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Ryukyuan languages

The Ryukyuan languages (琉球語派, Ryūkyū-goha, also 琉球諸語, Ryūkyū-shogo or 島言葉 in Ryukyuan, Shima kutuba, literally "Island Speech"), also Lewchewan or Luchuan (/lˈən/), are the indigenous languages of the Ryukyu Islands, the southernmost part of the Japanese archipelago. Along with the Japanese language and the Hachijō language, they make up the Japonic language family.[1]

Ryukyuan
Lewchewan, Luchuan
EthnicityRyukyuan
Geographic
distribution
Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa Prefecture, Amami Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture)
Linguistic classificationJaponic
  • Ryukyuan
Proto-languageProto-Ryukyuan
Subdivisions
Glottologryuk1243
Map of Ryukyuan languages
Traffic safety slogan signs in Kin, Okinawa, written in Japanese (center) and Okinawan (left and right).

Although Japanese is spoken in the Ryukyu Islands, the Ryukyu and Japanese languages are not mutually intelligible. It is not known how many speakers of these languages remain, but language shift toward the use of Standard Japanese and dialects like Okinawan Japanese has resulted in these languages becoming endangered; UNESCO labels four of the languages "definitely endangered" and two others "severely endangered".[2]

Overview edit

Phonologically, the Ryukyuan languages have some cross-linguistically unusual features. Southern Ryukyuan languages have a number of syllabic consonants, including unvoiced syllabic fricatives (e.g. Ōgami Miyako /kss/ [ksː] 'breast'). Glottalized consonants are common (e.g. Yuwan Amami /ʔma/ [ˀma] "horse"). Some Ryukyuan languages have phonemic central vowels, e.g. Yuwan Amami /kɨɨ/ "tree". Ikema Miyako has a voiceless nasal phoneme /n̥/. Many Ryukyuan languages, like Standard Japanese and most Japanese dialects, have contrastive pitch accent.

Ryukyuan languages are generally SOV, dependent-marking, modifier-head, nominative-accusative languages, like Japanese. Adjectives are generally bound morphemes, occurring either with noun compounding or using verbalization. Many Ryukyuan languages mark both nominatives and genitives with the same marker. This marker has the unusual feature of changing form depending on an animacy hierarchy. The Ryukyuan languages have topic and focus markers, which may take different forms depending on the sentential context. Ryukyuan also preserves a special verbal inflection for clauses with focus markers—this unusual feature was also found in Old Japanese, but lost in Modern Japanese.

Classification and varieties edit

The Ryukyuan languages belong to the Japonic language family, related to the Japanese language.[3][4] The Ryukyuan languages are not mutually intelligible with Japanese—in fact, they are not even mutually intelligible with each other—and thus are usually considered separate languages.[3] However, for socio-political and ideological reasons, they have often been classified within Japan as dialects of Japanese.[3] Since the beginning of World War II, most mainland Japanese have regarded the Ryukyuan languages as a dialect or group of dialects of Japanese.

The Okinawan language is only 71% lexically similar to, or cognate with, standard Japanese. Even the southernmost Japanese dialect (Kagoshima dialect) is only 72% cognate with the northernmost Ryukyuan language (Amami). The Kagoshima dialect of Japanese, however, is 80% lexically similar to Standard Japanese.[5] There is general agreement among linguistics experts that Ryukyuan varieties can be divided into six languages, conservatively,[6] with dialects unique to islands within each group also sometimes considered languages.

A widely accepted hypothesis among linguists categorizes the Ryukyuan languages into two groups, Northern Ryukyuan (Amami–Okinawa) and Southern Ryukyuan (Miyako–Yaeyama).[4][7] Many speakers of the Amami, Miyako, Yaeyama and Yonaguni languages may also be familiar with Okinawan since Okinawan has the most speakers and once acted as the regional standard. Speakers of Yonaguni are also likely to know the Yaeyama language due to its proximity. Since Amami, Miyako, Yaeyama, and Yonaguni are less urbanized than the Okinawan mainland, their languages are not declining as quickly as that of Okinawa proper, and some children continue to be brought up in these languages.[citation needed]

Language Local name Geographic distribution Speakers Standard dialect ISO 639-3
Kikai Shimayumita (しまゆみた) Kikaijima 13,000 N/A kzg
Amami Shimayumuta (島口/シマユムタ) Amami Ōshima and surrounding minor islands 12,000 Setouchi (Southern), Naze (Northern) ams, ryn
Tokunoshima Shimayumiita (シマユミィタ) Tokunoshima 5,100 Kametsu, Tokunoshima tkn
Okinoerabu Shimamuni (島ムニ) Okinoerabujima 3,200 N/A okn
Yoron Yunnu Futuba (ユンヌフトゥバ) Yoronjima 950 Chabana, Yoron yox
Kunigami Yanbaru Kutūba (山原言葉/ヤンバルクトゥーバ)[8] Northern Okinawa Island (Yanbaru region), and surrounding minor islands 5,000 Nakijin, but the largest community is Nago xug
Okinawan Uchināguchi (沖縄口/ウチナーグチ) Central and southern Okinawa Island and surrounding minor islands 95,000 Traditionally Shuri, modern Naha ryu
Miyako Myākufutsu (宮古口/ミャークフツ)[9]
Sumafutsu (島口/スマフツ)
Miyako Islands 68,000 Hirara mvi
Yaeyama Yaimamuni (八重山物言/ヤイマムニ) Yaeyama Islands (except Yonaguni) 47,600 Ishigaki rys
Yonaguni Dunan Munui (与那国物言/ドゥナンムヌイ) Yonaguni Island 400 Yonaguni yoi

Each Ryukyuan language is generally unintelligible to others in the same family. There is wide diversity among them. For example, Yonaguni has only three vowels, whereas varieties of Amami may have up to seven, excluding length distinctions. The table below illustrates the different phrases used in each language for "thank you" and "welcome", with standard Japanese provided for comparison.

Language Thank you Welcome
Standard Japanese Arigatō Yōkoso
Amami Arigatesama ryōta
Arigassama ryōta
Imōre
Kunigami (Okinoerabu) Mihediro Ugamiyabura
Menshōri
Okinawan Nifēdēbiru Mensōrē
Miyako Tandigātandi
Maifuka
Nmyāchi
Yaeyama Mīfaiyū
Fukōrasān
Ōritōri
Yonaguni Fugarasa Wāri

Status edit

 
A market sign in Naha, written in Okinawan (red) and Japanese (blue)

There is no census data for the Ryukyuan languages, and the number of speakers is unknown.[7] As of 2005, the total population of the Ryukyu region was 1,452,288, but fluent speakers are restricted to the older generation, generally in their 50s or older, and thus the true number of Ryukyuan speakers should be much lower.[7]

The six Ryukyuan languages are listed in the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. UNESCO said all Ryukyuan languages are on course for extinction by 2050.[10]

Starting in the 1890s, the Japanese government began to suppress the Ryukyuan languages as part of their policy of forced assimilation in the islands.

Children being raised in the Ryukyuan languages are becoming increasingly rare throughout the islands, and usually occurs only when the children are living with their grandparents. The Ryukyuan languages are still used in traditional cultural activities, such as folk music, folk dance, poem and folk plays. There has also been a radio news program in the Naha dialect since 1960.[11]

Circa 2007, in Okinawa, people under the age of 40 have little proficiency in the native Okinawan language.[12] A new mixed language, based on Japanese and Okinawan, has developed, known as "Okinawan Japanese".[13] Although it has been largely ignored by linguists and language activists, this is the language of choice among the younger generation.[13]

Similarly, the common language now used in everyday conversations in Amami Ōshima is not the traditional Amami language, but rather a regional variation of Amami-accented Japanese, known as Amami Japanese. It’s locally known as トン普通語 (Ton Futsūgo, literally meaning "potato [i.e. rustic] common language").[14][15]

To try to preserve the language, the Okinawan Prefectural government proclaimed on March 31, 2006, that September 18 would be commemorated as Shimakutuba no Hi (しまくとぅばの日, "Island Languages Day"),[16] as the day's numerals in goroawase spell out ku (9), tu (10), ba (8); kutuba is one of the few words common throughout the Ryukyuan languages meaning "word" or "language" (a cognate of the Japanese word kotoba (言葉, "word")). A similar commemoration is held in the Amami region on February 18 beginning in 2007, proclaimed as Hōgen no Hi (方言の日, "Dialect Day") by Ōshima Subprefecture in Kagoshima Prefecture. Each island has its own name for the event:

  • Amami Ōshima: Shimayumuta no Hi (シマユムタの日) or Shimakutuba no Hi (シマクトゥバの日) (also written 島口の日)
  • On Kikaijima it is Shimayumita no Hi (シマユミタの日)
  • On Tokunoshima it is Shimaguchi no Hi (シマグチ(島口)の日) or Shimayumiita no Hi (シマユミィタの日)
  • On Okinoerabujima it is Shimamuni no Hi (島ムニの日)
  • On Yoronjima it is Yunnufutuba no Hi (ユンヌフトゥバの日).

