Okinoerabu language
| Okinoerabu | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Japan |
| Region | Okinoerabu Island of the Amami Islands, Kagoshima Prefecture |
Native speakers | 3,200 (2004)[1] |
Japonic
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | okn (as Oki-No-Erabu) |
| Glottolog | okin1246 Oki-No-Erabu[2] |
The Okinoerabu language is a dialect cluster spoken on Okinoerabu Island, Kagoshima Prefecture of southwestern Japan. It is part of the Amami–Okinawan languages, which are part of the Japonic languages.
Classification[edit]
The classification of Okinoerabu is a matter of scholarly debate as there are two competing hypotheses regarding the number of primary branches of the Amami–Okinawan languages. The two-subdivision hypothesis gives the following hierarchy.
- Amami–Okinawan / Northern Ryukyuan
- Amami
- Northern Amami
- Southern Amami
- Okinoerabu
- Okinawan
- Amami
On the other hand, the three-subdivision hypothesis has a shallower hierarchy.
- Amami–Okinawan / Northern Ryukyuan
Subgroups[edit]
The Okinoerabu language consists of the following subgroups.
- Eastern Okinoerabu
- Western Okinoerabu
The linguistic boundary between Eastern and Western Okinoerabu roughly corresponds to the administrative boundary between Wadomari (east) and China (west). In addition, the eastern community of Kunigami (part of Eastern Okinoerabu and not to be confused with Northern Okinawa) is known for sporadically retaining a centralized vowel, which is a characteristic of Northern Amami. For example, [nɪː] ("root", Standard Japanese /ne/) is contrasted with [niː] ("loads", Standard Japanese /ni/). The northwestern community of Tamina (part of Western Okinoerabu) has a distinct accentual system.
Folk terminology[edit]
Takahashi Takayo (b. 1967), a cultural anthropologist from the island, stated that the language of each community or the island as a whole was called shimamuni. Each language variety within the island had distinctive characteristics. The language of the community of Kunigami on the island, for example, was referred to as Kunigami-bushi. It retained mutually intelligiblity with the languages of the island's other communities. It is said that Okinoerabu was mutually unintelligible with neighboring Yoron and Tokunoshima.[3]
Status[edit]
Okinoerabu has no official status. Ethnologue identifies its status as 7 (Shifting).[4]
Phonology[edit]
Eastern Okinoerabu[edit]
The following is the phonology of the Wadomari dialect (part of Eastern Okinoerabu), which is based on Hirayama et al. (1986).[5]
Consonants[edit]
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | Moraic | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | mˀ | m | nˀ | n | [Q] [ɴ] [ː] | ||||||||||||
| Stop | p | b | t | tˀ | d | k | kˀ | ɡ | ʔ | ||||||||
| Affricate | t͡ʃ | t͡ʃˀ | z | ||||||||||||||
| Fricative | s | h | |||||||||||||||
| Approximant | j | w | |||||||||||||||
| Flap | r | ||||||||||||||||
Notes
- The null phoneme /'/ may be added. It is contrasted with glottal /h/ and /ʔ/. A minimal pair is /ʔiː/ [ʔiː] ("stomach"), /hiː/ [çiː] ("day") and /'iː/ [iː] ("soft rush").
- /kˀ/, /tˀ/ /t͡ʃˀ/ are in process of being merged into /k/, /t/ and /t͡ʃ/, respectively.
- /h/ is [ before /i/ and /j/, and [ before /u/ and /w/.
- /p/ is new and infrequent.
- /si/ and /t͡ʃu/ are realized as [ʃi] and [t͡su], respectively.
- /z/ is [d͡ʒ] before /i/ and /j/, and [d͡z] elsewhere.
- [ʃa], [ʃu] and [ʃo] are phonemically analyzed as /sja/, /sju/ and /sjo/, respectively.
- [t͡ʃa], [t͡ʃu] and [t͡ʃo] are phonemically analyzed as /t͡ʃja/, /t͡ʃju/ and /t͡ʃjo/, respectively.
- [t͡ʃˀa], [t͡ʃˀu] and [t͡ʃˀo] are phonemically analyzed as /t͡ʃˀja/, /t͡ʃˀju/ and /t͡ʃˀjo/, respectively.
