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Paper short abstract

This talk will cover the key findings from the grammar, including how to parse the verb classes into C-final and hybrid and how diachronic shift has led to GNRL vs. INCL opposition among other phenomena in the language. The future of the island, people, and their language will also be discussed.

Paper long abstract

At the southern tip of Japan, 70 kilometers from Taiwan and six kilometers off the shores of Iriomote island lies a small garden of Eden where only the Panari people are allowed to visit. What Bushin Asato on the closing of the lone elementary school in 1975 called “the abandonment of our ancestors”, occurred over the course of 80 years. The population dropped from 500 residents in 1930 to the six officially registered today. The island is now pristine and tourism free and its choral-rock Gusuku walls make it one of the most beautiful places in the Yaeyaman Archipelago. However, following the 'Panari Incident' upon the reports of Sumiya et al. (1974), the people remain highly suspicious of researchers and have maintained a strict no outsiders policy.

Out of great fortune, the author over the last four years, has had the opportunity to slowly befriend and gain the trust of these people culminating in lexicon and a grammar sketch of the language. This talk will cover the key findings from the grammar. These include how to parse the verb classes into C-final and hybrid and how diachronic shift has affected opposition from EXCL vs. INCL to GNRL vs. INCL among other phenomena in the language. The peculiar function of the house-bound plural/polite pronominal suffix will also be investigated. The future of the island, people, and their language will also be discussed in the conclusion with a focus on diachronic change between full hearers and full speakers as all speaker numbers dwindle.

Key Words: Aragusuku-Uechi Yaeyaman, Japonic Languages, Verb Morphology, Clusivity, Language Endangerment, Fieldwork Methodology