Wiktionary:About Proto-Ryukyuan

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Proto-Ryukyuan is the reconstructed language of the ancestral Ryukyuan language family. As Proto-Ryukyuan is a reconstructed language, all entries must be in the Reconstruction mainspace.

Abbreviations[edit]

  • PJ - Proto-Japonic
  • PR - Proto-Ryukyuan
  • OJ - Old Japanese
  • EMJ - Early Middle Japanese
  • JPN - (Modern) Japanese

Phylogeny[edit]

The descendants of Proto-Ryukyuan include:[1][2][note 1] means do not include it in the descendants. The following list may not have every Ryukyuan dialect.

Phylogeny
    • Northern Ryukyuan
      • Kikai
        • Aden (main; unlisted)
        • Shitōke (main; unlisted)
      • Kunigami
        • Hentona (unlisted)
        • Iejima (unlisted)
        • Nago (unlisted)
        • Oku (unlisted)
        • Sakimotobu (unlisted)
        • Sumuide (unlisted)
        • Yonamine, Nakijin (main; unlisted)
      • Northern Amami-Oshima
        • Naze (main; unlisted)
        • Yamatohama (main; unlisted)
        • Yuwan (unlisted)
      • Okinawan
        • Ishikawa (unlisted)
        • Shuri (main; unlisted)
          • Naha (main; unlisted)
      • Oki-No-Erabu
        • Kamishiro (unlisted)
        • Serikaku (main; unlisted)
        • Tamina (unlisted)
        • Tetechina (main; unlisted)
      • Southern Amami-Oshima
        • Koniya (main; unlisted)
        • Shodon (main; unlisted)
      • Toku-No-Shima
        • Asama (unlisted)
        • Inō (main; unlisted)
        • Kametsu (main; unlisted)
        • Matsubara (unlisted)
        • San (unlisted)
      • Yoron
        • Chabana (main; unlisted)
        • Mugiya (unlisted)
    • Southern Ryukyuan
      • Miyako
        • Hirara (main; unlisted)
        • Ikema (unlisted)
        • Nakasuji (unlisted)
        • Ōgami (unlisted)
        • Ōura (unlisted)
        • Sarahama (unlisted)
        • Uechi (Unlisted)
        • Yonaha (unlisted)
      • Yaeyama
        • Hateruma (unlisted)
        • Ishigaki (main; unlisted)
        • Kabira (unlisted)
        • Kobama (unlisted)
        • Kuroshima (unlisted)
        • Ōbama (unlisted)
        • Sonai (unlisted)
        • Taketomi (unlisted)
      • Yonaguni

Yonaguni also has some shared innovations with Yaeyama, leading Pellard to believe that Yonaguni should be grouped into Yaeyama (Macro-Yaeyama), while the actual Yaeyama language family is called Nuclear Yaeyama (Pellard 2015, 20). Thorpe believes Yonaguni should be considered a third branch of Ryukyuan, descending from an early dialect in Okinawa. He also posits Taketomi as an early South Okinawan dialect that was reshaped by neighboring Yaeyaman varieties, and that the Yuwan dialect in Amami Ōshima is derived from a back-migration from Yoron Island. [3]

Do not reconstruct a Proto-Ryukyuan term if the term is isolated. Isolated examples include Northern Amami-Oshima わた゚がなし (waθaganashi, “sea god”), 笹 (sasa, “bamboo grass”), Shuri Okinawan 大人 (utuna, “adult”, literary), 男 (wutuku, “man”, literary), 妻 (tsuma, “king's concubine”), Ishigaki Yaeyama 土 (tsïtsï, “ground”), etc., as they are almost certainly borrowings from Japanese.

It's best to put sources for the descendants (e.g. PR *iwo (“fish”)). Either directly use the references manually, or you can use {{jpx-ref|[AUTHOR'S LAST NAME] ([YEAR])}} in an entry (has pre-made reference templates).

Reconstructions[edit]

See Category:Proto-Ryukyuan lemmas.

Transcription and phonology[edit]

The transcription uses modified Hepburn romanization.

Vowels[edit]

Five vowels can be reconstructed for Proto-Ryukyuan Thorpe (1983), p. 31:

i u
e o
a

Unknown vowels[edit]

If a word cannot be determined an unraised vowel, or a type of vowel is unknown, these cover symbols are used:

  • Unknown back vowel */o/ or */u/: *U
  • Unknown front vowel */e/ or */i/: *I

Consonants[edit]

Proto-Ryukyuan has the consonants *p, *t, *k, *b, *d, *g, *m, *n, *s, *z, *r, *w, and *y (*/j/). It is quite likely that the voiced consonants were prenasalized.[4]

Prosody[edit]

Tone classes must be included in all Proto-Ryukyuan entries, if possible. Three classes have been reconstructed: A, B, and C. Tone classes C often has a either an accented first mora, a lengthened first mora in Asama and Shuri, or has a falling pitch at the end of the word (in case of Wadomari and Yonaguni). Tone neutralization has occurred in Tarama, but the former state of affairs is revealed with the suffix -mai, meaning "also".

Tonal correspondances of Proto-Ryukyuan tone classes
Syllable Count Tone Class Asama Wadomari Yoron Nakijin Shuri Tarama (X=mai 'also X') Ishigaki Yonaguni Notes
1 A Hː Rː Lː Hː Fː Lː=LL Fː Hː All monosyllables in Ryukyuan languages lengthen to monosyllables.
1 B Hː Hː Lː Rː Lː Hː=HL Hː Lː
2 A HHː LHˑ LL LHː HL LL=LL HL LH
2 B LRː LRː LH LRː LL HH=HL HH LL
2 C LːH LF HH HL(ː) LːL HL=LL HH LF Asama and Shuri lengthens the initial syllable in this tone class.
3 A HHːL or HHH LHH LLL LHːL HHL LLL=LL LHL LHH
3 B LLRː LLRː LHH LLHː LLL HHH=HL HHH LLL
3 C LL(ː)H LLH HHH LLːH LLL HHL=LL HHH LHF

Key[edit]

  • H - High pitch.
  • L - Low pitch.
  • R - Rising pitch.
  • F - Falling pitch.

Verbs[edit]

Verbs must be reconstructed as root + infinitive suffix *-i.

In the Ryukyuan languages, some verbs are derived from the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) + *worV-, an auxiliary suffix cognate with 居る (oru < woru, “to be, to exist”).[5]

An example:

Adjectives[edit]

Use only the adjective root, not a suffix added to it. For example, Japanese 甘い (amai, “sweet”) descends from Proto-Ryukyuan *ama, without a **-sV suffix. Exceptions are シク活用 (shiku katsuyō, “shiku adjective”): e.g. *posi (“wanted, desired”), *kanasi (“dear; cute”).

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ (unlisted)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Vovin (2014) s. 8-10
  2. ^ Thorpe (1983) p. vii-viii
  3. ^ Thorpe (1983) p. vii-viii
  4. ^ Pellard (2019) p. 2
  5. ^ Pellard (2023) p. 15

Further reading[edit]

See also[edit]

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