Yoronjima's fu (2) tu (10) ba (8) is the goroawase source of the February 18 date, much like with Okinawa Prefecture's use of kutuba.[17]

History edit

It is generally accepted that the Ryukyu Islands were populated by Proto-Japonic speakers in the first millennium, and since then relative isolation allowed the Ryukyuan languages to diverge significantly from the varieties of Proto-Japonic spoken in Mainland Japan, which would later be known as Old Japanese. However, the discoveries of the Pinza-Abu Cave Man, the Minatogawa Man, and the Yamashita Cave Man[18] as well as the Shiraho Saonetabaru Cave Ruins[19] suggest an earlier arrival to the island by modern humans. Some researchers suggest that the Ryukyuan languages are most likely to have evolved from a "pre-Proto-Japonic language" from the Korean peninsula.[20] However, Ryukyuan may have already begun to diverge from Proto-Japonic before this migration, while its speakers still dwelt in the main islands of Japan.[7] After this initial settlement, there was little contact between the main islands and the Ryukyu Islands for centuries, allowing Ryukyuan and Japanese to diverge as separate linguistic entities from each other.[21] This situation lasted until the Kyushu-based Satsuma Domain conquered the Ryukyu Islands in the 17th century.[21]

In 1846-1849 first Protestant missionary in Ryukyu Bernard Jean Bettelheim studied local languages, partially translated the Bible into them and published first grammar of Shuri Ryukyuan.[22]

The Ryukyu Kingdom retained its autonomy until 1879, when it was annexed by Japan.[23] The Japanese government adopted a policy of forced assimilation, appointing mainland Japanese to political posts and suppressing native culture and language.[23] Students caught speaking the Ryukyuan languages were made to wear a dialect card (方言札 hōgen fuda), a method of public humiliation.[24][nb 1] Students who regularly wore the card would receive corporal punishment.[24] In 1940, there was a political debate amongst Japanese leaders about whether or not to continue the oppression of the Ryukyuan languages, although the argument for assimilation prevailed.[25] In the World War II era, speaking the Ryukyuan languages was officially illegal, although in practice the older generation was still monolingual.[24] During the Battle of Okinawa, many Okinawans were labeled as spies and executed for speaking the Okinawan language.[26] This policy of linguicide lasted into the post-war occupation of the Ryukyu Islands by the United States.[24] As the American occupation forces generally promoted the reforming of a separate Ryukyuan culture, many Okinawan officials continued to strive for Japanification as a form of defiance.

Nowadays, in favor of multiculturalism, preserving Ryukyuan languages has become the policy of Okinawa Prefectural government, as well as the government of Kagoshima Prefecture's Ōshima Subprefecture. However, the situation is not very optimistic, since the vast majority of Okinawan children are now monolingual in Japanese.

Geographic distribution edit

The Ryukyuan languages are spoken on the Ryukyu Islands, which comprise the southernmost part of the Japanese archipelago[3] There are four major island groups which make up the Ryukyu Islands: the Amami Islands, the Okinawa Islands, the Miyako Islands, and the Yaeyama Islands.[3] The former is in the Kagoshima Prefecture, while the latter three are in the Okinawa Prefecture.[3]

Orthography edit

 
A letter from King Shō En to Shimazu oyakata (1471); an example of written Ryukyuan.

Older Ryukyuan texts are often found on stone inscriptions. Tamaudun-no-Hinomon (玉陵の碑文 "Inscription of Tamaudun tomb") (1501), for example. Within the Ryukyu Kingdom, official texts were written in kanji and hiragana, derived from Japan. However, this was a sharp contrast from Japan at the time, where classical Chinese writing was mostly used for official texts, only using hiragana for informal ones. Classical Chinese writing was sometimes used in Ryukyu as well, read in kundoku (Ryukyuan) or in Chinese. In Ryukyu, katakana was hardly used.

Historically, official documents in Ryukyuan were primarily written in a form of classical Chinese writing known as Kanbun, while poetry and songs were often written in the Shuri dialect of Okinawan.

Commoners did not learn kanji. Omoro Sōshi (1531–1623), a noted Ryukyuan song collection, was mainly written in hiragana. Other than hiragana, they also used Suzhou numerals (sūchūma すうちゅうま in Okinawan), derived from China. In Yonaguni in particular, there was a different writing system, the Kaidā glyphs (カイダー字 or カイダーディー).[27][28] Under Japanese influence, all of those numerals became obsolete.

Nowadays, perceived as "dialects", Ryukyuan languages are not often written. When they are, Japanese characters are used in an ad hoc manner. There are no standard orthographies for the modern languages. Sounds not distinguished in the Japanese writing system, such as glottal stops, are not properly written. Sometimes local kun'yomi are given to kanji, such as agari (あがり "east") for 東, iri (いり "west") for 西, thus 西表 is Iriomote.

Okinawa Prefectural government set up the investigative commission for orthography of shimakutuba (しまくとぅば正書法検討委員会) in 2018, and the commission proposed an unified spelling rule based on katakana for languages of Kunigami, Okinawa, Miyako, Yaeyama and Yonaguni on May 30 in 2022.[29]

Phonology edit

Ryukyuan languages often share many phonological features with Japanese, including a voicing opposition for obstruents, CV(C) syllable structure, moraic rhythm, and pitch accent.[21] However, many individual Ryukyuan languages diverge significantly from this pan-Japonic base.[21] For instance, Ōgami does not have phonemic voicing in obstruents, allows CCVC syllables, and has unusual syllabic consonants such as /kff/ [kf̩ː] "make".[21]

Consonants edit

The Northern Ryukyuan (Amami-Okinawa) languages are notable for having glottalic consonants.[30] Phonemically these are analyzed of consisting of a cluster /ʔ/ + C, where the consonant /ʔ/ consists of its own mora.[30] For instance, in the Amami dialect Yuwan the word /ʔma/ [ˀma] "horse" is bimoraic.[30] Tsuken (Central Okinawan) restricts glottalization to glides and the vowels /a i/.[30] Southern Ryukyuan mostly has little to no glottalization, with some exceptions (e.g. Yonaguni).[30] For instance, the Irabu dialect of the Miyako language only allows glottalization with /t/ and /c/: /ttjaa/ [ˀtʲaː] "then", /ccir/ [ˀtɕiɭ] "pipe".[30]

Southern Ryukyuan stands out in having a number of syllabic consonants.[30] These consonants are contextually nucleic, becoming syllabic when not adjacent to a vowel.[30] Examples:

Irabu Miyako:

  • /nam/ [nam] "wave"
  • /mna/ [mna] "shell"
  • /mm/ [mː] "potato"
  • /pžtu/ [ps̩tu] "man"
  • /prrma/ [pɭːma] "daytime"

Ōgami Miyako

  • /us/ [us] "cow"
  • /ss/ [sː] "dust"
  • /kss/ [ksː] "breast"

Ōgami even shows a three-way length distinction in fricatives, though across a syllable boundary:[31]

  • /fɑɑ/ [fɑː] "child"
  • /f.fɑ/ [fːɑ] "grass"
  • /ff.fɑ/ [fːːɑ] "comb", "top"

Ikema (a Miyako dialect) has a voiceless moraic nasal phoneme /n̥/, which always precedes another nasal onset and assimilates its place of articulation to the following nasal.[32]

Vowels edit

Amami has high and mid central vowels.[30] Yonaguni only has three contrasting vowels, /i/, /u/ and /a/.

