Japonic languages
| Japonic | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: |
Japan |
| Linguistic classification: | isolate or Altaic (see Japanese language classification) |
| Subdivisions: |
? Gaya (Kara)
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 The Japonic languages
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Japonic languages is a term which identifies and characterises the Japanese which is spoken on the main islands of Japan and the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands. This widely accepted linguistics term was coined by Leon Serafim.[1]
"Japonic" or "Japanese-Ryukyuan" is a language family composed of the Japanese and Ryukyuan languages. A common ancestral language is known as "Proto-Japonic".[2] The essential feature of this classification is that the first split in the family resulted in the separation of all dialects of Japanese from all varieties of Ryukyuan. According to Shiro Hattori, this separation occurred during the Yamato period (250–710).[3]
Scholarly discussions about the origin of Japonic languages present an unresolved set of related issues.[4] The clearest connections seem to be with toponyms in southern Korea which may be in Gaya (Kara) or other scarcely attested languages.[5]
Contents |
[edit] Members
The Japonic (or Japanese–Ryukyuan) languages are:
- Japanese (日本語)
- Hachijō (conservative dialects of the Hachijōjima and Daitō Islands, including Aogashima)
- Mainland Japanese
- Eastern Japanese, most dialects from Nagoya east
- Western Japanese, most dialects west of Nagoya
- Kyūshū, Kyūshū
- Ryukyuan (琉球語)
- Amami–Okinawan
- Amami (奄美語)
- Northern Amami Oshima dialect
- Southern Amami Oshima dialect
- Kikai dialect
- Tokunoshima dialect
- Okinawan
- Okinoerabu dialect
- Yoron dialect
- Kunigami (Northern Okinawan)(国頭語)
- Shuri (Central Okinawan) (沖縄語)
- Amami (奄美語)
- Miyako (宮古語)
- Yaeyama (八重山語)
- Yonaguni (与那国語)
- Amami–Okinawan
[edit] Classification
The relationship of the Japonic (or Japanese-Ryukyuan) languages to other languages and language families is controversial. There are numerous hypotheses, none of which is generally accepted.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Shimabukuro, Moriyo. (2007). The Accentual History of the Japanese and Ryukyuan Languages: a Reconstruction, p. 1.
- ^ Miyake, Marc Hideo. (2008). Old Japanese: a Phonetic Reconstruction. p. 66. at Google Books
- ^ Heinrich, Patrick. "What leaves a mark should no longer stain: Progressive erasure and reversing language shift activities in the Ryukyu Islands," First International Small Island Cultures Conference at Kagoshima University, Centre for the Pacific Islands, February 7–10, 2005; citing Shiro Hattori. (1954) Gengo nendaigaku sunawachi goi tokeigaku no hoho ni tsuite ("Concerning the Method of Glottochronology and Lexicostatistics"), Gengo kenkyu (Journal of the Linguistic Society of Japan), Vols. 26/27.
- ^ Blench, Roger M. (2008). Archaeology and language, Vol. 2 , p. 201. at Google Books
- ^ Christopher I. Beckwith, Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present (Princeton University Press, 2009: ISBN 978-0-691-13589-2), p. 105.
[edit] References
- Miyake, Marc Hideo. (2008). Old Japanese: a Phonetic Reconstruction. London: RoutldegeCurzon. 10-ISBN 0415305756/13-ISBN 9780415305754; OCLC 51163755
- Shimabukuro, Moriyo. (2007). The Accentual History of the Japanese and Ryukyuan Languages: a Reconstruction. London: Global Oriental. 10-ISBN 190190363X/13-ISBN 9781901903638; OCLC 149189163
[edit] External links
- Ethnologue report for the Japanese language family
- The LINGUIST List MultiTree Project: Japonic Family Trees
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