The Yaeyama language (, ''Yaimamuni'') is a
Southern Ryukyuan language spoken in the
Yaeyama Islands
The Yaeyama Islands (八重山列島 ''Yaeyama-rettō'', also 八重山諸島 ''Yaeyama-shotō'', Yaeyama: ''Yaima'', Yonaguni: ''Daama'', Okinawan: ''Yeema'', Northern Ryukyuan: ''Yapema'') are an archipelago in the southwest of Okinawa ...
, the southernmost inhabited island group in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, with a combined population of about 53,000. The
Yaeyama Islands
The Yaeyama Islands (八重山列島 ''Yaeyama-rettō'', also 八重山諸島 ''Yaeyama-shotō'', Yaeyama: ''Yaima'', Yonaguni: ''Daama'', Okinawan: ''Yeema'', Northern Ryukyuan: ''Yapema'') are an archipelago in the southwest of Okinawa ...
are situated in the Southern
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...
, southwest of the
Miyako Islands
The (also Miyako Jima group) are a group of islands in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, belonging to the Ryukyu Islands. They are situated between the Okinawa Island and Yaeyama Islands.
In the early 1870s, the population of the islands was estim ...
and to the east of
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
. Yaeyama (''Yaimamunii'') is most closely related to
Miyako. The number of competent native speakers is not known; as a consequence of Japanese language policy which refers to the language as the , reflected in the education system, people below the age of 60 tend to not use the language except in songs and rituals, and the younger generation exclusively uses Japanese as their first language. As compared to the Japanese ''kokugo,'' or Japanese
national language
A national language is a language (or language variant, e.g. dialect) that has some connection—de facto or de jure—with a nation. There is little consistency in the use of this term. One or more languages spoken as first languages in the te ...
, other Ryukyuan languages such as
Okinawan and
Amami have also been referred to as dialects of
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
. Yaeyama is noted as having a comparatively lower "language vitality" among neighboring Ryukyuan languages.
Yaeyama is spoken in
Ishigaki,
Taketomi
is an island in the town of Taketomi, within Yaeyama District of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Taketomi is one of the Yaeyama Islands. The population of Taketomi Island was 323 as of January 2012.
Geography
Taketomi Island is located south of Is ...
,
Kohama,
Kuroshima,
Hatoma
Hatoma (鳩間島, ''Hatoma-jima''; Yaeyama: ''Patuma''; Okinawan: ''Hatuma'') is a small island of the Yaeyama Islands, barely 1 kilometer in diameter. It is under the administration of Taketomi District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. In local ...
, Aragusuku,
Iriomote
is the largest of the Yaeyama Islands of Japan, and the second largest in Okinawa Prefecture after Okinawa Island itself.
The island has an area of and a 2005 population of 2,347. The island does not have an airstrip, and most visitors — ov ...
and
Hateruma
Hateruma (波照間島; ''Hateruma-jima''; Yaeyama: ''Patirooma'', Hateruma dialect: ''Besїma'' "our island", Okinawan: ''Hatiruma'', Northern Ryukyuan: ''Patara'') is an island in the Yaeyama District of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is the ...
, with complications of
mutual intelligibility
In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as an ...
between dialects as a result of the Yaeyama Islands' large geographic span. The speech of
Yonaguni Island
, one of the Yaeyama Islands, is the westernmost inhabited island of Japan, lying from the east coast of Taiwan, between the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean proper. The island is administered as the town of Yonaguni, Yaeyama Gun, Okinawa ...
, while related, is usually considered a
separate language. The Taketomi dialect may instead be a
Northern Ryukyuan language common to
Okinawan dialects that later converged with the other Yaeyama dialects.
History
The Ryukyuan language split from Proto-Japonic when its speakers migrated to the Ryukyu Islands.
The Ryukyuan languages are argued to have been split from Proto-Japonic around the 2nd century BCE.
The Yaeyaman languages are classified under a
Macro-Yaeyama branch of the Southern Ryukyuan languages. Innovations of Southern Ryukyuan languages, splitting Macro-Yaeyama and Miyako language families, include an "irregular shift from tone class B to A in 'how many' and a special form for 'garden'". Macro-Yaeyama innovations, grouping together Yaeyama languages and
Dunan contain the "grammaticalization of 'know' as a potential auxiliary", similarities between multiple special forms such as "bud", "happy", "fresh", and "dirt", as well as a semantic conflation of "nephew" to mean either "nephew" or "niece". Yaeyaman dialects are differentiated from Dunan by innovations regarding a replacement of the verb "sell" with a causative form of "buy", a special form of "get wet", as well as an irregular shift of "*g>n" in 'beard'.
Some of the pronunciations that disappeared from Japanese around the 8th century, Japan's Nara period, can still be found in the Yaeyama languages. One example is the initial "p" sound, which in Japanese became an "h", while remaining a "p" in Yaeyama, except for "pu", which became "fu" in Yaeyama.
