Reconstruction:Proto-Ryukyuan/ga

This Proto-Ryukyuan entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Ryukyuan

Etymology

From Proto-Japonic *-nka (“genitive marker (in pronouns)”).

Particle

*ga

1. nominative and genitive case marker

Usage notes

Ryukyuan languages use a hierarchy to determine which of its nominative and genitive markers, *ga and *no, to use. This hierarchy has two layers, consisting of higher and lower layers.

• The higher nominative and genitive marker is *ga, used primarily by pronouns referring to humans.
• The lower nominative and genitive marker is *no, used by any nominals that do not use *ga.

This hierarchy is subject to much variation in the daughter languages. In Northern Amami-Ōshima, genitive *ga is only used with demonstrative pronouns, while personal pronouns, names of humans, and kinship terms do not take any genitive marker, while Yaeyama lost its reflex of *ga altogether.

Descendants

• Northern Ryukyuan:
  • Kikai: が (ga)
  • Kunigami: が (ga)
  • Northern Amami-Oshima: が (ga)
  • Okinawan: が (ga)
  • Oki-No-Erabu: が (ga)
  • Southern Amami-Oshima: が (ga)
  • Toku-No-Shima: が (ga)
  • Yoron: が (ga)
• Southern Ryukyuan
  • Miyako: が (ga)
  • Yaeyama: が (ga)
  • Yonaguni: か゚ (nga)

See also

• *no