Kikai language

The Kikai language is spoken on Kikai Island, Kagoshima Prefecture of southwestern Japan. It is debated whether it is a single dialect cluster. Regardless, all Kikai dialects are members of the Amami–Okinawan languages, which are part of the Japonic languages.

Kikai
Native toJapan
RegionKikai Island of the Amami Islands, Kagoshima Prefecture
Native speakers
13,000 (2000)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3kzg
Glottologkika1239

Classification
Main article: Amami–Okinawan languages § Internal classification

The classification of Kikai is disputed. Some even dispute the existence of the Kikai cluster.

The languages of the Amami Islands can be divided into the conservative northern group (Northern Amami Ōshima, Southern Amami Ōshima and Tokunoshima) and the innovative southern group (Okinoerabu and Yoron, which are sometimes considered dialects of Kunigami[2]). The problem here is which Kikai belongs to.

It has been noted that northern communities of Kikai are phonologically more conservative and show some similarity to Amami Ōshima and Tokunoshima while the rest of the island is closer to Southern Amami. For example, Northern Kikai retains seven vowels, /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/, /ɨ/ and /ɘ/ while South–Central Kikai only has five vowels. /k/ is palatalized into /t͡ɕ/ before /i/ in South–Central Kikai but not in Northern Kikai.

For this reason, Nakamoto (1976)[3] disassembled Kikai into two:

Amami dialect
Northern Amami dialect
 

Northern Amami Ōshima

 
 

Southern Amami Ōshima

 
 

Northern Kikai

 
 
Southern Amami dialect
 

Southern Kikai

 
 

Okinoerabu

 
 

Yoron

 
 
 

By contrast, Karimata (2000) tentatively supported the Kikai cluster in consideration of other shared phonological features.[4] Lawrence (2011) argued that lexical evidence supported the Kikai cluster although he refrained from determining its phylogenetic relationship with other Amami dialects.[5]

Pellard (2018) presented a drastically different classification. Based on the irregular sound change *kaja>gja for thatch, he grouped Tokunoshima, Okinoerabu, and Yoron into a clade, and treated Amami Ōshima, Kikai, and the resultant clade as the primary branches of Amami.[6]

Amami
 

Ōshima

 
 

Kikai

 
 
 

Tokunoshima

 
 

Okinoerabu

 
 

Yoron

 
 
 

Internal classification

There are 33 local communities on Kikai Island. Despite being a small, flat island, Kikai shows considerable variations in lexicon, phonology and morphology. The languages on the island are mutually intelligible. The northern communities of Onotsu, Shitooke (and Sateku) are phonologically more conservative than the rest of the island.[7]

Folk terminology

Iwakura Ichirō (1904–1943), a folklorist from Aden, stated that a language of Kikai Island was called /simajumita/ in the language of Aden.[8]

Phonology

The following is the phonology of the Onotsu dialect, which is based on Shirata (2013b).[7]

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 aspirated [Cʰ] and tenuis [C˭], respectively.[9]

Consonants
Consonant phonemes
Bilabial Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n  ŋ 
Stop pʰ(p˭)b tʰt˭d kʰk˭ɡ
Affricate t͡sʰ
Fricative sz h
Approximant j w
Flap ɾ

Vowels

According to Shirata (2013b), Onotsu dialect has /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/ and /u/. In more conventional interpretations, two more vowels /ɨ/ and /ɘ/ are added.[10] Following Hattori (1999), Shirata analyzes conventional /Ci/ and /Cɨ/ as /Cji/ and /Ci/, respectively. Similarly, /Ce/ and /Cɘ/ are interpreted as /Cje/ and /Ce/.[11]

South–Central Kikai

The following is the phonology of the Kamikatetsu dialect, which is based on Shirata (2013a).[12]

Consonants
Consonant phonemes
Bilabial Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n  ŋ 
Stop (p˭)b tʰt˭d kʰk˭ɡ
Affricate (t͡sʰ) t͡ɕʰ(ʑ)
Fricative sz h
Approximant j w
Flap ɾ

Vowels

Kamikatetsu has /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/ and /u/.