While the Yaeyama language was more "conservative" in some aspects, in the sense of preserving certain pronunciations, in other aspects it was more innovative. One example is the vowel system.
Old Japanese
is the oldest attested stage of the Japanese language, recorded in documents from the Nara period (8th century). It became Early Middle Japanese in the succeeding Heian period, but the precise delimitation of the stages is controversial.
Old Jap ...
had eight vowels (some perhaps diphthongs); this has been reduced to five in modern Japanese, but in Yaeyaman, vowel reduction has progressed further, to three vowels. Generally, when modern Japanese has an "e", the Yaeyama cognate will have an "i" (this is seen in "funi" above); and where modern Japanese has an "o", the Yaeyama cognate will have a "u" (as seen in "patu" above).
However, in the cases where Proto-Japonic has an ''*e'', ''*əy'', or ''*o'' that is not word final, Japanese is no more conservative than Yaeyama in this regard, as both underwent the same vowel raising at different stages, as shown below:
Like all Southern Ryukyuan languages, Yaeyama shows a "b" word initially compared to Japanese "w". This is perhaps believed to be an innovation from earlier "w". This also includes Japanese cognates that once had an initial "w" but was dropped later in the history of the language, such as "wodori" > "odori".
Many of these features have been lost in the history of the
Okinawan language
The Okinawan language (, , , ) or Central Okinawan, is a Northern Ryukyuan languages, Ryukyuan language spoken primarily in the southern half of the Okinawa Island, island of Okinawa, as well as in the surrounding islands of Kerama Islands, Ker ...
or were innovated compared to all other Japonic languages. One explanation for this is that it is possible to travel by sea from mainland Japan to the main island of Okinawa while keeping one island or another in sight at nearly all times; but there is a larger gap between the main island of Okinawa and the Yaeyamas, which would have required several nights on the open sea. For this reason, there was less traffic between mainland Japan and the Yaeyama islands, allowing further linguistic divergence.
Phonology
Hateruma
The Hateruma dialect contains seven vowels, with no distinction between long-short vowel length, and sixteen consonants. Hateruma is noted for having more vowels than any other dialect. A
pharyngeal ''e'' is believed to be a result of "the coalescence of Proto-Yaeyama
diphthong
A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...
s '*ai and *aɨ.'"
There are three accent pitches present in Hateruma: falling, level, and rising accents. To correlate pitches, there are three classes of words under an "A, B, C" system; class A words correlate with the falling pitch, and class B and C are shown to have "an uneven correspondence with the Level and Rising patterns."
The Hateruma dialect is regarded as an innovative variety of Yaeyama Ryukyuan. It is the only dialect of the Yaeyama group to feature the pharyngeal eˤ, sonorant devoicing, noun-final consonant epenthesis and spirantization of voiceless velar stop before the vowel *i. It is also considered to have the strongest aspiration among of the Yaeyama dialects, and is also the only variety to display nasal and liquid devoicing.
[
The pharyngeal eˤ may be regionally expressed as , especially among those over the age of 90.]
Additionally, Hateruma has the following sixteen consonants:
Hatoma
The Hatoma dialect contains two "tonal categories", denoted as marked and unmarked. Words of the marked class are analyzed as being "high from the syllable containing the second mora
Mora may refer to:
People
* Mora (surname)
Places Sweden
* Mora, Säter, Sweden
* Mora, Sweden, the seat of Mora Municipality
* Mora Municipality, Sweden
United States
* Mora, Louisiana, an unincorporated community
* Mora, Minnesota, a city
* M ...
" and unmarked words begin from a low pitch but end with a low pitch. "Peripheral tone classes" are also noted in certain nouns and adverb.
Hatoma is noted for having the simplest verb conjugation and morphophonology
Morphophonology (also morphophonemics or morphonology) is the branch of linguistics that studies the interaction between morphological and phonological or phonetic processes. Its chief focus is the sound changes that take place in morphemes (mi ...
of the Yaeyama dialects. One phonological process is a sequence of ''i'', followed by ''e'', becoming ''e'' in the case of ''i'' being in a light syllable and ''ja(a)'' in a heavy syllable. There is also a process of a sequence ''u'', followed by ''a'' sequence becoming a long ''o'' with ''u'' in a light syllable and ''uwa(a)'' in a heavy syllable.
Miyara
The Miyara subdialect of Ishigaki has 21 consonants and 6 vowels in its inventory. It is noted that ''e'' and ''o'' are always long, as in many varieties of Ryukyuan. Long vowels are often shortened before the moraic nasal.
Following , , and , underlying neutralizes to . After nasals (, ), glides (, ) alveolar stops (, ) or , , and , the high central vowel does not appear.