Suprasegmentals edit

The Ryukyuan languages operate based on the mora.[33] Most Ryukyuan languages require words to be at least bimoraic, thus for example in Hateruma the underlying noun root /si/ "hand" becomes /siː/ when it is an independent noun, though it remains as /si/ when attached to a clitic, e.g. /si=nu/.[33][nb 2] However, the syllable may still sometimes be relevant—for instance, the Ōgami topic marker takes a different form after open syllables with short vowels:[34]

  • "staff" /pɑu + =ɑ//pɑu=iɑ/
  • "vegetable" /suu + =ɑ//suu=iɑ/
  • "person" /pstu + =ɑ//pstɑ=ɑ/

Ryukyuan languages typically have a pitch accent system where some mora in a word bears the pitch accent.[35] They commonly either have two or three distinctive types of pitch accent which may be applied.[35] The category of foot also has relevance to the accentual systems of some Ryukyuan languages, and some Miyako varieties have a cross-linguistically rare system of tonal foot.[35] However, Irabu Miyakoan does not have lexical accent.[35]

Grammar edit

Morphology edit

The Ryukyuan languages consistently distinguish between the word classes of nouns and verbs, distinguished by the fact that verbs take inflectional morphology.[36] Property-concept (adjectival) words are generally bound morphemes.[37] One strategy they use is compounding with a free-standing noun:[37]

Ikema:[37]

imi-

small

+

 

ffa

child

 

imi-ffa

small child

imi- + ffa → imi-ffa

small {} child {} {small child}

Yuwan:[37]

kjura-

beautiful

+

 

ʔkin

kimono

 

kjura-gin

beautiful kimono

kjura- + ʔkin → kjura-gin

beautiful {} kimono {} {beautiful kimono}

Compounding is found in both Northern and Southern Ryukyuan, but is mostly absent from Hateruma (Yaeyama).[37]

Another way property stems are used is by verbalization:[37]

Yuwan Amami:[38]

an

that

kɨɨ=ja

tree=TOP

taa-sar-oo

tall-VLZ-SUPP

an kɨɨ=ja taa-sar-oo

that tree=TOP tall-VLZ-SUPP

"That tree is supposed to be tall."

Miyako is unique in having stand-alone adjectives.[37] These may be formed by reduplication of the root, e.g. Irabu Miyako imi- "small" → imii-imi "small (adj.)".[39] They may also be compounded with a grammaticalized noun munu "thing", e.g. Irabu imi-munu 'small (thing)'.[37]

Syntax edit

Ryukyuan languages are generally SOV, dependent-marking, modifier-head, nominative-accusative languages.[40] They are also pro-drop languages.[40] All of these features are shared with the Japanese language.[40]

In many Ryukyuan languages, the nominative and genitive are marked identically, a system also found, for example, in Austronesian languages.[40] However, Ryukyuan has the unusual feature that these markers vary based on an animacy hierarchy.[36] Typically there are two markers of the form =ga and =nu, which are distinguished based on animacy and definiteness.[36] In Yuwan Amami, for instance, the nominative is marked with =ga/=nu and the genitive by =ga/=nu/ based on the following hierarchy:[36]

Yuwan Amami nominative marker
human pronouns demonstratives elder kinship terms other nouns
=ga =nu
Yuwan Amami genitive marker
human pronouns, adnominal demonstratives human names elder kinship terms other nouns
=ga =nu

In the Miyako varieties, the object in a dependent clause of clause-chaining constructions has a special marker, homophonous to a topic marker.[36] This might even be interpreted as another function of the topic marker.[36]

Hateruma Yaeyama stands out in that it is a zero-marking language, where word order rather than case marking is important:[40]

pïtu=Ø

person=CORE

budur-ja-ta-n

dance-PRF-PAST-RLS

pïtu=Ø budur-ja-ta-n

person=CORE dance-PRF-PAST-RLS

"People danced." Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);

aboa=Ø

mother=ORE

ija=Ø

father=CORE

mir-i

look=MED

bir-ja-ta-n

PROG-PRF-PAST-RLS

aboa=Ø ija=Ø mir-i bir-ja-ta-n

mother=ORE father=CORE look=MED PROG-PRF-PAST-RLS

"(My) mother was looking at (my) father." Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);

The Ryukyuan languages mark both topic and focus grammatically.[39] The typical form of the topic marker is =(j)a, or in Southern Ryukyuan =ba; the typical focus marker is =du.[39] In some Ryukyuan languages there are many focus markers with different functions; for instance, Irabu has =du in declarative clauses, =ru in yes-no interrogative clauses, and =ga in wh-interrogative clauses.[39] The focus markers trigger a special verbal inflection—this typologically unusual focus construction, known as kakari-musubi, was also found in Old Japanese, but has been lost in Modern Japanese.[39]

Examples from Yuwan Amami:[41]

kurɨ=ba=du

this=ACC-FOC

jum-ju-i

read=IPFV-NPST

kurɨ=ba=du jum-ju-i

this=ACC-FOC read=IPFV-NPST

"(I) read this."

uroo

2SG.NHON

kun

this

hon=ba=du

book=ACC-FOC

jum-jur-ui?

read=IPFV-FOC.YNQ

uroo kun hon=ba=du jum-jur-ui?

2SG.NHON this book=ACC-FOC read=IPFV-FOC.YNQ

"Will you read this book?" (yes–no question)

uroo

2SG.NHON.TOP

nuu=ba=ga

what=ACC-FOC

jum-jur-u?

read=IPFV-FOC.WHQ

uroo nuu=ba=ga jum-jur-u?

2SG.NHON.TOP what=ACC-FOC read=IPFV-FOC.WHQ

"What will you read?" (wh-question)

While in many Japonic languages this special inflection is often identical to the verbal inflection in relative clauses, in Yuwan Amami is different (the relative inflection is -n/-tan).[41] There is some variation among the Ryukyuan languages as to the form of kakari-musubi—for example, in Irabu Miyako a focus marker blocks a specific verb form, rather than triggering a special inflection.[42]

Vocabulary edit

Thorpe (1983)[43] reconstructs the following pronouns in Proto-Ryukyuan. For the first person, the singular and plural are assumed based on the Yonaguni reflex.

  • *a, 'I' (singular)
  • *wa 'we' (plural)
  • *u, *e 'you' (singular)
  • *uya, *ura 'you' (plural)
Ryukyuan numerals
Proto-Ryukyuan Amami Ōshima[44][nb 3] Shuri (Okinawa)[45] Hatoma (Yaeyama)[46] Miyako Yonaguni[47]
1 *pito tïï- tii- pusu- pitii- tʼu-
2 *puta taa- taa- huta- ftaa- tʼa-
3 *mi mii- mii- mii- mii- mii-
4 *yo juu- juu- juu- juu- duu-
5 *etu ïcï- ici- ici- itss- ici-
6 *mu muu- muu- muu- mm- muu-
7 *nana nana- nana- nana- nana- nana-
8 *ya jaa- jaa- jaa- jaa- daa-
9 *kokono kuunu- kukunu- (ku)kunu- kkunu- kuɡunu-
10 *towo tuu tuu tuu tuu tuu

Pellard (2015)[48] reconstructs the following cultural vocabulary words for Proto-Ryukyuan.

  • *kome B 'rice'
  • *mai A 'rice'
  • *ine B 'rice plant'
  • *momi A 'unhulled rice'
  • *mogi B 'wheat'
  • *awa B 'foxtail millet'
  • *kimi B 'broomcorn millet'
  • *umo B 'taro, yam'
  • *patake C 'field'
  • *ta B 'rice paddy'
  • *usi A 'cow'
  • *uwa C 'pig'
  • *uma B 'horse'
  • *tubo A 'pot'
  • *kame C 'jar'
  • *pune C 'boat'
  • *po A 'sail'
  • *ijako B 'paddle'

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ This punishment was taken from the 19th French language policy of Vergonha, especially by Jules Ferry, where the regional languages such as Occitan (Provençal), Catalan, or Breton were suppressed in favor of French; see also Welsh Not, for a similar system in Wales. The same system was also used in other parts of Japan, such as the Tōhoku region.[citation needed]
  2. ^ In fact, in Irabu Miyako lengthening occurs even before a clitic, thus underlying /ti/ "hand" becomes /tiː/ independently and /tiː=nu/ with attached clitic. Shimoji & Pellard (2010:6)
  3. ^ Numerals for counting inanimates.