References
  1. Kikai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Michinori Shimoji, Patrick Heinrich, Shinsho Miyara (2015). Handbook of the Ryukyuan Languages History, Structure, and Use. De Gruyter Mouton. p. 375.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  3. Nakamoto Masachie 中本正智 (1976). Ryūkyū hōgen on'in no kenkyū 琉球方言音韻の研究 (in Japanese).
  4. Karimata Shigehisa 狩俣繁久 (2000). "Amami Okinawa hōgengun ni okeru Okinoerabu hōgen no ichizuke" 奄美沖縄方言群における沖永良部方言の位置づけ [Position of Okierabu Dialect in Northern Ryukyu Dialects]. Nihon Tōyō bunka ronshū [ja:日本東洋文化論集] (in Japanese) (6): 43–69.
  5. Wayne Lawrence (2011). "Kikai-jima hōgen no keitōteki ichi ni tsuite" 喜界島方言の系統的位置について. In Kibe Nobuko; et al. (eds.). Shōmetsu kiki hōgen no chōsa hozon no tame no sōgōteki kenkyū: Kikai-jima hōgen chōsa hōkokusho 消滅危機方言の調査・保存のための総合的研究: 喜界島方言調査報告書 [General Study for Research and Conservation of Endangered Dialects in Japan: Research Report on the Kikaijima Dialects] (PDF) (in Japanese). pp. 115–122.
  6. Pellard, Thomas (2018). The comparative study of the Japonic languages (PDF). International Symposium: Approaches to endangered languages in Japan and Northeast Asia: Description, documentation and revitalization (Report).
  7. 白田理人 Shirata Rihito (2013). "Amami-go Kikai-jima Onotsu hōgen no danwa shiryō" 奄美語喜界島小野津方言の談話資料. In Takubo Yukinori 田窪行則 (ed.). Ryūkyū rettō no gengo to bunka 琉球列島の言語と文化 (in Japanese). pp. 259–290.
  8. Iwakura Ichirō 岩倉市郎 (1977) [1941]. Kikai-jima hōgen-shū 喜界島方言集 (in Japanese). p. 119.
  9. 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.
  10. Kibe Nobuko 木部暢子 (2011). "Kikai-jima hōgen no on'in" 喜界島方言の音韻. In Kibe Nobuko; et al. (eds.). Shōmetsu kiki hōgen no chōsa hozon no tame no sōgōteki kenkyū: Kikai-jima hōgen chōsa hōkokusho 消滅危機方言の調査・保存のための総合的研究: 喜界島方言調査報告書 [General Study for Research and Conservation of Endangered Dialects in Japan: Research Report on the Kikaijima Dialects] (PDF) (in Japanese). pp. 12–50.
  11. Hattori Shirō 服部四郎 (1999) [1958]. "Amami guntō no sho hōgen ni tsuite" 奄美群島の諸方言について. Nihongo no keitō 日本語の系統 (in Japanese). pp. 395–422.
  12. 白田理人 Shirata Rihito (2013). "Amami-go Kikai-jima Kamikatetsu hōgen no danwa shiryō" 奄美語喜界島上嘉鉄方言の談話資料. In Takubo Yukinori 田窪行則 (ed.). Ryūkyū rettō no gengo to bunka 琉球列島の言語と文化 (in Japanese). pp. 245–257.

Sources
  • Kikaijima hōgen-shū (1977[1941]) by Iwakura Ichirō. A dictionary for the author's home community, Aden, and a couple of other southern communities on Kikai Island of the Amami Islands.
  • Research Data on the Kikaijima Dialects Written in Kana (2012) edited by Ogawa Shinji. Contains basic vocabulary and sentences collected in nine communities of Kikai.
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