[7][8][6] The Ryukyuan languages split from Proto-Japonic in the last 2,000 years, though estimates offer different potential time periods ranging from 2 BCE to 800 CE.

[10] Some of the pronunciations that disappeared from Japanese around the 8th century, during Japan's Nara period, can still be found in the Yaeyama languages.

However, in the cases where Proto-Japonic has an *e, *əy, or *o that is not word final, Japanese is no more conservative than Yaeyama in this regard, as both underwent the same vowel raising at different stages, as shown below: Like all Southern Ryukyuan languages, Yaeyama shows a "b" word initially compared to Japanese "w".

This also includes Japanese cognates that once had an initial "w" but was dropped later in the history of the language, such as "wodori" > "odori".

For this reason, there was less traffic between mainland Japan and the Yaeyama islands, allowing further linguistic divergence.

It is the only dialect of the Yaeyama group to feature the pharyngeal eˤ, sonorant devoicing, noun-final consonant epenthesis and spirantization of voiceless velar stop before the vowel *i.

It is also considered to have the strongest aspiration among of the Yaeyama dialects, and is also the only variety to display nasal and liquid devoicing.

[15] Additionally, Hateruma has the following sixteen consonants:[15] The Hatoma dialect contains two "tonal categories", denoted as marked and unmarked.

[18] Verbal inflection expresses two types of indicatives, an imperative form, as well as a cohortative and prohibitive ending.

It is found that when speaking to other native speakers, Ishigaki-speakers use an "intrinsic" and "relative" frame of reference system in which "north" and "south" are expressed in an intrinsic frame of reference as the verbs agaru ("go up, climb") and oriru ("go down, descend"), instead of Standard Japanese kita ("north") and minami ("south").

[22] It is found that most speakers express "east" and "west" as Standard Japanese hidari ("left") and migi ("right") in a relative frame of reference.

[22] Miyaran Yaeyama has been argued to have no marked attributive form, unlike Okinawan and Old Japanese.

[24] taa-duwho-Qsuba-basoba-PRTfaiatetaa-du suba-ba faiwho-Q soba-PRT ateWho ate soba?kurisu-jaChris-TOPnoo-ba-duwhat-PRT-Qfaiatekurisu-ja noo-ba-du faiChris-TOP what-PRT-Q ateWhat did Chris eat?Omitting du from a wh-phrase is considered incorrect grammar.

The earliest language revival movement is regarded as being part of the Koza Society of Culture, instituted in 1955.