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
Glottolog okin1246[2]

The Okinoerabu language (島ムニ Shimamuni) 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

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.

On the other hand, the three-subdivision hypothesis has a shallower hierarchy.

Subgroups

The Okinoerabu language consists of the following subgroups.

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

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 intelligibility with the languages of the island's other communities. It is said that Okinoerabu was mutually unintelligible with neighboring Yoron and Tokunoshima.[3]

Status

Okinoerabu has no official status. Ethnologue identifies its status as 7 (Shifting).[4]

Phonology

Eastern Okinoerabu

The following is the phonology of the Wadomari dialect (part of Eastern Okinoerabu), which is based on Hirayama et al. (1986).[5]

Consonants

Consonant phonemes
Bilabial Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar Glottal Moraic
Nasal mˀ m nˀ n  [Q]
[ɴ]
[ː]
Stop p b ttˀ d kkˀ ɡ ʔ
Affricate t͡ʃt͡ʃˀ z
Fricative s h
Approximant j w
Flap r

Notes

Vowels

Eastern Okinoerabu has /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/ and /u/.

Correspondences to Standard Japanese

Only major sound correspondences are listed.[6]

Western Okinoerabu

The following is the phonology of the China dialect (part of Western Okinoerabu), which is based on Hirayama et al. (1986).[5]

Consonants

Consonant phonemes
Bilabial Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar Glottal Moraic
Nasal mˀ m nˀ n  [Q]
[ɴ]
[ː]
Stop p b t d kɡ ʔ
Affricate t͡ʃz
Fricative s h
Approximant j w
Flap r

Notes

Vowels

Western Okinoerabu has /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/ and /u/.

Differences between Eastern and Western Okinoerabu

References

  1. ↑ Okinoerabu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Oki-No-Erabu". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ "Amami-Okinawan". SIL International. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  5. ↑ 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).
  6. ↑ 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.

Further reading