Proto-Ryukyuan language
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2024) |
| Proto-Ryukyuan | |
|---|---|
| Reconstruction of | Proto-Japonic
|
| Lower-order reconstructions |
|
Proto-Ryukyuan is the reconstructed ancestor of the Ryukyuan languages, probably associated with the Gusuku culture in the early second millennium AD.[citation needed]
Background
The modern Ryukyuan languages are spoken on the Ryukyu Islands, from the Amami Islands to Yonaguni. All Ryukyuan varieties are endangered.[citation needed]
Phonology
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Consonants
The following consonants can be reconstructed for Proto-Ryukyuan:[1]
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal
|
*m | *n | ||
voiced )
|
*p | *t | *k | |
voiced )
|
*b | *d | *g | |
voiceless )
|
*s | |||
voiced )
|
*z | |||
Tap
|
*r [ɾ] | |||
Approximant
|
*w | *j |
- Proto-Japonic *-p- generally lenites to *-w-, as in PJ *apa 'foxtail millet' > PR *awa 'id.'[citation needed] It is irregularly preserved in some words, which lead Thorpe to suggest a geminate consonant blocking lenition.[2]
- Approximants in proto-Japonic preceding a high vowel are merged to a zero consonant in proto-Ryukyuan, such as PJ *upai 'above' > *uwe > PR *ue. [3]
- No Ryukyuan dialects preserve the yotsugana distinction, meaning that older *di/*zi and *du/*zu merge as *zi and *zu.[citation needed]
Vowels
The following vowels can be reconstructed for Proto-Ryukyuan:[4]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | *i | *u | |
| Mid | *e | *o | |
| Open | *a |
All Ryukyuan languages have raised the mid-vowels *e and *o, but not all have merged these sounds with *i and *u. The dialects go through different developments depending on the preceding consonant. In various Northern Ryukyuan dialects, *i will often palatalize the preceding consonant.[5] To give an example, Shuri ʔitɕi 'pond'[6] < PR *ike, but Shuri ʔiku- 'how many?'[7] < PR *eku.
| Proto-Ryukyuan | Amami (Koniya) | Okinawa (Nakijin-Yonamine) | Miyako (Ōgami) | Yaeyama (Ishigaki-Shika) | Yonaguni |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *i | ʔi, N | ˀi, ʲi, N | ɿ,[9] ɯ, s, N, ∅ | ɿ, N, ∅ | i, N, ∅ |
| *e | ʰɨ, i | ʰi, i | i | i | i |
| *u | ˀu, N | u, N | u, N, ∅ | u, N, ∅ | u, N, ∅ |
| *o | ʰu | u | u | u | u |
Vocabulary
Thorpe (1983) 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)
| Proto-Ryukyuan | Amami Ōshima (Yuwan)[10] | Shuri (Okinawa)[11] | Hatoma (Yaeyama)[12] | Miyako | Yonaguni[13] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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) 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'
References
- ^ Igarashi (2022), pp. 237–238.
- ^ Thorpe (1983), p. 60-61.
- ^ Igarashi (2022), pp. 237.
- ^ Thorpe (1983), p. 31.
- ^ Thorpe (1983), pp. 51–53.
- ^ National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (2001), p. 246.
- ^ National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (2001), p. 254.
- ^ Pellard (2013), pp. 84–85.
- fricative vowelin Miyako.
- ^ Numerals for counting inanimates.
- ^ Shimoji (2012), p. 357.
- ^ Lawrence (2012), p. 387.
- ^ Izuyama (2012), p. 429.
Bibliography
- Hattori, Shirō (2018). 日本祖語の再建 [Reconstruction of Proto-Japanese] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. ISBN 9784000612685.
- Hirayama, Teruo (1986). 琉球奄美方言の基礎語彙の総合的研究 [A Study of the Basic Vocabulary of the Amami Dialects in Ryukyuan] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Kadokawa. ISBN 4-04-022200-8.
- Igarashi, Yōsuke (2022). "Reconstruction of Ryukyuan tone classes of Middle Japanese Class 2.4 and 2.5 nouns". Open Linguistics. 8 (1). .
- 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.
- National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (2001). 沖縄語辞典 [Okinawan Dictionary] (in Japanese). Zaimushō Insatsu-kyoku.
- Pellard, Thomas. "Ryukyuan perspectives on the proto-Japonic vowel system". Japanese/Korean Linguistics. 20. CSLI Publications: 81–96.
- 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.
- 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.
- Thorpe, Maner Lawton (1983). Ryūkyūan Language History (doctoral dissertation). Los Angeles: University of Southern California. .
- Vovin, Alexander (2012-08-07). "琉球祖語の語中における有声子音の再建について [On the reconstruction of the Proto-Ryukyuan voiced consonants]". National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (in Japanese).
External links
- Kenan, Celik (2024). "UniCog: A Framework Proposal for the Dynamic Compilation of Comparative Data for the Reconstruction of proto-Ryukyuan". NINJAL Research Papers (in Japanese). 26. .
- Supplementary data Contains lexical and bibliographic data.
- JR-COGNATES (version 7): list of words attested in Japanese and Ryukyuan, including reconstructed tone classes and the distribution range in Ryukyuan.