Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

In this paper, the development of Proto-Japonic *r in Sakishima will be discussed. Two symmetrical rules will be posited: flap deletion rule, whereby *r got deleted if followed by *i or *u, and flap assimilation rule, whereby *r preceded by *i or *u assimilated with an adjacent consonant.

Paper long abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss the development of Proto-Japonic (PJ) *r in Sakishima languages by focusing on the following rules: the flap deletion rule (FDR) and the flap assimilation rule (FAR).

FDR takes place in settings corresponding to Japanese (JP) __ri and, although with less evidence and apparently more complicated conditioning, Japanese __ru. It has been tentatively postulated to reflect PJ *r + close vowel sequences. *r has been found to be deleted in such settings in Miyakoan (MI) and Yonaguni/Dunan (DN): Japanese (JP) hidari = MI psdaz 'left', DN ndai; Old JP agari = MI agaz, DN aŋai 'east'. Since the deletion or lenition of *r before /i/ is also evidenced in Shuri (fidʑai 'left') and in Kagoshima (hidaji), it would appear like an innovation that took place already at a Proto-Kyushu-Ryukyuan stage. The evidence from most Yaeyama regiolects, however, which usually retain *r in this setting, argues to the contrary: Ishigaki (IS) pɨdarɨ, Kuro (KU) pizarɨ, Hateruma (HT) pinari 'left'. The retention of *r in Yaeyama therefore implies that its deletion or lenition elsewhere was an independent innovation.

FAR involves settings corresponding to Japanese Cir__ and Cur__, which makes them symmetrical with the FDR settings. With FAR, the close vowel immediately preceding *r gets deleted, and *r appears to be assimilated with an adjacent consonant. Variants of this rule can be observed in a number of environments in all examined Sakishima ethnolects: JP shirami = MI ssam, IS ssaŋ, DN Ɂtsaːŋ 'louse'; JP abura = MI avva, IS aba, DN anda 'grease, fat'; JP kura- = MI ffa-, IS ffa-, DN dwa- 'dark', while it is not consistently evidenced in North Ryukyuan, and not at all in Kagoshima. Therefore, it is believed that the activation of FAR in some shape can be posited for the Proto-Sakishima stage, although its specific conditioning and development may differ in particular daughter languages.

Both *r-related rules are expected to deepen one's understanding of the history of southern Japonic regiolects. Furthermore, such deletion or assimilation-prone characteristics of Japonic /r/ could be examined in different settings and for different language groups.

Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

The past negative in -(a)nanda is widely attested since the 15th century, but no consensus has ever been reached concerning its etymology. Refuting most previous proposals, we will suggest an origin involving a doubled negative suffix -(a)n- and provide corroborating evidence for such a solution.

Paper long abstract

The past negative in -(a)nanda is widely attested since at least the 15th century and is likewise observed dialectally up to the present day. When it comes to the etymology of this Middle Japanese development, however, no consensus has ever been reached among scholars. Yet, even if "the details of the composition of the form are" thus still deemed "entirely unclear" (Frellesvig 2010 [A History of the Japanese Language]: 336), this is certainly not due to a lack of proposals as to its derivation. In the present paper we will review the more than half a dozen such proposals put forward since the early 20th century by scholars such as Shinmura Izuru, Tokuda Kiyoshi, Hamada Atsushi etc. and refute the majority of them on various grounds: be they chronological, dialectological, morphosyntactic, phonological or sociolinguistic ones. None of the problems the other proposals suffer from occur when we simply assume an etymology involving (besides the obvious past -ta) the negative suffix -(a)n-, however twice, unlike in the functionally identical and dialectally attested -(a)nda with single -(a)n-. In support of this view we will offer a phonologically motivated explanation based on the immediate historical precursor of -(a)nda as well as a variety of parallel cases of what historically appear to be double negatives, double causatives and double passives, ranging from pre-Old Japanese formations (such as causative -(a)sim-) to recent developments in the spoken language (e.g. the so-called sa-ire-kotoba). In terms of its formation, we will argue, -(a)nanda thus ain't not alone at all in the history of the Japanese language.

Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

This paper will attempt to analyze "eastern Altaic languages" (Japanese, Korean, Tungusic) as a language area using approaches from comparative linguistics and linguistic typology.

Paper long abstract

This paper will attempt to analyze "eastern Altaic languages" as a language area. The term "Eastern Altaic languages" here is being used as a shorthand for Japanese or more precisely Japonic, Korean, and Tungusic in general, although this paper will focus mostly on Manchu and its dialect Sibe. This paper will be mostly diachronic in its approach, drawing both on the earliest attested phases of analyzed languages and on their modern forms. Although there have been many attempts to link the "Altaic languages" with each other, mostly they attempted to link these languages genealogically. However, this paper will approach this topic from a different angle. It will attempt to find different layers of contact induced features shared among analyzed languages. This paper will not be dealing with presumed lexical similarities, it will focus predominantly on morphosyntax. Various approaches from comparative linguistics and linguistic typology will be used, both traditional comparative methods, and newer ones, such as semantic maps.