Okinoerabu dialects are classified into two groups:
Eastern Okinoerabu
Western Okinoerabu
The linguistic boundary between Eastern and Western Okinoerabu roughly corresponds to the administrative boundary between Wadomari (east) and China (west). In addition, the eastern community of Kunigami (part of Eastern Okinoerabu and not to be confused with Northern Okinawa) is known for sporadically retaining a centralized vowel, which is a characteristic of Northern Amami. For example, [nɨː] ("root", Standard Japanese /ne/) is contrasted with [niː] ("loads", Standard Japanese /ni/). The northwestern community of Tamina (part of Western Okinoerabu) has a distinctive accentual system.
Folk terminology
Takahashi Takayo (b. 1967), a cultural anthropologist from the island, stated that the language of each community or the island as a whole was called shimamuni. Each language variety within the island had distinctive characteristics. The language of the community of Kunigami on the island, for example, was referred to as Kunigami-bushi. It retained mutually intelligibility with the languages of the island's other communities. It is said that Okinoerabu was mutually unintelligible with neighboring Yoron and Tokunoshima.[2]
Phonology
Eastern Okinoerabu
The following is the phonology of the Wadomari dialect (part of Eastern Okinoerabu), which is based on Hirayama et al. (1986).[3]
As with most Ryukyuan languages to the north of Central Okinawan, stops are described as "plain" C’ and "glottalized" C‘. Phonetically, the two series are lightly aspirated [Cʰ] and tenuis[C˭], respectively.[4]
The zero onset /'/ may be added. It contrasts with glottal /h/ and /ʔ/. A minimal pair is /ʔiː/[ʔiː] ("stomach"), /hiː/[çiː] ("day") and /'iː/[iː] ("soft rush").
"Tense" /k˭/, /t˭/ and /t͡ʃ˭/ are in process of merging into "plain" /kʰ/, /tʰ/ and /t͡ʃʰ/, respectively.
/h/ is [ç] before /i/ and /j/, and [ɸ] before /u/ and /w/.
/pʰ/ is new and infrequent.
/si/ and /t͡ʃʰu/ are realized as [ʃi] and [t͡sʰu], respectively.
/dz/ is [d͡ʒ] before /i/ and /j/, and [d͡z] elsewhere.
[ʃa], [ʃu] and [ʃo] are phonemically analyzed as /sja/, /sju/ and /sjo/, respectively.
[t͡ʃʰa], [t͡ʃʰu] and [t͡ʃʰo] are phonemically analyzed as /t͡ʃʰja/, /t͡ʃʰju/ and /t͡ʃʰjo/, respectively.
[t͡ʃa], [t͡ʃu] and [t͡ʃo] are phonemically analyzed as /t͡ʃ˭ja/, /t͡ʃ˭ju/ and /t͡ʃ˭jo/, respectively.
Vowels
Eastern Okinoerabu has /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/ and /u/, long and short.
Eastern Okinoerabu /e/ and /o/ are of secondary origin and mostly correspond to Standard Japanese diphthongs.
Standard Japanese /t͡ʃu/, /su/ and /zu/ correspond to /t͡ʃʰi/[t͡ʃʰi], /si/[ʃi] and /dzi/[dʒi].
Standard Japanese /k/ corresponds to /h/ by default. Japanese /ki/ and /ku/ are usually /kʰ/ in Eastern Okinoerabu, but some words have /t͡ʃʰi/ for Standard Japanese /ki/. Reflexes in /k˭/ is occasionally found as well.
Historical /r/ is dropped when it appears between any vowel and /i/.
/kʰ/ and /g/ palatalized before /i/. Standard Japanese /ki/ and /gi/ correspond to Eastern Okinoerabu /t͡ʃʰi/ and /dzi/.
Standard Japanese /ke/ corresponds to /hi/ in the word-initial position and to /kʰi/ elsewhere.
The fusion of consecutive morae resulted in the glottalized and 'tense' consonants in Eastern Okinoerabu.
Western Okinoerabu
The following is the phonology of the China dialect (part of Western Okinoerabu), which is based on Hirayama et al. (1986).[3]
^Takahashi Takayo 高橋孝代 (2006). "Okinoerabu-jima no gaikan 沖永良部島の概観". Kyōkaisei no jinruigaku 境界性の人類学 (in Japanese). pp. 65–111.
^ abHirayama Teruo 平山輝男, ed. (1986). Amami hōgen kiso goi no kenkyū 奄美方言基礎語彙の研究 (in Japanese).
^Samuel E. Martin (1970) "Shodon: A Dialect of the Northern Ryukyus", in the Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 90, no. 1 (Jan–Mar), pp. 97–139.
^Hirayama Teruo 平山輝男, Ōshima Ichirō 大島一郎 and Nakamoto Masachie 中本正智 (1969). "Gengo 言語". In Hirayama Teruo 平山輝男 (ed.). Satsunan shotō no sōgōteki kenkyū 薩南諸島の総合的研究 (in Japanese). pp. 235–478.
