please note:
- the content below is remote from Wikipedia
- it has been imported raw for GetWiki
{{short description|Group of languages in Japan}}
The
Northern Ryukyuan languages are a group of languages spoken in the
Amami Islands,
Kagoshima Prefecture and the
Okinawa Islands,
Okinawa Prefecture of southwestern
Japan. It is one of two primary branches of the
Ryukyuan languages, which are then part of the
Japonic languages. The subdivisions of Northern Ryukyuan are a matter of scholarly debate.
Internal classification
Within the
Ryukyu Kingdom, territory was divided into
magiri, which in turn were divided into
shima.Smits, Gregory. "Examining the Myth of Ryukyuan Pacifism". Asia-Pacific Journal, 2010. Date accessed=7 October 2015. . A magiri was comparable to a
Japanese prefecture while shima were individual villages. There were about 800 shima in the Ryukyu Kingdom. Linguists Seizen Nakasone and Satoshi Nishioka have proposed that each shima developed their own distinct dialects or accents due to people very rarely traveling outside of their shima.BOOK, Satoshi Nishioka 西岡æ,
RyÅ«kyÅ«go: shima goto ni kotonaru hÅgen ççèª: ãã·ãããã¨ã«ç°ãªãæ¹è¨, Kurebito Megumi å人æµ,
Nihon no kiki gengo æ¥æ¬ã®å±æ©è¨èª, 2011, Japanese, At high level, linguists mostly agree to make the northâsouth division. In this framework, Northern Ryukyuan covers the
Amami Islands,
Kagoshima Prefecture and the
Okinawa Islands,
Okinawa Prefecture. The subdivision of Northern Ryukyuan, however, remains a matter of scholarly debate.JOURNAL, Karimata Shigehisa ç©ä¿£ç¹ä¹
,
Amami Okinawa hÅgengun ni okeru Okinoerabu hÅgen no ichizuke" å¥ç¾æ²ç¸æ¹è¨ç¾¤ã«ãããæ²æ°¸è¯é¨æ¹è¨ã®ä½ç½®ã¥ã (Position of Okierabu Dialect in Northern Ryukyu Dialects), Nihon TÅyÅ bunka ronshÅ« æ¥æ¬æ±æ´æåè«é, 6, 2000, 43â69, Japanese,
weblink In the
Okinawa-go jiten (1963),
Uemura Yukio simply left its subgroups flat:{{tree list}}
- AmamiâOkinawan dialect group
{{tree list/end}}Several others have attempted to create intermediate groups. One of two major hypotheses divides Northern Ryukyuan into Amami and Okinawan, drawing a boundary between Amami's
Yoron Island and
Okinawa Island. The same boundary was also set by early studies including
Nakasone (1961) and
Hirayama (1964).
Nakamoto (1990) offered a detailed argument for it. He proposed the following classification.{{tree list}}
- Northern Ryukyuan dialect
- Amami dialect
- Northern Amami{{clarify|date=August 2015}}
- Southern Amami{{clarify|date=August 2015}}
- Okinawan dialect
{{tree list/end}}The other hypothesis, the three-subdivision hypothesis, is proposed by Uemura (1972). He first presented a flat list of dialects and then discussed possible groupings, one of which is as follows:{{tree list}}
- AmamiâOkinawan dialect group
{{tree list/end}}The difference between the two hypotheses is whether Southern Amami and Northern Okinawan form a cluster. Thorpe (1983) presented a "tentative" classification similar to Uemura's:THESIS, Thorpe, Maner L., Ryūkyūan language history, University of Southern California, 1983,
weblink {{tree list}}
{{tree list/end}}
Karimata (2000) investigated Southern Amami in detail and found inconsistency among isoglosses. Nevertheless, he favored the three-subdivision hypothesis:{{tree list}}
- AmamiâOkinawan dialect group
{{tree list/end}}Karimata (2000)'s proposal is based mostly on phonetic grounds.
