Historically, the Ryukyuans spoke the Ryukyuan languages. Because Japan suppressed them in the past, they are all endangered, with most speakers being elderly. A Japanese speaker wouldn’t be able to understand any of the six Ryukyuan languages without any knowledge out of it. Despite this, the Japanese government calls the Ryukyuan languages ”Japanese dialects” for political reasons. Most linguists on the other hand refer to the Ryukyuan languages as separate languages.