Kunigami language
Kunigami | |
---|---|
山原言葉/ヤンバルクトゥーバ, Yanbaru Kutūba | |
Native to | Japan |
Region | Northern Okinawa Islands |
Native speakers | 5,000 (2004)[1] |
Japonic
| |
Japanese | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | xug |
Glottolog | kuni1268 |
Kunigami | |
The Kunigami or Northern Okinawan language (Yanbaru Kutūba (山原言葉/ヤンバルクトゥーバ)), is a
The
Location
In addition to the northern portion of Okinawa Island, Kunigami is spoken on the small neighboring islands of Ie, Tsuken and Kudaka.[2]
Scope and classification
Glottolog, following Pellard (2009), classifies Kunigami with Central Okinawan as the two
Folk terminology
The speakers of Kunigami have various words for "language", "dialect", and "style of speech". For example, linguist Nakasone Seizen (1907–1995) stated that the dialect of his home community Yonamine, Nakijin Village had (corresponding Standard Japanese word forms in parentheses): /kʰu⸢tsʰii/ (kuchi), /hut˭uu⸢ba/ (kotoba) and /munu⸢ʔii/ (monoii). The language of one's own community was referred to as /simaagu⸢tsʰii/ or /sima(a)kʰu⸢t˭uu⸣ba/.[4] The Yonamine dialect was part of Nakijin's western dialect called /ʔirinsimaa kʰut˭uba/.[5] The northern part of Okinawa was colloquially known as Yanbaru and hence its language was sometimes called /jˀan⸢ba⸣rukʰut˭uuba/.[6]
Phonology
Like most Ryukyuan languages north of Central Okinawan, Kunigami has series of so-called "tensed" or "glottalized" consonants. While the nasals and glides are truly
Morphology
One notable difference in the use of certain morphological markers between Kunigami language and Standard Japanese is the use of the /-sa/ form as an adverb in Kunigami: e.g. Nakijin dialect /tʰuusá pʰanaaɽít˭un/, which is equivalent to Standard Japanese toókú hanárete irú ("It is far away"). In Standard Japanese, the /-ku/ form is used adverbially, while the /-sa/ form is used exclusively to derive abstract nouns of quality and amount ("-ness" forms) from adjectival stems.
Resources
- Okinawa Nakijin Hōgen Jiten by Seizen Nakasone. A dictionary of the Yonamine dialect of Nakijin village.
- Okinawa Iejima Hōgen Jiten by Mutsuko Oshio. A dictionary of the Ie dialect.
References
- ^ Kunigami at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Nakamoto Masachie 中本正智 (1981). Zusetsu Ryūkyū-go jiten 図説 琉球語辞典 (in Japanese). p. 26.
- ^ "Kunigami". UNESCO. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
- ^ "Nakijin Dialect Dictionary: kotoba" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
- ^ "Nakijin Dialect Dictionary: Nakijin-hōgen gaisetsu" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 5 January 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
- ^ "Nakijin Dialect Dictionary: yanbaru kotoba" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
- ^ Samuel E. Martin (1970) "Shodon: A Dialect of the Northern Ryukyus", in the Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 90, no. 1 (Jan–Mar), pp. 97–139.
- ^ Acute accent indicates a high tone