Standard Japanese {{IPA|/e/}} corresponds to {{IPA|/ɨ/}} in Northern Amami while it was merged into {{IPA|/i/}} in Southern Amami and Okinawan.{|class="wikitable"
!!eye!hair!front
|Itsubu, Naze (Amami Åshima)mɨ}} | kËɨ}}The vowels {{IPA | /É/}} are traditionally transcribed {{angbr | ë}}. The (slightly) aspirated stops {{IPA | tenuis stops {{IPA>[CË]}} are typically described as "plain" {{angbr | Câ}}, respectively. (Martin (1970) "Shodon: A Dialect of the Northern Ryukyus", Journal of the American Oriental Society 90:1.) | mÉ}} |
|Shodon, SetouchimɨË}} | kËɨË}} | mÉË}} |
|Inokawa, TokunoshimamɨË}} | kËɨË}} | mÉË}} |
|Inutabu, Isen (Tokunoshima)mɨË}} | kËɨË}} | mÉË}} |
|Nakazato, Kikai (Southern Kikai)miË}} | kËiË}} | meË}} |
|Kunigami, Wadomari (Eastern Okinoerabu)miË}} | kËiË}} | meË}} |
|Gushiken, China (Western Okinoerabu)miË}} | kÊ°iË}} | meË}} |
|Jana, Nakijin (Northern Okinawa)miË}} | kËiË}} | meË}} |
|Shuritonokura, Naha (Southern Okinawa)miË}} | kÊ°iË}} | meË}} |
Word-initial {{IPA|/kÊ°/}} changed to {{IPA|/h/}} before certain vowels in Southern Amami and several Northern Okinawan dialects while Northern Amami has {{IPA|/kË/}}. The boundary between Northern and Southern Amami is clear while Southern Amami and Northern Okinawan have no clear isogloss.{|class="wikitable"
!Japanese!{{IPA|/ka/}}!{{IPA|/ko/}}!{{IPA|/ke/}}!{{IPA|/ku/}}!{{IPA|/ki/}}
|Itsubu, Naze (Amami Åshima){{IPA|kË}} | {{IPA|kÊ°}} |
|Shodon, Setouchi{{IPA|kË}} | {{IPA|kÊ°}} |
|Inokawa, Tokunoshima{{IPA|kË}} | {{IPA|kÊ°}} |
|Inutabu, Isen (Tokunoshima){{IPA|kË}} | {{IPA|kÊ°}} |
|Shitooke, Kikai (Northern Kikai){{IPA|h}} | {{IPA|kÊ°}} |
|Nakazato, Kikai (Southern Kikai){{IPA|h}} | kÊ°}} | tÍ¡ÊÊ°}} |
|Kunigami, Wadomari (Eastern Okinoerabu){{IPA|h}} | kÊ°}} | tÍ¡ÊÊ°}} |
|Wadomari, Wadomari (Eastern Okinoerabu){{IPA|h}} | kÊ°}} | tÍ¡ÊÊ°}} |
|Gushiken, China (Okinoerabu){{IPA|h}} | {{IPA|kÊ°}} |
|Gusuku, Yoron{{IPA|h}} | {{IPA|kÊ°}} |
|Benoki, Kunigami (Northern Okinawa){{IPA|h}} | {{IPA|kÊ°}} |
|Ågimi, Ågimi (Northern Okinawa){{IPA|h}} | {{IPA|kÊ°}} |
|Yonamine, Nakijin (Northern Okinawa){{IPA|h}} | kË}} | kÊ°}} | tÊ}}{{clarify|date=August 2015}} |
|Kushi, Nago (Northern Okinawa){{IPA|kË}} | {{IPA|kÊ°}} |
|Onna, Onna (Northern Okinawa){{IPA|kË}} | {{IPA|kÊ°}} |
|Iha, Ishikawa (Southern Okinawa){{IPA|kÊ°}} | tÍ¡ÊÊ°}} |
|Shuri, Naha (Southern Okinawa){{IPA|kÊ°}} | tÍ¡ÊÊ°}} |
The pan-Japonic shift of {{IPA|/p > ɸ > h/}} can be observed at various stages in AmamiâOkinawan. Unlike Northern Amami and Southern Okinawan, Southern Amami and Northern Okinawan tend to maintain
labiality, though the degree of preservation varies considerably.{|class="wikitable"
!Japanese!{{IPA|/ha/}}!{{IPA|/he/}}!{{IPA|/ho/}}!{{IPA|/hu/}}!{{IPA|/hi/}}
|Itsubu, Naze (Amami Åshima){{IPA|h}} |
|Shodon, Setouchi{{IPA|h}} |
|Inokawa, Tokunoshima{{IPA|h}} |
|Inutabu, Isen (Tokunoshima){{IPA|h}} |
|Shitooke, Kikai (Northern Kikai){{IPA|pË}} | {{IPA|ɸ}} | pË}} |
|Nakazato, Kikai (Southern Kikai)ɸ}} | h}} | {{IPA|ɸ}} |
|Kunigami, Wadomari (Eastern Okinoerabu){{IPA|ɸ}} |
|Gushiken, China (Western Okinoerabu)ɸ}} | h}} | {{IPA|ɸ}} | h}} |
|Gusuku, Yoron{{IPA|ɸ}} |
|Benoki, Kunigami (Northern Okinawa){{IPA|ɸ}} |
|Ågimi, Ågimi (Northern Okinawa)ɸ}} | pÊ°}} | {{IPA|ɸ}} | pÊ°}} |
|Yonamine, Nakijin (Northern Okinawa){{IPA|pË}} | pË}} | pÊ°}} |
|Kushi, Nago (Northern Okinawa){{IPA|ɸ}} | {{IPA|pʰ}} |
|Onna, Onna (Northern Okinawa){{IPA|pË}} | {{IPA|pÊ°}} |
|Iha, Ishikawa (Southern Okinawa){{IPA|h}} |
