Miyako dialect which belongs to Ryukyu dailect is peculiar among Japanese dialects in its consonant-based characteristics. Its so-called "mid-vowel" is more like a consonant than a vowel in substance, and it has several syllabic consonants which can compose a syllable by themselves. Various phonological interepretations of the dialect have been proposed, but they are all insufficient sometimes with their redundancy, sometimes with their internal contradiction. The best solution is not yet found.
