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Research on Endangered Ryukuan Dialects with an Aim to Preserve

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Research on Endangered Ryukuan Dialects with an Aim to Preserve KAKENHI NEWS2009 vol.2 Research on Endangered Ryukuan Dialects � Culture & � Society with an Aim to Preserve and Propagate Shigehisa Karimata� Professor� University of the Ryukyus 【Background】� /ã, õ, ı˜/and /ë˜/ for a total of 18 vowels. particle ga is spoken in the interrogative, UNESCO announced in February 2009 But the dialect of Yonakuni Island, the and nu in yes-or-no questions, to enable that of the over six thousand languages westernmost island in Japan, primarily the speaker to add extra meaning to his spoken in the world, 2500 are in danger use the three vowels a, i and u. The Miya- question. The Ryukyuan languages shed of becoming extinct. Among them are Ja- ko Ookami Island dialect has only 10 con- light on the history of the Japanese lan- pan's Ryukyuan languages (UNESCO sonants: /p, t, k, f, v, s, m, n, j/and /r/. But guage, and has many interesting linguistic treats each Ryukyuan dialect as a separate it has been discovered that the consonants typological features. � language). Although experts have long /f, v, s, m/ and n are used as monosylla- � been aware of the threat to the dialects, bles, that the /f/ and /s/ in words such as 【Outlook】� and research on their preservation and /kffi/ (make) and /pstu/ (person) function Urgent research is needed on the Ryu- propagation has been ongoing for more as vowels in a syllable, and that there are kyuan languages in order to pass them than 30 years, the inclusion of Ryukyu also long and short consonants, with down to future generations. Since the lan- languages in the UNESCO statement some words that are just single long con- guages are structurally complex and sys- ▼ ▼ came as a shock.� sonants, such as /m ▲(sweet potato), /s ▲ tematic, dictionaries and grammars must ▼ � (nest) and /v ▲(sell). The phonetic charac- be put together and published. Study of 【Results】� teristics of the Sani and Oogami Islands the Koki settlement in Nago-shi, Okinawa The people of the Ryukyu Islands account are very distinctive and do not appear in Prefecture, is underway to compile a lexi- for about one percent of Japan's popula- any other Japanese dialects.� con of its dialect (Fig. 1). The dictionary tion, and the Ryukyuan languages are � will contain about 20,000 words and, af- spoken only by a small minority. The is- We are also working on grammatical re- ter completion, will be made available to lands are spread out over a large area -- search of the southern Ryukyuan dialects, the public along with the recorded phonet- the distance between the northernmost, an area that has been little studied. We ic material, as part of Ryukyu Universi- Amami Oshima Island, and the western- have known that the Ryukyuan languages ty's speech database on Ryukyu Langua- most, Yonakuni Island, is equal to that be- retain the kakari-musubi (linked form) ges (ryukyu-lang.lib.u-ryukyu.ac.jp) (Fig. tween Miyagi Prefecture in northern Ja- principle of classical Japanesse. The Miya- 2). We also plan to compile a database of pan and Hiroshima Prefecture, near the ko Island dialect uses the connecting par- the grammatical information we have col- western edge of Honshu Island. Across ticles du (equivalent to the classical Japa- lected. this huge area, the various Ryukyuan dia- nese zo), ga (ka) and nu (nan). The lects are as rich in varia- tion as the numerous Japa- nese dialects.� � The dialect of the Sani set- tlement, located in the northern part of Amami Oshima Island, differenti- ates between the seven short and long vowels /a, i, u, e, o, ï/ and /ë/, added to which are the nasal vowels Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Related Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research:� FY2000-2002 Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas (A):“Research on the Imminently Threatened Ryukyu Amami Dialect”� FY2008-2010 Grant-in-Aid for Scientific research (B):“Basic Research on the Grammar of the South Ryukyu Dialect”� 05.
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