References edit

  1. ^ An Introduction to Ryukyuan Languages
  2. ^ "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". Unesco.org. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Shimoji & Pellard (2010:1)
  4. ^ a b Pellard (2015)
  5. ^ 沖縄語辞典 (Okinawan dictionary). "前書き" (Preface). 国立国語研究所 1998
  6. ^ 言語学大辞典セレクション:日本列島の言語 (Selection from the Encyclopædia of Linguistics: The Languages of the Japanese Archipelago). "琉球列島の言語" (The Languages of the Ryukyu Islands). 三省堂 1997
  7. ^ a b c d Shimoji & Pellard (2010:2)
  8. ^ 沖縄言語研究センター. "今帰仁方言音声データベース ヤンバルクトゥーバ". Retrieved 2014-02-16.
  9. ^ 沖縄言語研究センター. "宮古方言音声データベース ミャークフツ". Retrieved 2014-02-16.
  10. ^ Patrick Heinrich (25 August 2014). . The Japan Times. Archived from the original on 2019-01-07. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
  11. ^ 沖縄映像センター. . Okinawabbtv.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  12. ^ Sugita (2007:244)
  13. ^ a b Sugita (2007:245)
  14. ^ "島口(奄美の方言)入門その1-あなたもシマンチュに". Synapse.ne.jp. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  15. ^ Anderson, Mark (January 2019). "Studies of Ryukyu-substrate Japanese". Routledge Handbook of Japanese Sociolinguistics: 441–457. doi:10.4324/9781315213378-28. ISBN 9781315213378. S2CID 196922667.
  16. ^ (in Japanese). Pref.okinawa.jp. Archived from the original on 2015-10-29.
  17. ^ "鹿児島県/大島地区「方言の日」". Pref.kagoshima.jp. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  18. ^ Trinkaus, Erik; Ruff, Christopher B. (1996-04-30). "Early modern human remains from eastern Asia: the Yamashita-cho 1 immature postcrania". Journal of Human Evolution. 30 (4): 299–314. doi:10.1006/jhev.1996.0025.
  19. ^ Nakagawa, Ryohei; Doi, Naomi; Nishioka, Yuichiro; Nunami, Shin; Yamauchi, Heizaburo; Fujita, Masaki; Yamazaki, Shinji; Yamamoto, Masaaki; Katagiri, Chiaki; Mukai, Hitoshi; Matsuzaki, Hiroyuki; Gakuhari, Takashi; Takigami, MAI; Yoneda, Minoru (2010). "Pleistocene human remains from Shiraho-Saonetabaru Cave on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Japan, and their radiocarbon dating". Anthropological Science. Jstage.jst.go.jp. 118 (3): 173–183. doi:10.1537/ase.091214.
  20. ^ Heinrich, Patrick; Miyara, Shinsho; Shimoji, Michinori, eds. (2015). Handbook of the Ryukyuan Languages. Degruyter.com. doi:10.1515/9781614511151. ISBN 9781614511151. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  21. ^ a b c d e Shimoji & Pellard (2010:4)
  22. ^ Griesenhofer, Christopher (2015-02-17), "4. B. J. Bettelheim 1849: The first grammar of Ryukyuan", 4. B. J. Bettelheim 1849: The first grammar of Ryukyuan, De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 81–110, doi:10.1515/9781614511151.81/html, ISBN 978-1-61451-115-1, retrieved 2024-01-27
  23. ^ a b Takara (2007:14)
  24. ^ a b c d Takara (2007:15)
  25. ^ Heinrich, Patrick (2013). "Hōgen ronsō: the great Ryukyuan languages debate of 1940". Contemporary Japan. 25 (2): 167–187. doi:10.1515/cj-2013-0008. S2CID 142189448.
  26. ^ Mitchell, Jon (2015-03-30). "The Battle of Okinawa: America's good war gone bad". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  27. ^ "カイダー字: 与那国島にある象形文字。 (KaidaJi – MemoWiki)". Nilab.info. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  28. ^ . Archived from the original on 2006-07-18. Retrieved 2007-01-14.
  29. ^ (in Japanese). Ryūkyū Shimpō. 2022-05-31. Archived from the original on 2022-05-31. Retrieved 2022-06-02.
  30. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shimoji & Pellard (2010:5)
  31. ^ Shimoji & Pellard (2010:118)
  32. ^ Shimoji & Pellard (2010:170)
  33. ^ a b Shimoji & Pellard (2010:6)
  34. ^ Shimoji & Pellard (2010:119)
  35. ^ a b c d Shimoji & Pellard (2010:7)
  36. ^ a b c d e f Shimoji & Pellard (2010:9)
  37. ^ a b c d e f g h Shimoji & Pellard (2010:10)
  38. ^ Shimoji & Pellard (2010:52)
  39. ^ a b c d e Shimoji & Pellard (2010:11)
  40. ^ a b c d e Shimoji & Pellard (2010:8)
  41. ^ a b Shimoji & Pellard (2010:75)
  42. ^ Shimoji & Pellard (2010:12)
  43. ^ Thorpe, Maner Lawton. 1983. Ryūkyūan language history. University of Southern California.
  44. ^ Yuto Niinaga (2010), "Yuwan (Amami Ryukyuan)", in Michinori Shimoji; Thomas Pellard (eds.), An Introduction to Ryukyuan Languages (PDF), Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, p. 55, ISBN 9784863370722
  45. ^ Shimoji (2012), p. 357.
  46. ^ Lawrence (2012), p. 387.
  47. ^ Izuyama (2012), p. 429.
  48. ^ Pellard, Thomas. 2015. The Linguistic archeology of the Ryukyu Islands. In Heinrich, Patrick and Miyara, Shinsho and Shimoji, Michinori (eds.), Handbook of the Ryukyuan Languages: History, Structure, and Use, 13–37. Berlin: DeGruyter Mouton.

Bibliography edit

  • Izuyama, Atsuko (2012). "Yonaguni". In Tranter, Nicolas (ed.). The Languages of Japan and Korea. Routledge. pp. 412–457. ISBN 978-0-415-46287-7.
  • Lawrence, Wayne P. (2012). "Southern Ryukyuan". In Tranter, Nicolas (ed.). The Languages of Japan and Korea. Routledge. pp. 381–411. ISBN 978-0-415-46287-7.
  • Pellard, Thomas (2015). "The Linguistic archeology of the Ryukyu Islands". In Heinrich, Patrick; Miyara, Shinsho; Shimoji, Michinori (eds.). Handbook of the Ryukyuan languages: History, structure, and use (PDF). Berlin: De Mouton Gruyter. pp. 13–37. doi:10.1515/9781614511151.13. ISBN 978-1-61451-115-1. S2CID 54004881.
  • Shimoji, Michinori (2012). "Northern Ryukyuan". In Tranter, Nicolas (ed.). The Languages of Japan and Korea. Routledge. pp. 351–380. ISBN 978-0-415-46287-7.
  • Shimoji, Michinori; Pellard, Thomas, eds. (2010). An Introduction to Ryukyuan languages (PDF). Tokyo: ILCAA. ISBN 978-4-86337-072-2. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  • Sugita, Yuko (2007). Language revitalization or language fossilization? Some suggestions for language documentation from the viewpoint of interactional linguistics (PDF). Proceedings of Conference on Language Documentation and Linguistic Theory. London: SOAS. ISBN 978-0-7286-0382-0. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
  • Takara, Ben (February 2007). (PDF). Connect. Irifune: IMADR. 10 (4): 14–16. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 20, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2012.

Further reading edit

  • Sanseido (1997). 言語学大辞典セレクション:日本列島の言語 (Selection from the Encyclopædia of Linguistics: The Languages of the Japanese Archipelago). "琉球列島の言語" (The Languages of the Ryukyu Islands).
  • Ashworth, D. E. (1973). A generative study of the inflectional morphophonemics of the Shuri dialect of Ryukyuan (PhD dissertation). Cornell University.
  • Heinrich, Patrick (2004). "Language Planning and Language Ideology in the Ryūkyū Islands". Language Policy. 3 (2): 153–179. doi:10.1023/B:LPOL.0000036192.53709.fc. S2CID 144605968.
  • Heinrich, Patrick; Miyara, Shinsho; Shimoji, Michinori, eds. (2015). Handbook of the Ryukyuan Languages. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. doi:10.1515/9781614511151. ISBN 978-1-61451-161-8.
  • Serafim, Leon Angelo (1984). (PDF) (PhD dissertation). Yale University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-07-24.
  • Shimabukuro, Moriyo (2007). The accentual history of the Japanese and Ryukyuan languages: a reconstruction. Languages of Asia series. Vol. 2. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental. ISBN 978-1-901903-63-8.
  • Thorpe, Maner Lawton (1983). (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of Southern California. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-03-14.
  • Uemura, Yukio; Lawrence, Wayne P. (2003). The Ryukyuan language. Endangered Languages of the Pacific Rim. Vol. A4-018. Osaka: ELPR.

