Because of the education system put in place during the Meiji period, all Amami people today speak standard Japanese. However, the "de facto" common speech among Amami people under 60 is Amami Japanese, a dialect of the Japanese language that uses an Amami accent and some words and phrases from the Amami language, locally referred to as . The speech is different from "Uchinaa-Yamatuguchi" (Okinawan Japanese), the Okinawan equivalent used in Okinawa. "Ton-futsūgo" is affected not only by standard Japanese, but also by the Kagoshima dialect and the Kansai dialect.