AINU LANGUAGE

INTRODUCTION: Ainu language or Ainu Hokkaido is the only surviving member of the Ainu language
family. It is spoken by a few Ainu people on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. It is not related to
any language, except for a few extinct Ainu languages.

CONTENT: According to UNESCO, there are about 30,000 Ainu people. In 2011, only 304 people in
Japan were reported to be able to speak Ainu to some extent. In 2016, Ethnologue classified Ainu as 8b:
"nearly extinct.". In the 1980s, Nibutani (part of Biratori, Hokkaido) was a place where many Ainu
speakers lived, with about 100 people. Today, only about 10 native speakers remain, all of whom are at
least 80 years old. There are also a few non-fluent speakers, around 60 years old. Most of these people
live in southwestern Hokkaido.

The Ainu language in Hokkaido is also on the verge of extinction, despite some efforts to revive it. Efforts
to preserve include teaching in schools, publishing materials, and organizing cultural events.

CONCLUSION: Depending on the perspective, the Ainu language can be seen as a threatened
language or an extremely endangered language.