External links edit

  • Ryukyuan language phonetic database 2009-12-12 at the Wayback Machine
  • Documents about Shima kutuba, Okinawa Prefecture
  • Web archives of Okinawan Folktales, Okinawa Prefectural Museum
  • What is a dialect?, Amami Culture Foundation
  • Database of Endangered Languages of Japan, National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics
  • 伊波普猷文庫目録 2009-04-01 at the Wayback Machine
  • 仲宗根政善言語資料
  • うちなあぐち
  • メーラムニ用語便覧
  • おーりたぼーり:メーラム二(宮良言葉)の学習者のためのポッドキャスト 2020-01-28 at the Wayback Machine

ryukyuan, languages, 琉球語派, ryūkyū, goha, also, 琉球諸語, ryūkyū, shogo, 島言葉, ryukyuan, shima, kutuba, literally, island, speech, also, lewchewan, luchuan, indigenous, languages, ryukyu, islands, southernmost, part, japanese, archipelago, along, with, japanese, lan. The Ryukyuan languages 琉球語派 Ryukyu goha also 琉球諸語 Ryukyu shogo or 島言葉 in Ryukyuan Shima kutuba literally Island Speech also Lewchewan or Luchuan l uː ˈ tʃ uː e n are the indigenous languages of the Ryukyu Islands the southernmost part of the Japanese archipelago Along with the Japanese language and the Hachijō language they make up the Japonic language family 1 RyukyuanLewchewan LuchuanEthnicityRyukyuanGeographicdistributionRyukyu Islands Okinawa Prefecture Amami Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture Linguistic classificationJaponicRyukyuanProto languageProto RyukyuanSubdivisionsNorthern Ryukyuan Southern RyukyuanGlottologryuk1243Map of Ryukyuan languagesTraffic safety slogan signs in Kin Okinawa written in Japanese center and Okinawan left and right Although Japanese is spoken in the Ryukyu Islands the Ryukyu and Japanese languages are not mutually intelligible It is not known how many speakers of these languages remain but language shift toward the use of Standard Japanese and dialects like Okinawan Japanese has resulted in these languages becoming endangered UNESCO labels four of the languages definitely endangered and two others severely endangered 2 Contents 1 Overview 2 Classification and varieties 3 Status 4 History 5 Geographic distribution 6 Orthography 7 Phonology 7 1 Consonants 7 2 Vowels 7 3 Suprasegmentals 8 Grammar 8 1 Morphology 8 2 Syntax 9 Vocabulary 10 See also 11 Notes 12 References 13 Bibliography 14 Further reading 15 External linksOverview editPhonologically the Ryukyuan languages have some cross linguistically unusual features Southern Ryukyuan languages have a number of syllabic consonants including unvoiced syllabic fricatives e g Ōgami Miyako kss ksː breast Glottalized consonants are common e g Yuwan Amami ʔma ˀma horse Some Ryukyuan languages have phonemic central vowels e g Yuwan Amami kɨɨ tree Ikema Miyako has a voiceless nasal phoneme n Many Ryukyuan languages like Standard Japanese and most Japanese dialects have contrastive pitch accent Ryukyuan languages are generally SOV dependent marking modifier head nominative accusative languages like Japanese Adjectives are generally bound morphemes occurring either with noun compounding or using verbalization Many Ryukyuan languages mark both nominatives and genitives with the same marker This marker has the unusual feature of changing form depending on an animacy hierarchy The Ryukyuan languages have topic and focus markers which may take different forms depending on the sentential context Ryukyuan also preserves a special verbal inflection for clauses with focus markers this unusual feature was also found in Old Japanese but lost in Modern Japanese Classification and varieties editThe Ryukyuan languages belong to the Japonic language family related to the Japanese language 3 4 The Ryukyuan languages are not mutually intelligible with Japanese in fact they are not even mutually intelligible with each other and thus are usually considered separate languages 3 However for socio political and ideological reasons they have often been classified within Japan as dialects of Japanese 3 Since the beginning of World War II most mainland Japanese have regarded the Ryukyuan languages as a dialect or group of dialects of Japanese The Okinawan language is only 71 lexically similar to or cognate with standard Japanese Even the southernmost Japanese dialect Kagoshima dialect is only 72 cognate with the northernmost Ryukyuan language Amami The Kagoshima dialect of Japanese however is 80 lexically similar to Standard Japanese 5 There is general agreement among linguistics experts that Ryukyuan varieties can be divided into six languages conservatively 6 with dialects unique to islands within each group also sometimes considered languages A widely accepted hypothesis among linguists categorizes the Ryukyuan languages into two groups Northern Ryukyuan Amami Okinawa and Southern Ryukyuan Miyako Yaeyama 4 7 Many speakers of the Amami Miyako Yaeyama and Yonaguni languages may also be familiar with Okinawan since Okinawan has the most speakers and once acted as the regional standard Speakers of Yonaguni are also likely to know the Yaeyama language due to its proximity Since Amami Miyako Yaeyama and Yonaguni are less urbanized than the Okinawan mainland their languages are not declining as quickly as that of Okinawa proper and some children continue to be brought up in these languages citation needed Ryukyuan Northern Ryukyuan languages Amami Kikai Amami Ōshima Northern Southern Tokunoshima Kunigami Okinoerabu Yoron Kunigami Okinawan Southern Ryukyuan languages Miyakoan Central Miyako Irabu Tarama Yaeyama Yonaguni Language Local name Geographic distribution Speakers Standard dialect ISO 639 3Kikai Shimayumita しまゆみた Kikaijima 13 000 N A kzgAmami Shimayumuta 島口 シマユムタ Amami Ōshima and surrounding minor islands 12 000 Setouchi Southern Naze Northern ams rynTokunoshima Shimayumiita シマユミィタ Tokunoshima 5 100 Kametsu Tokunoshima tknOkinoerabu Shimamuni 島ムニ Okinoerabujima 3 200 N A oknYoron Yunnu Futuba ユンヌフトゥバ Yoronjima 950 Chabana Yoron yoxKunigami Yanbaru Kutuba 山原言葉 ヤンバルクトゥーバ 8 Northern Okinawa Island Yanbaru region and surrounding minor islands 5 000 Nakijin but the largest community is Nago xugOkinawan Uchinaguchi 沖縄口 ウチナーグチ Central and southern Okinawa Island and surrounding minor islands 95 000 Traditionally Shuri modern Naha ryuMiyako Myakufutsu 宮古口 ミャークフツ 9 Sumafutsu 島口 スマフツ Miyako Islands 68 000 Hirara mviYaeyama Yaimamuni 八重山物言 ヤイマムニ Yaeyama Islands except Yonaguni 47 600 Ishigaki rysYonaguni Dunan Munui 与那国物言 ドゥナンムヌイ Yonaguni Island 400 Yonaguni yoiEach Ryukyuan language is generally unintelligible to others in the same family There is wide diversity among them For example Yonaguni has only three vowels whereas varieties of Amami may have up to seven excluding length distinctions The table below illustrates the different phrases used in each language for thank you and welcome with standard Japanese provided for comparison Language Thank you WelcomeStandard Japanese Arigatō YōkosoAmami Arigatesama ryōtaArigassama ryōta ImōreKunigami Okinoerabu Mihediro UgamiyaburaMenshōriOkinawan Nifedebiru MensōreMiyako TandigatandiMaifuka NmyachiYaeyama Mifaiyu Fukōrasan ŌritōriYonaguni Fugarasa Wari Welcome signs in each language nbsp Imōre いもーれ Amami nbsp Menshōri めんしょーり Kunigami Okinoerabu nbsp Mensōre めんそーれ Okinawan nbsp Nmyachi んみゃーち Miyako nbsp Ōritōri おーりとーり Yaeyama nbsp Wari ワーリ YonaguniStatus edit nbsp A market sign in Naha written in Okinawan red and Japanese blue There is no census data for the Ryukyuan languages and the number of speakers is unknown 7 As of 2005 the total population of the Ryukyu region was 1 452 288 but fluent speakers are restricted to the older generation generally in their 50s or older and thus the true number of Ryukyuan speakers should be much lower 7 The six Ryukyuan languages are listed in the UNESCO Atlas of the World s Languages in Danger UNESCO said