The Insular Japonic languages or Japonic-Ryukyu languages are a subdivision of the Japonic languages, as opposed to the hypothetical Peninsular Japonic languages formerly spoken in central and southern Korea. This grouping, originally proposed by Vovin, has been taken up several times subsequently.Vovin (2017)
History Currently, most scholars agree that the Japonic languages were brought to the Japanese archipelago between the 7th and 3rd centuries BC by wet rice farmers of the Yayoi culture from northern Kyushu, replacing the indigenous Jōmon people. Toponyms indicate that the Ainu language were formerly spoken in eastern Japan.Patrie (1982), p. 4.Tamura (2000), p. 269.Hudson (1999), p. 98. Later, Japonic speakers settled on the Ryukyu Islands.
Linguistically, there is disagreement over the location and date of separation from the continental branch. Martine Robbeets argues that the two branches of the "Japonic" (Japonic) family split when their speakers moved from Shandong around 1500 BC to central and southern Korea. According to her, the Insular Japonic languages entered the archipelago around 700 BC, with some remaining in the southern Mahan and Byeonhan confederations. This theory has little support. Vovin and Whitman instead argue that the Insular Japonic languages split from the Peninsular Japonic languages upon arriving in Kyūshū between 1000 and 800 BC.Whitman (2011), p.157
There is also disagreement regarding the separation of Old Japanese and the Ryukyu languages. One theory suggests that when taking into account innovations in Old Japanese not shared with the Ryukyu languages, the two branches must have separated before the 7th century, with the Ryukyus migrating from southern Kyushu to the Ryukyus with the expansion of the Gusuku culture around the 10th–11th century. Old Japanese is thought to have emerged during the Nara period.Shibatani 1990, p. 119. Robbeets proposes a similar theory, but places the separation date in the 1st century BC. Boer proposes that the Ryukyu languages are descended from the Kyushuan dialect of Old Japanese.de Boer (2020), p. 52. One theory also suggests that Ryukyus remained in Kyushu until the 12th century.
Internal classification The relationship between Japanese and the Ryukyu languages was established in the 19th century by Basil Hall ChamberlainBasil Hall Chamberlain, Yokohama, Kelly & Walsh, coll. “Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan” ( no . 23, supplement), 1895. in his comparison of Okinawan and Japanese.John Bentley, dans Patrick Heinrich, Shinsho Miyara et Michinori Shimoji, Berlin, De Mouton Gruyter, 2015 , DOI 10.1515/9781614511151.39),
Standard classification This classification below is the most widely used. Vovin classifies the Tamna language as part of the Insular Japonic branch.Vovin (2013), pp. 236–237.Vovin (2010), pp. 24–25. Hachijō, spoken in the Southern Izu Islands and formerly in the Daitō Islands iss sometimes considered a separate language due to its divergence from modern Japanese.Iannucci (2019), pp. 100–120. Robbeets (2020) treats the Fukuoka and Kagoshima dialects as independent languages. Dialects are indicated in italics.
Insular Japonic Languages Old Japanese †Shibatani (1990), pp. 187, 189. Tamna † † Fukuoka Kagoshima Old Western Japanese † Japanese Yilan Creole JapaneseChien, Yuehchen; Sanada, Shinji (2010). "Yilan Creole in Taiwan". Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages. 25 (2): 350–357. doi:10.1075/jpcl.25.2.11yue. Japanese dialects Kyushu dialects Satsuma Hichiku Hakata Tsushima Hōnichi Western Japanese dialects Chūgoku Hiroshima Okayama Umpaku Shikoku Kansai Hokuriku Eastern Japanese dialects Izu Kantō-echigo Kantō West Kantō Okinawan Japanese Amani Interior Hokkaido Standard Japanese East Kantō Echigo Tōkai–Tōsan Gifu–Aichi Nagoya Nagano–Yamanashi–Shizuoka Tōhoku Southern Tōhoku Yamagata Northern Tōhoku Tsugaru Coastal Hokkaido Eastern Old Japanese † Hachijō Ryukyuan Northern Ryukyuan Amami Amami Ōshima Naze Sani Southern Amami Ōshima Kikai Onotsu Tokunoshima Kametsu Kunigami Yoron Kunigami Nago Oki-no-Erabu Western Oki-no-Erabu Eastern Oki-no-Erabu Okinawan Kudaka Naha Shuri Torishima Southern Ryukyuan Miyakoan Miyako Island Kurima Miyako-jima Ogami Ikema-Irabu Ikema-jima Irabu-jima Tarama-Minna Macro-Yaeyama Yaeyama Hateruma Hatoma Ishigaki Kabira Kohama Kuroshima Shiraho Sonai Taketomi Yonaguni
Alternative classification
Another classification based on pitch accents has been proposed.Shimabukuro (2007), pp. 2, 41–43. According to this, Japanese is paraphyletic within Insular Japonic.
Insular Japonic Languages Old Japanese Izu Hachijo/South Izu North Izu Kanto-Echigo Kanto Echigo Nagano-Yamanashi-Shizuoka Old Central Japanese Ishikawa-Toyama Gifu-Aichi Kinki-Totsukawa Shikoku Chūgoku Izumo-Tohoku Conservative Izumo-Tohoku Shimokita/Eastern Iwate Peripheral Izumo Innovative Izumo-Tohoku Tohoku Central Izumo Kyushu-Ryukyu Northeastern Kyushu Southeastern Kyushu Southwestern Kyushu-Ryukyu Western Kyushu South Kyushu-Ryukyu South Kyushu Ryukyuan
Japanese–Ryūkyū lexical comparison The first ten numbers. +EnglishInsular Proto-JaponicOld JapaneseJapanese (Kun'yomi)HachijōProto-RyukyuanOkinawanMiyakoanone*pitəpitötuhito(tsu)tetsu*pitotiːtɕipi̥tiitsɿtwo*putaputatufuta(tsu)ɸu̥tatsu*putataːtɕifu̥taatsɿthree*mi(t)mitumi(ttsu)mittsu*mimiːtɕimiitsɿfour*jəyötuyon(tsu)jottsu*yojuːtɕijuutsɿfive*itu, *etuitutuitsu(tsu)itsutsu*etuitɕitɕiitsɿtsɿsix*mu(t)mutumu(tsu)muttsu*mumuːtɕimmtsɿseven*nanananatunana(tsu)nanatsu*nanananatɕiːnanatsɿeight*jayatuya(tsu)jattsu*yajaːtɕijaatsɿnine*kəkənəkökönötukokono(tsu)kokonotsu*kokonokukunutɕiku̥kunutsɿten*təwətötōtou*towatuːtuu
References
Bibliography
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