Wiktionary:About Yonaguni

This page deals with the considerations on Wiktionary for the Yonaguni language.

Phylogeny

Yonaguni is commonly cited as a part of the Southern Ryukyuan languages based on the sound change *w- > b-, which however is most likely areal. It is more probable that Yonaguni represents a first-order branch of Ryukyuan, descending from an early Okinawan area dialect (Thorpe (1983)).

One key innovation of Yonaguni is the shift of *y- to d- (via an intermediate palatal phase), evidenced by the native name of the island, Dunan.

Dialects

The default dialect in Yonaguni is Sonai. There is very little (if any) variation between the Sonai and Higawa dialects, but one notable difference is the pitch accent system.

However, if any other dialect is listed, please specify it with the parameter |a= of the {{IPA}} template.

Phonology

For more information on the phonology, see Yamada, Pellard and Shimoji (2015).

Vowels

The Yonaguni language has the primary vowels /i/, /u/, and /a/. The vowel /o/ can only be found in a few interjections, such as ど (do). The vowel /e/ also appears in very few interjections, and a loanword てんぷら (tenpura, “tempura”).

Consonants

The Yonaguni language differs between aspirated and unaspirated consonants in the initial position. In all other positions, it is always unaspirated.

Orthography

There is no general consensus for an orthographic system for Yonaguni languages. Sometimes, the language will be written in katakana. The typical Japanese linguistic tradition is to leave aspirated consonants unmarked, while unaspirated consonants are marked. Only in word-initial position can an aspirated consonant occur, otherwise it is always unaspirated.

If you spell the entry in kanji, be sure to either use the etymological spelling or the semantic spelling (e.g. 北 (nichi, “north”)).

The transliteration uses the standard modified Hepburn notation.

Prosody

A three-class distinction exists in the Sonai dialect of Yonaguni.

Monosyllables:

• A: Hː
• B: Lː
• C: Fː

Disyllables:

• A: HH
• B: LL
• C: LF

Trisyllables:

• A: HHH
• B: LLL
• C: LHF

In the Hikawa dialect of Yonaguni, class C has completely merged with class B (de Boer (2010:227).

Entries

The head should be {{yoi-head|pos}} (replace pos with any part-of-speech).

Making references

If you are making an entry on the Yonaguni language, it is highly recommended to cite the sources for the dictionaries. The template {{R:yoi:Dunanmunui Jiten}} can be used for the Sonai dialect. {{R:yoi:HDOBK 1987}} can also be used, especially when the word does not exist in such dictionary, but it does not specify the dialects for which the word appears in.