all Ryukyuan languages are on course for extinction by 2050 10 Starting in the 1890s the Japanese government began to suppress the Ryukyuan languages as part of their policy of forced assimilation in the islands Children being raised in the Ryukyuan languages are becoming increasingly rare throughout the islands and usually occurs only when the children are living with their grandparents The Ryukyuan languages are still used in traditional cultural activities such as folk music folk dance poem and folk plays There has also been a radio news program in the Naha dialect since 1960 11 Circa 2007 in Okinawa people under the age of 40 have little proficiency in the native Okinawan language 12 A new mixed language based on Japanese and Okinawan has developed known as Okinawan Japanese 13 Although it has been largely ignored by linguists and language activists this is the language of choice among the younger generation 13 Similarly the common language now used in everyday conversations in Amami Ōshima is not the traditional Amami language but rather a regional variation of Amami accented Japanese known as Amami Japanese It s locally known as トン普通語 Ton Futsugo literally meaning potato i e rustic common language 14 15 To try to preserve the language the Okinawan Prefectural government proclaimed on March 31 2006 that September 18 would be commemorated as Shimakutuba no Hi しまくとぅばの日 Island Languages Day 16 as the day s numerals in goroawase spell out ku 9 tu 10 ba 8 kutuba is one of the few words common throughout the Ryukyuan languages meaning word or language a cognate of the Japanese word kotoba 言葉 word A similar commemoration is held in the Amami region on February 18 beginning in 2007 proclaimed as Hōgen no Hi 方言の日 Dialect Day by Ōshima Subprefecture in Kagoshima Prefecture Each island has its own name for the event Amami Ōshima Shimayumuta no Hi シマユムタの日 or Shimakutuba no Hi シマクトゥバの日 also written 島口の日 On Kikaijima it is Shimayumita no Hi シマユミタの日 On Tokunoshima it is Shimaguchi no Hi シマグチ 島口 の日 or Shimayumiita no Hi シマユミィタの日 On Okinoerabujima it is Shimamuni no Hi 島ムニの日 On Yoronjima it is Yunnufutuba no Hi ユンヌフトゥバの日 Yoronjima s fu 2 tu 10 ba 8 is the goroawase source of the February 18 date much like with Okinawa Prefecture s use of kutuba 17 History editSee also History of the Ryukyu Islands It is generally accepted that the Ryukyu Islands were populated by Proto Japonic speakers in the first millennium and since then relative isolation allowed the Ryukyuan languages to diverge significantly from the varieties of Proto Japonic spoken in Mainland Japan which would later be known as Old Japanese However the discoveries of the Pinza Abu Cave Man the Minatogawa Man and the Yamashita Cave Man 18 as well as the Shiraho Saonetabaru Cave Ruins 19 suggest an earlier arrival to the island by modern humans Some researchers suggest that the Ryukyuan languages are most likely to have evolved from a pre Proto Japonic language from the Korean peninsula 20 However Ryukyuan may have already begun to diverge from Proto Japonic before this migration while its speakers still dwelt in the main islands of Japan 7 After this initial settlement there was little contact between the main islands and the Ryukyu Islands for centuries allowing Ryukyuan and Japanese to diverge as separate linguistic entities from each other 21 This situation lasted until the Kyushu based Satsuma Domain conquered the Ryukyu Islands in the 17th century 21 In 1846 1849 first Protestant missionary in Ryukyu Bernard Jean Bettelheim studied local languages partially translated the Bible into them and published first grammar of Shuri Ryukyuan 22 The Ryukyu Kingdom retained its autonomy until 1879 when it was annexed by Japan 23 The Japanese government adopted a policy of forced assimilation appointing mainland Japanese to political posts and suppressing native culture and language 23 Students caught speaking the Ryukyuan languages were made to wear a dialect card 方言札 hōgen fuda a method of public humiliation 24 nb 1 Students who regularly wore the card would receive corporal punishment 24 In 1940 there was a political debate amongst Japanese leaders about whether or not to continue the oppression of the Ryukyuan languages although the argument for assimilation prevailed 25 In the World War II era speaking the Ryukyuan languages was officially illegal although in practice the older generation was still monolingual 24 During the Battle of Okinawa many Okinawans were labeled as spies and executed for speaking the Okinawan language 26 This policy of linguicide lasted into the post war occupation of the Ryukyu Islands by the United States 24 As the American occupation forces generally promoted the reforming of a separate Ryukyuan culture many Okinawan officials continued to strive for Japanification as a form of defiance Nowadays in favor of multiculturalism preserving Ryukyuan languages has become the policy of Okinawa Prefectural government as well as the government of Kagoshima Prefecture s Ōshima Subprefecture However the situation is not very optimistic since the vast majority of Okinawan children are now monolingual in Japanese Geographic distribution editThe Ryukyuan languages are spoken on the Ryukyu Islands which comprise the southernmost part of the Japanese archipelago 3 There are four major island groups which make up the Ryukyu Islands the Amami Islands the Okinawa Islands the Miyako Islands and the Yaeyama Islands 3 The former is in the Kagoshima Prefecture while the latter three are in the Okinawa Prefecture 3 Orthography edit nbsp A letter from King Shō En to Shimazu oyakata 1471 an example of written Ryukyuan See also Okinawan scripts Older Ryukyuan texts are often found on stone inscriptions Tamaudun no Hinomon 玉陵の碑文 Inscription of Tamaudun tomb 1501 for example Within the Ryukyu Kingdom official texts were written in kanji and hiragana derived from Japan However this was a sharp contrast from Japan at the time where classical Chinese writing was mostly used for official texts only using hiragana for informal ones Classical Chinese writing was sometimes used in Ryukyu as well read in kundoku Ryukyuan or in Chinese In Ryukyu katakana was hardly used Historically official documents in Ryukyuan were primarily written in a form of classical Chinese writing known as Kanbun while poetry and songs were often written in the Shuri dialect of Okinawan Commoners did not learn kanji Omoro Sōshi 1531 1623 a noted Ryukyuan song collection was mainly written in hiragana Other than hiragana they also used Suzhou numerals suchuma すうちゅうま in Okinawan derived from China In Yonaguni in particular there was a different writing system the Kaida glyphs カイダー字 or カイダーディー 27 28 Under Japanese influence all of those numerals became obsolete Nowadays perceived as dialects Ryukyuan languages are not often written When they are Japanese characters are used in an ad hoc manner There are no standard orthographies for the modern languages Sounds not distinguished in the Japanese writing system such as glottal stops are not properly written Sometimes local kun yomi are given to kanji such as agari あがり east for 東 iri いり west for 西 thus 西表 is Iriomote Okinawa Prefectural government set up the investigative commission for orthography of shimakutuba しまくとぅば正書法検討委員会 in 2018 and the commission proposed an unified spelling rule based on katakana for languages of Kunigami Okinawa Miyako Yaeyama and Yonaguni on May 30 in 2022 29 Phonology editRyukyuan languages often share many phonological features with Japanese including a voicing opposition for obstruents CV C syllable structure moraic rhythm and pitch accent 21 However many individual Ryukyuan languages diverge significantly from this pan Japonic base 21 For