Syntax
Hateruma
Hateruma uses morphology and suffixation in its verbs and adjectives. Derivational morphology
Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to:
Disciplines
* Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts
* Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...
expresses causative and passive forms in verbs; potential forms are equal to the passive
Passive may refer to:
* Passive voice, a grammatical voice common in many languages, see also Pseudopassive
* Passive language, a language from which an interpreter works
* Passivity (behavior), the condition of submitting to the influence of on ...
form. Verbal inflection
In linguistic morphology, inflection (or inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical categories such as tense, case, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, mood, animacy, and defin ...
expresses two types of indicatives, an imperative form, as well as a cohortative and prohibitive
The imperative mood is a grammatical mood that forms a command or request.
The imperative mood is used to demand or require that an action be performed. It is usually found only in the present tense, second person. To form the imperative mood, ...
ending. Adjectives, nouns and verbs also compound and reduplicate, especially in producing adverbs from adjectives.
Hateruma has a case system with nine case markings and particles
In the physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscule in older texts) is a small localized object which can be described by several physical or chemical properties, such as volume, density, or mass.
They vary greatly in size or quantity, from s ...
. There are eleven auxiliary verbs to denote forms of mood and aspect
Aspect or Aspects may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Aspect magazine'', a biannual DVD magazine showcasing new media art
* Aspect Co., a Japanese video game company
* Aspects (band), a hip hop group from Bristol, England
* ''Aspects'' (Benny Carter ...
.
Ishigaki
The Ishigaki dialect is noted for having a peculiar expression of cardinal direction
The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are at ...
s. It is found that when speaking to other native speakers, Ishigaki-speakers use an "intrinsic" and "relative" frame of reference system in which "north" and "south" are expressed in an intrinsic frame of reference as the verbs ''agaru'' ("go up, climb") and ''oriru ("''go down, descend"), instead of Standard Japanese ''kita ("''north") and ''minami'' ("south"). It is found that most speakers express "east" and "west" as Standard Japanese ''hidari ("''left") and ''migi ("''right") in a relative frame of reference.
Miyara
Miyaran Yaeyama has been argued to have no marked attributive
In grammar, an attributive expression is a word or phrase within a noun phrase that modifies the head noun. It may be an:
* attributive adjective
* attributive noun
* attributive verb
or other part of speech, such as an attributive numeral.
...
form, unlike Okinawan and Old Japanese
is the oldest attested stage of the Japanese language, recorded in documents from the Nara period (8th century). It became Early Middle Japanese in the succeeding Heian period, but the precise delimitation of the stages is controversial.
Old Jap ...
. However, there is evidence that phonological conditioning, namely an epenthetic
In phonology, epenthesis (; Greek language, Greek ) means the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially in the beginning syllable (''prothesis (linguistics), prothesis'') or in the ending syllable (''paragoge'') or in-between two syll ...
''-r'' marking between present stative ''-i'' and present tense marker ''-u'' (in order to avoid subsequent vowel sequences)'','' accounts for non-overt attributive markings.
Wh-Questions
In Yaeyama, wh-phrases are marked with ''du'', in contrast to Standard Japanese ''ka''.
Omitting ''du'' from a wh-phrase is considered incorrect grammar. Yet, ''du'' marking is optional for adverbial or adjunct wh-phrases. In questions with multiple wh-words, only one can be marked with ''du''. Further research is needed to learn more about Wh-questions in Yaeyama.
Endangerment and revitalization
The endangerment of Ryukyuan languages is attributed to historical and governmental factors. Originating in the 1872 annexation of the Okinawan Islands to Japan and the creation of Okinawa Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city o ...
in 1879, there has since been a movement referred to as the "Japanization of the Luchuan Islands". A national language movement known as ''kokugo'' has developed in result of this. The ''kokugo'' movement includes the 1907 implementation of the Ordinance of Dialect Regulation, demoting diverse Ryukyuan languages to the status of "dialects" ( ''hogen'') and discouraging of speaking these dialects in the Japanese school system.
There is estimated to be a remaining 7,000-10,000 Yaeyama speakers, mostly being spoken in the home. There have been many revival societies and movements erected to preserve Ryukyuan languages and culture. The earliest language revival movement is regarded as being part of the Koza Society of Culture, instituted in 1955. A large benefactor to preserving and reviving Ryukyuan languages is the Society for Spreading Okinawan (''Uchinaguchi fukyu kyogikai)'', whose constitution is dedicated to initiating dialect classes and Okinawan teacher training programs, as well as advancing towards a singular Okinawan orthography
An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation.
Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...
. There are also notable submovements in Ryukyuan language survival present in Okinawan radio broadcasts, as well as "presentation circles and plays" and language classes integrated in the Okinawan school curriculum on the local level.
References
*
Further reading
* Shigehisa Karimata, 2008. ''Phonological comparison of Yaeyama dialects
External links
Oori Taboori podcast/blog (Miyara)
{{Languages of Japan
Ryukyuan languages