛ, a, ɯ, u
Tsuken-
Okinawa (5)
i, e, a, o, u
Ura-Amami (7)
i, e, ɨ, ə, a, o, u
Std-Japanese (5)
i, e, a, o, u

10.
Nasalized p-series syll.
pã pĩ pũ pẽ põ
Aspirated k-series syll.
kha khi khu khe kho
Examples of Newley added letters
Standard k-series syll.
か き く け こ
ka ki ku ke ko
Standard p-series syll.
ぱ ぴ ぷ ぺ ぽ
pa pi pu pe po
diacritic “ > ” added diacritic “ ~ ” added

11.
“Taramafutsu Jiten” (2017)
(Tarama village board of education)
ーDictionary of Tarama Dialect

12.
Playing cards of Yonaguni Ryukyuan (2016)
(Yonaguni town board of education)

13.
“Shima Shotai”
a typeface designed
for Ryukyuan languages
Designed by Jiyukobo, Ltd.
Engineered by Realtype, Inc.
Funded by The Toyota Foundation

14.
“Yu Shotai” and “Shima Shotai”
Yu Gothic (Microsoft Word 2016)
Shima Gothic

15.
Input Method
ligature
ligature
ka i ku te xe mu
cka qqi qku lte xce xmu

16.
Vertical Writing
Shima Mincho
vertical
Shima Mincho
horizontal
OK！

17.
4 typefaces of “Shima Shotai”
Shima Gothic
horizontal
Shima Mincho
horizontal
Shima Gothic
vertical
Shima Mincho
vertical

18.
Restriction on Use
text OK
Adobe Products OK
Microsoft Excel NG
Power Point NG
Word OK
(template file needed)
MacOS Numbers OK
Keynote OK
Pages OK
Smart Phone NG

19.
ligature
ligature
ka i ku te xe mu
cka qqi qku lte xce xmu

20.
“Shima Shotai” on the Web
・Webfont is being prepared.
・Sales Site of “Shima Shotai”
http://shimanomoji.site/

21.
Problem to Be Solved
Unicode Registration！

22.
Thank you !