instance Ōgami does not have phonemic voicing in obstruents allows CCVC syllables and has unusual syllabic consonants such as kff kf ː make 21 Consonants edit The Northern Ryukyuan Amami Okinawa languages are notable for having glottalic consonants 30 Phonemically these are analyzed of consisting of a cluster ʔ C where the consonant ʔ consists of its own mora 30 For instance in the Amami dialect Yuwan the word ʔma ˀma horse is bimoraic 30 Tsuken Central Okinawan restricts glottalization to glides and the vowels a i 30 Southern Ryukyuan mostly has little to no glottalization with some exceptions e g Yonaguni 30 For instance the Irabu dialect of the Miyako language only allows glottalization with t and c ttjaa ˀtʲaː then ccir ˀtɕiɭ pipe 30 Southern Ryukyuan stands out in having a number of syllabic consonants 30 These consonants are contextually nucleic becoming syllabic when not adjacent to a vowel 30 Examples Irabu Miyako nam nam wave mna mna shell mm mː potato pztu ps tu man prrma pɭːma daytime Ōgami Miyako us us cow ss sː dust kss ksː breast Ōgami even shows a three way length distinction in fricatives though across a syllable boundary 31 fɑɑ fɑː child f fɑ fːɑ grass ff fɑ fːːɑ comb top Ikema a Miyako dialect has a voiceless moraic nasal phoneme n which always precedes another nasal onset and assimilates its place of articulation to the following nasal 32 Vowels edit Amami has high and mid central vowels 30 Yonaguni only has three contrasting vowels i u and a Suprasegmentals edit The Ryukyuan languages operate based on the mora 33 Most Ryukyuan languages require words to be at least bimoraic thus for example in Hateruma the underlying noun root si hand becomes siː when it is an independent noun though it remains as si when attached to a clitic e g si nu 33 nb 2 However the syllable may still sometimes be relevant for instance the Ōgami topic marker takes a different form after open syllables with short vowels 34 staff pɑu ɑ pɑu iɑ vegetable suu ɑ suu iɑ person pstu ɑ pstɑ ɑ Ryukyuan languages typically have a pitch accent system where some mora in a word bears the pitch accent 35 They commonly either have two or three distinctive types of pitch accent which may be applied 35 The category of foot also has relevance to the accentual systems of some Ryukyuan languages and some Miyako varieties have a cross linguistically rare system of tonal foot 35 However Irabu Miyakoan does not have lexical accent 35 Grammar editMorphology edit The Ryukyuan languages consistently distinguish between the word classes of nouns and verbs distinguished by the fact that verbs take inflectional morphology 36 Property concept adjectival words are generally bound morphemes 37 One strategy they use is compounding with a free standing noun 37 Ikema 37 imi small ffachild imi ffasmall childimi ffa imi ffasmall child small child Yuwan 37 kjura beautiful ʔkinkimono kjura ginbeautiful kimonokjura ʔkin kjura ginbeautiful kimono beautiful kimono Compounding is found in both Northern and Southern Ryukyuan but is mostly absent from Hateruma Yaeyama 37 Another way property stems are used is by verbalization 37 Yuwan Amami 38 anthatkɨɨ jatree TOPtaa sar ootall VLZ SUPPan kɨɨ ja taa sar oothat tree TOP tall VLZ SUPP That tree is supposed to be tall Miyako is unique in having stand alone adjectives 37 These may be formed by reduplication of the root e g Irabu Miyako imi small imii imi small adj 39 They may also be compounded with a grammaticalized noun munu thing e g Irabu imi munu small thing 37 Syntax edit Ryukyuan languages are generally SOV dependent marking modifier head nominative accusative languages 40 They are also pro drop languages 40 All of these features are shared with the Japanese language 40 In many Ryukyuan languages the nominative and genitive are marked identically a system also found for example in Austronesian languages 40 However Ryukyuan has the unusual feature that these markers vary based on an animacy hierarchy 36 Typically there are two markers of the form ga and nu which are distinguished based on animacy and definiteness 36 In Yuwan Amami for instance the nominative is marked with ga nu and the genitive by ga nu O based on the following hierarchy 36 Yuwan Amami nominative marker human pronouns demonstratives elder kinship terms other nouns ga nuYuwan Amami genitive marker human pronouns adnominal demonstratives human names elder kinship terms other nouns ga O nuIn the Miyako varieties the object in a dependent clause of clause chaining constructions has a special marker homophonous to a topic marker 36 This might even be interpreted as another function of the topic marker 36 Hateruma Yaeyama stands out in that it is a zero marking language where word order rather than case marking is important 40 pitu Operson COREbudur ja ta ndance PRF PAST RLSpitu O budur ja ta nperson CORE dance PRF PAST RLS People danced Unknown glossing abbreviation s help aboa Omother OREija Ofather COREmir ilook MEDbir ja ta nPROG PRF PAST RLSaboa O ija O mir i bir ja ta nmother ORE father CORE look MED PROG PRF PAST RLS My mother was looking at my father Unknown glossing abbreviation s help The Ryukyuan languages mark both topic and focus grammatically 39 The typical form of the topic marker is j a or in Southern Ryukyuan ba the typical focus marker is du 39 In some Ryukyuan languages there are many focus markers with different functions for instance Irabu has du in declarative clauses ru in yes no interrogative clauses and ga in wh interrogative clauses 39 The focus markers trigger a special verbal inflection this typologically unusual focus construction known as kakari musubi was also found in Old Japanese but has been lost in Modern Japanese 39 Examples from Yuwan Amami 41 kurɨ ba duthis ACC FOCjum ju iread IPFV NPSTkurɨ ba du jum ju ithis ACC FOC read IPFV NPST I read this uroo2SG NHONkunthishon ba dubook ACC FOCjum jur ui read IPFV FOC YNQuroo kun hon ba du jum jur ui 2SG NHON this book ACC FOC read IPFV FOC YNQ Will you read this book yes no question uroo2SG NHON TOPnuu ba gawhat ACC FOCjum jur u read IPFV FOC WHQuroo nuu ba ga jum jur u 2SG NHON TOP what ACC FOC read IPFV FOC WHQ What will you read wh question While in many Japonic languages this special inflection is often identical to the verbal inflection in relative clauses in Yuwan Amami is different the relative inflection is n tan 41 There is some variation among the Ryukyuan languages as to the form of kakari musubi for example in Irabu Miyako a focus marker blocks a specific verb form rather than triggering a special inflection 42 Vocabulary editThorpe 1983 43 reconstructs the following pronouns in Proto Ryukyuan For the first person the singular and plural are assumed based on the Yonaguni reflex a I singular wa we plural u e you singular uya ura you plural Ryukyuan numerals Proto Ryukyuan Amami Ōshima 44 nb 3 Shuri Okinawa 45 Hatoma Yaeyama 46 Miyako Yonaguni 47 1 pito tii tii pusu pitii tʼu 2 puta taa taa huta ftaa tʼa 3 mi mii mii mii mii mii 4 yo juu juu juu juu duu 5 etu ici ici ici itss ici 6 mu muu muu muu mm muu 7 nana nana nana nana nana nana 8 ya jaa jaa jaa jaa daa 9 kokono kuunu kukunu ku kunu kkunu kuɡunu 10 towo tuu tuu tuu tuu tuuPellard 2015 48 reconstructs the following cultural vocabulary words for Proto Ryukyuan kome B rice mai A rice ine B rice plant momi A unhulled rice mogi B wheat awa B foxtail millet kimi B broomcorn millet umo B taro yam patake C field ta B rice paddy usi A cow uwa C pig uma B horse tubo A pot kame C jar pune C boat po A sail ijako B paddle See also editRyuka JōmonNotes edit This punishment was taken from the 19th French language policy of Vergonha especially by Jules Ferry where the regional languages such as Occitan Provencal Catalan or Breton were suppressed