Vowels[edit]
Eastern Okinoerabu has /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/ and /u/.
Correspondences to Standard Japanese[edit]
Only major sound correspondences are listed.[6]
- Standard Japanese /e/ is merged into /i/.
- Standard Japanese /o/ is merged into /u/.
- Eastern Okinoerabu /e/ and /o/ are of secondary origin and mostly correspond to Standard Japanese diphthongs.
- Standard Japanese /t͡ʃu/, /su/ and /zu/ correspond to /t͡ʃi/ [t͡ʃi], /si/ [ʃi] and /zi/ [dʒi].
- Standard Japanese /k/ corresponds to /h/ by default. /ki/ and /ku/ are usually identical, but some words have /t͡ʃi/ for Standard Japanese /ki/. /kˀ/ is occasionally used too.
- Eastern Okinoerabu /r/ is dropped when it is surrounded by a vowel and /i/.
- /k/ and /g/ have been palatalized before /i/. Standard Japanese /ki/ and /gi/ corresponds to Eastern Okinoerabu /t͡ʃi/ and /zi/.
- Standard Japanese /ke/ corresponds to /hi/ in the word-initial positions and /ki/ elsewhere.
- The fusion of two consecutive morae resulted in glottalized consonants in Eastern Okinoerabu.
Western Okinoerabu[edit]
The following is the phonology of the China dialect (part of Western Okinoerabu), which is based on Hirayama et al. (1986).[5]
Consonants[edit]
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | Moraic | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | mˀ | m | nˀ | n | [Q] [ɴ] [ː] | ||||||||||
| Stop | p | b | t | d | k | ɡ | ʔ | ||||||||
| Affricate | t͡ʃ | z | |||||||||||||
| Fricative | s | h | |||||||||||||
| Approximant | j | w | |||||||||||||
| Flap | r | ||||||||||||||
Notes
- The null phoneme /'/ may be added. It is contrasted with glottal /h/ and /ʔ/.
- /h/ is [ before /i/ and /j/, and [ before /u/ and /w/.
- /p/ is new and infrequent.
- /si/ and /t͡ʃu/ are realized as [ʃi] and [t͡su], respectively.
- /z/ is [d͡ʒ] before /i/ and /j/, and [d͡z] elsewhere.
- [ʃa], [ʃe], [ʃu] and [ʃo] are phonemically analyzed as /sja/, /sje/, /sju/ and /sjo/, respectively.
- [t͡ʃa], [t͡ʃu] and [t͡ʃo] are phonemically analyzed as /t͡ʃja/, /t͡ʃju/ and /t͡ʃjo/, respectively.
Vowels[edit]
Western Okinoerabu has /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/ and /u/.
Differences between Eastern and Western Okinoerabu[edit]
- Standard Japanese /gi/ and /ge/ are merged into /gi/ in Western Okinoerabu while they correspond to /zi/ and /gi/ in Eastern Okinoerabu.
- Similarly, Western Okinoerabu /k/ has not undergone palatalization.
- Western Okinoerabu does not have /kˀ/, /tˀ/ or /t͡ʃˀ/.
References[edit]
- ↑ Okinoerabu at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
- ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Oki-No-Erabu". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. Search this book on
- ↑ Takahashi Takayo 高橋孝代 (2006). "Okinoerabu-jima no gaikan 沖永良部島の概観". Kyōkaisei no jinruigaku 境界性の人類学 (in Japanese). pp. 65–111.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
- ↑ "Amami-Okinawan". SIL International. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hirayama Teruo 平山輝男, ed. (1986). Amami hōgen kiso goi no kenkyū 奄美方言基礎語彙の研究 (in Japanese).CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
- ↑ Hirayama Teruo 平山輝男, Ōshima Ichirō 大島一郎 and Nakamoto Masachie 中本正智 (1969). "Gengo 言語". In Hirayama Teruo 平山輝男. Satsunan shotō no sōgōteki kenkyū 薩南諸島の総合的研究 (in Japanese). pp. 235–478.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
Further reading[edit]
- Sakimura Hirofumi, 1987. A New View on the Accentual Systems of the Japanese Dialects in Okino-erabujima (in Japanese).
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