Proto-Ryukyuan language

Proto-Ryukyuan is the reconstructed ancestor of the Ryukyuan languages, probably associated with the Gusuku culture in the early second millennium AD.

Proto-Ryukyuan
Reconstruction ofRyukyuan languages
RegionJapan, possibly in Kyushu or Tokara islands
Reconstructed
ancestor
Lower-order reconstructions
  • Proto-Amami-Okinawa/Proto-Northern-Ryukyuan
  • Proto-Sakishima

Background
Main article: Ryukyuan languages

The modern Ryukyuan languages are spoken on the Ryukyu Islands, from the Amami Islands to Yonaguni. All Ryukyuan varieties are endangered.

Phonology

Consonants

The following consonants can be reconstructed for Proto-Ryukyuan:[1]

Proto-Ryukyuan consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Nasal *m *n
Stop *p, *b *t, *d *k
Fricative *s, *z
Tap *r [ɾ]
Approximant *w *j
  • Proto-Japonic *-p- generally lenites to *-w-, as in PJ *kapa 'river' > PR *kawa 'well' It is irregularly preserved in some words, mostly adjectives, which lead Thorpe to suggest a geminate consonant blocking lenition.[2][3] However, nouns that don't sound emphatic also receive this irregular conservatism.
  • 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. [4]
  • No Ryukyuan dialects preserve the yotsugana distinction; in this case, it means that older *di ~ *zi and *du ~ *zu merge as *zi and *zu.[5]
    • One possible exception is that a special word for "to take off (clothes)" exists in very few Miyako dialects[5] (< *padok-): e.g. Hirara /padukɿ/.[6][7] The regular conventions of proto-Ryukyuan would require an irregular change in the consonant *zu- > *do-.

Vowels

The following vowels can be reconstructed for Proto-Ryukyuan:[8]

Proto-Ryukyuan vowels
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.[9] To give an example, Shuri ʔitɕi 'pond'[10] < PR *ike, but Shuri ʔiku- 'how many?'[11] < PR *eku.

Reflexes of PR *i, *e, *u, and *o[12]
Proto-RyukyuanAmami (Koniya)Okinawa (Nakijin-Yonamine)Miyako (Ōgami)Yaeyama (Ishigaki-Shika)Yonaguni
*iʔi, Nˀi, ʲi, Nɿ,[13] ɯ, s, N, ∅ɿ, N, ∅i, N, ∅
*eʰɨ, iʰi, iiii
*uˀu, Nu, Nu, N, ∅u, N, ∅u, N, ∅
*oʰuuuuu

Proto-Ryukyuan merged the Proto-Japonic diphthong *əi > *e.

Prosody

Proto-Ryukyuan has at least three reconstructed tone classes, classified as class A, B, and C respectively. Class A regularly corresponds to the initial high register in Middle Japanese.

The correspondences of class B and C are somewhat complex. While both can regularly correspond to the initial low register in Middle Japanese, there exists a split that exists for the following low register accent classes in Middle Japanese:[14] class 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 3.4, and 3.5. Accent classes 3.6 and 3.7 almost always correspond to class C in Ryukyuan.

Most dialects often have a penultimate tone on a class C noun. On the other hand, some dialects, such as the Asama dialect in Toku-no-Shima, and the Shuri dialect in Okinawa, exhibit long vowels of the penultimate syllable; for Shuri, it is only exhibited in disyllables.

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)
Ryukyuan numerals
Proto-Ryukyuan Amami Ōshima (Yuwan)[15] Shuri (Okinawa)[16] Hatoma (Yaeyama)[17] Miyako Yonaguni[18]
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 *{i/e}tu 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 tuutuutuu tuutuu

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
  1. Igarashi (2022), pp. 237–238.
  2. Thorpe (1983), p. 60-61.
  3. Kenan, 2024 & 83.
  4. Igarashi (2022), pp. 237.
  5. Kenan, 2024 & 84.
  6. Originally written in the notation as パドゥキゥ [padukï]. However, even in Hirayama's notation of the Miyako vowels, it is actually supposed to be written as padukˢï.
  7. Hirayama et al. (1992), p. 3825.
  8. Thorpe (1983), p. 31.
  9. Thorpe (1983), pp. 51–53.
  10. National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (2001), p. 246.
  11. National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (2001), p. 254.
  12. Pellard (2013), pp. 84–85.
  13. This is a special vowel in Miyako, variously described as apical, laminal, or fricative vowel.
  14. The initial number denotes the number of morae in a noun. The number following the period is the accent class.
  15. Numerals for counting inanimates.
  16. Shimoji (2012), p. 357.
  17. Lawrence (2012), p. 387.
  18. 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). De Gruyter: 232–257. doi:10.1515/opli-2022-0193.
  • Izuyama, Atsuko (2012). "Yonaguni". In Tranter, Nicolas (ed.). The Languages of Japan and Korea. Routledge. pp. 412–457. ISBN 978-0-415-46287-7.
  • 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. doi:10.15084/0002000156.
  • 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. doi:10.25549/usctheses-c3-505374.
  • 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).
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