in favor of French see also Welsh Not for a similar system in Wales The same system was also used in other parts of Japan such as the Tōhoku region citation needed In fact in Irabu Miyako lengthening occurs even before a clitic thus underlying ti hand becomes tiː independently and tiː nu with attached clitic Shimoji amp Pellard 2010 6 Numerals for counting inanimates References edit An Introduction to Ryukyuan Languages UNESCO Atlas of the World s Languages in danger Unesco org Retrieved 2014 03 16 a b c d e f Shimoji amp Pellard 2010 1 a b Pellard 2015 沖縄語辞典 Okinawan dictionary 前書き Preface 国立国語研究所 1998 言語学大辞典セレクション 日本列島の言語 Selection from the Encyclopaedia of Linguistics The Languages of the Japanese Archipelago 琉球列島の言語 The Languages of the Ryukyu Islands 三省堂 1997 a b c d Shimoji amp Pellard 2010 2 沖縄言語研究センター 今帰仁方言音声データベース ヤンバルクトゥーバ Retrieved 2014 02 16 沖縄言語研究センター 宮古方言音声データベース ミャークフツ Retrieved 2014 02 16 Patrick Heinrich 25 August 2014 Use them or lose them There s more at stake than language in reviving Ryukyuan tongues The Japan Times Archived from the original on 2019 01 07 Retrieved 2019 10 24 沖縄映像センター おきなわBBtv 沖縄の方言ニュース 沖縄の 今 を沖縄の 言葉 で ラジオ沖縄で好評放送中の 方言ニュース をブロードバンドでお届けします Okinawabbtv com Archived from the original on 2014 01 02 Retrieved 2014 01 01 Sugita 2007 244 a b Sugita 2007 245 島口 奄美の方言 入門その1 あなたもシマンチュに Synapse ne jp Retrieved 2014 01 01 Anderson Mark January 2019 Studies of Ryukyu substrate Japanese Routledge Handbook of Japanese Sociolinguistics 441 457 doi 10 4324 9781315213378 28 ISBN 9781315213378 S2CID 196922667 しまくとぅばの日に関する条例 in Japanese Pref okinawa jp Archived from the original on 2015 10 29 鹿児島県 大島地区 方言の日 Pref kagoshima jp Retrieved 2014 02 17 Trinkaus Erik Ruff Christopher B 1996 04 30 Early modern human remains from eastern Asia the Yamashita cho 1 immature postcrania Journal of Human Evolution 30 4 299 314 doi 10 1006 jhev 1996 0025 Nakagawa Ryohei Doi Naomi Nishioka Yuichiro Nunami Shin Yamauchi Heizaburo Fujita Masaki Yamazaki Shinji Yamamoto Masaaki Katagiri Chiaki Mukai Hitoshi Matsuzaki Hiroyuki Gakuhari Takashi Takigami MAI Yoneda Minoru 2010 Pleistocene human remains from Shiraho Saonetabaru Cave on Ishigaki Island Okinawa Japan and their radiocarbon dating Anthropological Science Jstage jst go jp 118 3 173 183 doi 10 1537 ase 091214 Heinrich Patrick Miyara Shinsho Shimoji Michinori eds 2015 Handbook of the Ryukyuan Languages Degruyter com doi 10 1515 9781614511151 ISBN 9781614511151 Retrieved 2014 03 16 a b c d e Shimoji amp Pellard 2010 4 Griesenhofer Christopher 2015 02 17 4 B J Bettelheim 1849 The first grammar of Ryukyuan 4 B J Bettelheim 1849 The first grammar of Ryukyuan De Gruyter Mouton pp 81 110 doi 10 1515 9781614511151 81 html ISBN 978 1 61451 115 1 retrieved 2024 01 27 a b Takara 2007 14 a b c d Takara 2007 15 Heinrich Patrick 2013 Hōgen ronsō the great Ryukyuan languages debate of 1940 Contemporary Japan 25 2 167 187 doi 10 1515 cj 2013 0008 S2CID 142189448 Mitchell Jon 2015 03 30 The Battle of Okinawa America s good war gone bad The Japan Times Retrieved 2019 11 13 カイダー字 与那国島にある象形文字 KaidaJi MemoWiki Nilab info Retrieved 2014 01 01 ダウンロード Archived from the original on 2006 07 18 Retrieved 2007 01 14 しまくとぅば カナ でどう書く 沖縄県が表記法まとめホームページで公開 普及 継承の一助に in Japanese Ryukyu Shimpō 2022 05 31 Archived from the original on 2022 05 31 Retrieved 2022 06 02 a b c d e f g h i Shimoji amp Pellard 2010 5 Shimoji amp Pellard 2010 118 Shimoji amp Pellard 2010 170 a b Shimoji amp Pellard 2010 6 Shimoji amp Pellard 2010 119 a b c d Shimoji amp Pellard 2010 7 a b c d e f Shimoji amp Pellard 2010 9 a b c d e f g h Shimoji amp Pellard 2010 10 Shimoji amp Pellard 2010 52 a b c d e Shimoji amp Pellard 2010 11 a b c d e Shimoji amp Pellard 2010 8 a b Shimoji amp Pellard 2010 75 Shimoji amp Pellard 2010 12 Thorpe Maner Lawton 1983 Ryukyuan language history University of Southern California Yuto Niinaga 2010 Yuwan Amami Ryukyuan in Michinori Shimoji Thomas Pellard eds An Introduction to Ryukyuan Languages PDF Tokyo Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa p 55 ISBN 9784863370722 Shimoji 2012 p 357 Lawrence 2012 p 387 Izuyama 2012 p 429 Pellard Thomas 2015 The Linguistic archeology of the Ryukyu Islands In Heinrich Patrick and Miyara Shinsho and Shimoji Michinori eds Handbook of the Ryukyuan Languages History Structure and Use 13 37 Berlin DeGruyter Mouton Bibliography editIzuyama Atsuko 2012 Yonaguni In Tranter Nicolas ed The Languages of Japan and Korea Routledge pp 412 457 ISBN 978 0 415 46287 7 Lawrence Wayne P 2012 Southern Ryukyuan In Tranter Nicolas ed The Languages of Japan and Korea Routledge pp 381 411 ISBN 978 0 415 46287 7 Pellard Thomas 2015 The Linguistic archeology of the Ryukyu Islands In Heinrich Patrick Miyara Shinsho Shimoji Michinori eds Handbook of the Ryukyuan languages History structure and use PDF Berlin De Mouton Gruyter pp 13 37 doi 10 1515 9781614511151 13 ISBN 978 1 61451 115 1 S2CID 54004881 Shimoji Michinori 2012 Northern Ryukyuan In Tranter Nicolas ed The Languages of Japan and Korea Routledge pp 351 380 ISBN 978 0 415 46287 7 Shimoji Michinori Pellard Thomas eds 2010 An Introduction to Ryukyuan languages PDF Tokyo ILCAA ISBN 978 4 86337 072 2 Retrieved June 10 2018 Sugita Yuko 2007 Language revitalization or language fossilization Some suggestions for language documentation from the viewpoint of interactional linguistics PDF Proceedings of Conference on Language Documentation and Linguistic Theory London SOAS ISBN 978 0 7286 0382 0 Retrieved December 19 2009 Takara Ben February 2007 On Reclaiming a Ryukyuan Culture PDF Connect Irifune IMADR 10 4 14 16 Archived from the original PDF on May 20 2011 Retrieved August 21 2012 Further reading editSanseido 1997 言語学大辞典セレクション 日本列島の言語 Selection from the Encyclopaedia of Linguistics The Languages of the Japanese Archipelago 琉球列島の言語 The Languages of the Ryukyu Islands Ashworth D E 1973 A generative study of the inflectional morphophonemics of the Shuri dialect of Ryukyuan PhD dissertation Cornell University Heinrich Patrick 2004 Language Planning and Language Ideology in the Ryukyu Islands Language Policy 3 2 153 179 doi 10 1023 B LPOL 0000036192 53709 fc S2CID 144605968 Heinrich Patrick Miyara Shinsho Shimoji Michinori eds 2015 Handbook of the Ryukyuan Languages Berlin De Gruyter Mouton doi 10 1515 9781614511151 ISBN 978 1 61451 161 8 Serafim Leon Angelo 1984 Shodon the prehistory of a Northern Ryukyuan dialect of Japanese PDF PhD dissertation Yale University Archived from the original PDF on 2020 07 24 Shimabukuro Moriyo 2007 The accentual history of the Japanese and Ryukyuan languages a reconstruction Languages of Asia series Vol 2 Folkestone Kent Global Oriental ISBN 978 1 901903 63 8 Thorpe Maner Lawton 1983 Ryukyuan language history PDF PhD thesis University of Southern California Archived from the original PDF on 2022 03 14 Uemura Yukio Lawrence Wayne P 2003 The Ryukyuan language Endangered Languages of the Pacific Rim Vol A4 018 Osaka ELPR External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ryukyuan languages nbsp Wikivoyage has a phrasebook for Ryukyuan Ryukyuan language phonetic database Archived 2009 12 12 at the Wayback Machine Documents about Shima kutuba Okinawa Prefecture Web archives of Okinawan Folktales Okinawa Prefectural Museum What is a dialect Amami Culture Foundation Database of Endangered Languages of Japan National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics 伊波普猷文庫目録 Archived 2009 04 01 at the Wayback Machine 仲宗根政善言語資料 うちなあぐち メーラムニ用語便覧 おーりたぼーり メーラム二 宮良言葉 の学習者のためのポッドキャスト Archived 2020 01 28 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ryukyuan languages amp oldid 1199584834, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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