Phonology Okinawan language

1 phonology

1.1 vowels
1.2 consonants
1.3 correspondences japanese

phonology
vowels

the okinawan language has 5 vowels, of may long or short, though short vowels /e/ , /o/ considerably rare occur in few native okinawan words heavy syllables pattern /ceɴ/ or /coɴ/, such /meɴsoːɾeː/ mensooree welcome or /toɴɸaː/ tonfaa. close vowels /u/ , /uː/ rounded, rather compressed vowels of standard japanese. sixth vowel /ɨ/ posited in order explain why sequences containing historically raised /e/ fail trigger palatalization /i/: */te/ → /tɨː/ tii hand , */ti/ → /t͡ɕiː/ chii blood . acoustically, however, /ɨ/ pronounced no differently /i/, , distinction may because palatalization happened before vowel shift.

consonants

the okinawan language counts 20 distinctive segments shown in chart below, major allophones presented in parentheses.

the consonant can occur syllable coda archiphoneme //n//. many analyses treat additional phoneme /n/, though never contrasts /n/ or /m/.

the consonant system of okinawan language similar of standard japanese, present few differences on phonemic , allophonic level. namely, okinawan retains labialized consonants /kʷ/ , /ɡʷ/ lost in late middle japanese, possesses glottal stop /ʔ/, features voiceless bilabial fricative /ɸ/ distinct aspirate /h/, , has 2 distinctive affricates arose number of different sound processes. additionally, okinawan lacks major allophones [t͡s] , [d͡z] found in japanese, having historically fronted vowel /u/ /i/ after alveolars /t d s z/, consequently merging [t͡su] tsu [t͡ɕi] chi, [su] su [ɕi] shi, , both [d͡zu] , [zu] [d͡ʑi]. lacks /z/ distinctive phoneme, having merged /d͡ʑ/.

bilabial , glottal fricatives


the bilabial fricative /ɸ/ has been transcribed cluster /hw/, since, japanese, /h/ allophonically labializes [ɸ] before high vowel /u/, , /ɸ/ not occur before rounded vowel /o/. suggests overlap between /ɸ/ , /h/ exists, , contrast in front of other vowels can denoted through labialization. however, analysis fails take account of fact okinawan has not undergone diachronic change */p/ → /ɸ/ → */h/ in japanese, , suggested clusterization , labialization */hw/ unmotivated. consequently, existence of /ɸ/ must regarded independent of /h/, though 2 overlap. barring few words resulted former change, aspirate /h/ arose odd lenition of /k/ , /s/, words loaned other dialects. before glide /j/ , high vowel /i/, pronounced closer [ç], in japanese.




palatalization


the plosive consonants /t/ , /k/ historically palatalized , affricated /t͡ɕ/ before , following glide /j/ , high vowel /i/: */kiri/ → /t͡ɕiɾi/ chiri fog , , */k(i)jora/ → /t͡ɕuɾa/ chura- beautiful . change preceded vowel raising, instances /i/ arose */e/ did not trigger palatalization: */ke/ → /kiː/ kii hair . voiced counterparts /d/ , /ɡ/ underwent same effect, becoming /d͡ʑ/ under such conditions: */unaɡi/ → /ʔɴnad͡ʑi/ qnnaji eel , , */nokoɡiri/ → /nukud͡ʑiɾi/ nukujiri saw ; */kaɡeɴ/ → /kaɡiɴ/ kagin seasoning .


both /t/ , /d/ may or may not allophonically affricate before mid vowel /e/, though pronunciation increasingly rare. similarly, fricative consonant /s/ palatalizes [ɕ] before glide /j/ , vowel /i/, including when /i/ historically derives /e/: */sekai/ → [ɕikeː] shikee world . may palatalize before vowel /e/, in context of topicalization: [duɕi] dushi → [duɕeː] dusee or dushee (topic) friend .


in general, sequences containing palatal consonant /j/ relatively rare , tend exhibit depalatalization. example, /mj/ tends merge /n/ ([mjaːku] myaaku → [naːku] naaku miyako ); */rj/ has merged /ɾ/ , /d/ (*/rjuː/ → /ɾuː/ ruu ~ /duː/ duu dragon ); , /sj/ has become /s/ (/sjui/ shui → /sui/ sui shuri ).




flapping , fortition


the voiced plosive /d/ , flap /ɾ/ tend merge, first becoming flap in word-medial position, , second becoming plosive in word-initial position. example, /ɾuː/ ruu dragon may strengthened /duː/ duu, , /hasidu/ hashidu door conversely flaps /hasiɾu/ hashiru. 2 sounds do, however, still remain distinct in number of words , verbal constructions.




glottal stop


okinawan features distinctive glottal stop /ʔ/ historically arose process of glottalization of word-initial vowels. hence, vowels in okinawan predictably glottalized @ beginning of words (*/ame/ → /ʔami/ ami rain ), save few exceptions. high vowel loss or assimilation following process created contrast glottalized approximants , nasal consonants. compare */uwa/ → /ʔwa/ qwa pig /wa/ wa , or */ine/ → /ʔɴni/ qnni rice plant */mune/ → /ɴni/ nni chest .




moraic nasal


the moraic nasal /n/ has been posited in descriptions of okinawan phonology. japanese, /n/ (transcribed using small capital /ɴ/) occupies full mora , precise place of articulation vary depending on following consonant. before other labial consonants, pronounced closer syllabic bilabial nasal [m̩], in /ʔɴma/ [ʔm̩ma] qmma horse . before velar , labiovelar consonants, pronounced syllabic velar nasal [ŋ̍], in /biɴɡata/ [biŋ̍ɡata] bingata, method of dying clothes. , before alveolar , alveolo-palatal consonants, becomes syllabic alveolar nasal /n̩/, in /kaɴda/ [kan̩da] kanda vine . elsewhere, exact realization remains unspecified, , may vary depending on first sound of next word or morpheme. in isolation , @ end of utterances, realized velar nasal [ŋ̍].

correspondences japanese

there sort of formula ryukyuanizing japanese words: turning e i, ki chi, gi ji, o u, , -awa -aa. formula fits transliteration of okinawa uchinaa , has been noted evidence okinawan dialect of japanese, not explain unrelated words such arigatō , nifeedeebiru (for thank ).