|Shuri, Naha (Southern Okinawa)h}} | ɸ}} | {{IPA|h}} | ɸ}} |
These shared features appear to support the three-subdivision hypothesis. However, Karimata also pointed out several features that group Northern and Southern Amami together. In Amami, word-medial {{IPA|/kÊ°/}} changed to {{IPA|/h/}} or even dropped entirely when it was surrounded by {{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/e/}} or {{IPA|/o/}}. This can rarely be observed in Okinawan dialects. Japanese {{IPA|/-awa/}} corresponds to {{IPA|/-oË/}} in Amami and {{IPA|/-aË/}} in Okinawan. Uemura (1972) also argued that if the purpose of classification was not of phylogeny, the two-subdivision hypothesis of Amami and Okinawan was also acceptable.Pellard (2009) took a computational approach to the classification problem. His phylogenetic inference was based on phonological and lexical traits. The results dismissed the three-subdivision hypothesis and re-evaluated the two-subdivision hypothesis although the internal classification of Amami is substantially different from conventional ones.THESIS, Pellard, Thomas, Ogami: Ãléments de description d'un parler du sud des Ryukyus, Ãcole des hautes études en sciences sociales, 2009, Paris, France,
weblink French, The renewed classification is adopted in Heinrich et al. (2015).BOOK, Patrick Heinrich, Shinsho Miyara, Michinori Shimoji, Handbook of the Ryukyuan Languages, 2015, The membership of Kikai Island remains highly controversial. The northern three communities of Kikai Island share the seven-vowel system with Amami Åshima and Tokunoshima while the rest is grouped with Okinoerabu and Yoron for their five-vowel systems. For this reason, Nakamoto (1990) subdivided Kikai:{{tree list}}
- Amami dialect
- Northern Amami dialect
- Northern Amami Åshima
- Southern Amami Åshima
- Northern Kikai
- Southern Amami dialect
- Southern Kikai
- Okinoerabu
- Yoron
{{tree list/end}}Based on other evidence, however, Karimata (2000) tentatively grouped Kikai dialects together. Lawrence (2011) argued that lexical evidence supported the Kikai cluster although he refrained from determining its phylogenetic relationship with other Amami dialects.BOOK, Wayne Lawrence,
Kikai-jima hÅgen no keitÅteki ichi ni tsuite åç島æ¹è¨ã®ç³»çµ±çä½ç½®ã«ã¤ãã¦, Kibe Nobuko,
ShÅmetsu kiki hÅgen no chÅsa hozon no tame no sÅgÅteki kenkyÅ«: Kikai-jima hÅgen chÅsa hÅkokusho æ¶æ»
å±æ©æ¹è¨ã®èª¿æ»ã»ä¿åã®ããã®ç·åçç 究: åç島æ¹è¨èª¿æ»å ±åæ¸ (General Study for Research and Conservation of Endangered Dialects in Japan: Research Report on the Kikaijima Dialects ), 115â122, 2011, Japanese,
weblink etal, As of 2014,
Ethnologue presents another two-subdivision hypothesis: it groups Southern Amami, Northern Okinawa and Southern Okinawa to form Southern AmamiâOkinawan, which is contrasted with Northern AmamiâOkinawan. It also identifies Kikai as Northern AmamiâOkinawan.WEB,
weblink Amami-Okinawan, SIL International, 1 February 2014, Heinrich et al. (2015) refers to the subdivisions of Northern Ryukyuan as only "Amami" and "Okinawan". There is a note that other languages, specifically within the
Yaeyama language, should be recognized as independent due to mutual unintelligibility.Heinrich, Patrick et al.
Handbook of the Ryukyuan Languages. 2015. Pp 13â15.
References
{{reflist}}{{Japonic languages}}{{Japanese language |collapsed}}
- content above as imported from Wikipedia
- "Northern Ryukyuan languages" does not exist on GetWiki (yet)
- time: 9:49pm EDT - Sat, May 04 2024