This study compared Okinawa in Japan and Jeju in South Korea concerning the language revitalizations. Language revitalization is the attempt by interested parties, including individuals, cultural or community groups, governments, or political authorit...
This study compared Okinawa in Japan and Jeju in South Korea concerning the language revitalizations. Language revitalization is the attempt by interested parties, including individuals, cultural or community groups, governments, or political authorities, to reverse the decline of a language. The process of language revitalization is the reverse of language death. The background of the language revitalization in Okinawa is related to racial independence. Therefore the Okinawa people try to protect their language. Jeju people looked for their identities through their language, in two flows of globalism and regionalism. It is a background of the language revitalization. Language standardization has already been completed in both areas. This is a common background. The Okinawa prefectural assembly enacted the ordinance of “Day of the dialect”. The Jeju provincial assembly enacted the ordinance of the dialect promotion. This is the first case that the local government started the protection of their language. A regional language indicates the cultural diversity in a language community. In both areas, the events of the same kind are held for the activation of regional languages. For instance, a speech contest in a dialect, dialect signboards, and a dialect souvenir, and so on. It is not a true revitalization to protect a regional language like a cultural asset. A true revitalization is to recognize the regional language as a means of communication in the language community.