The Language of the Old-Okinawan Omoro Sōshi

Reference Grammar, with Textual Selections
Erscheinungsjahr 2021
ISBN: 978-90-04-41469-3
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Japanisch, Band 21, 426 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 236 mm, Gewicht: 748 g

Reihe: Languages of Asia

The Omoro Soshi (1531–1623) is an indispensable resource for historical linguistic comparison of Old Okinawan with other Ryukyuan languages and Old Japanese. Leon A Serafim and Rumiko Shinzato offer a reference grammar, including detailed phonological analyses, of the otherwise opaque and dense poetic/religious language of the Omoro Soshi.

Meshing Western linguistic insight with existing literary/linguistic work in Ryukyuan studies, and incorporating their own research on Modern Okinawan, the authors offer a grammar and phonology of the Omoro language, with selected (excerpts of) songs grammatically analyzed, phonologically reconstructed, translated, and annotated.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Serafim, Leon A

Shinzato, Rumiko

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Grammatik, Syntax, Morphologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Einzelne Sprachen & Sprachfamilien
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Historische & Vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft, Sprachtypologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

List of Figures and Tables

Abbreviations and Conventions

1 Introduction

1 What is the Omoro Soshi?

2 Types of omoro

3 Versions

4 Song Structure

5 Overview of the Omoro Language

2 Spelling System and Phonology

1 Introduction

2 Reconstruction Methodology

3 Suprasegmentals

4 Consonants

5 Processes

6 Meter in Omoros

7 The Question of External Evidence and Its Relation to That Presented Here

8 Coda

3 Lexicon

1 PJ Origin

2 Loans from MJ

3 Loans from Sino-Japanese

4 Loans from Korean

5 Origins Unknown

6 Mishogo (MO, Meanings Obscure)

4 Nominals

1 Nouns

2 Pronouns

3 Numerals

4 Nominal Prefixes

5 Nominal Suffixes

5 Adjectives

1 What is an Adjective?

2 Evolution of Adjectives

3 Functional Differences between/among Types

4 Functions as Modifiers, Predicates, or Noun Formatives

6 Verbs

1 Conjugation Types

2 History of Conjugational Merger: ra-gyo yodan-ka

3 Functional Split (mz)

4 Development of the Gerund

7 Auxiliaries

1 Passive/Exalting/Spontaneous -ari(·r)- ~ -uyi(·r)-

2 Causative/Exalting -as-

3 Negative -az? ~ -a? ~ -an-

4 Negative -adana

5 The Optative/Counterfactual Auxiliary -(a)masyi

6 Inference/Intention: -a?, -a, and -ami

7 Negative Inferential/Intentional -umazyi

8 Past -syi

9 Perfect -t°ar-, -c°yar-, -dar-, -?yar-

10 Emphatic Locative: -?ac°?r-u

11 Progressive: -ur-

12 Progressive/Perfective -yaaryi

13 Copula: -yar-, -nar-

14 The Exalting Auxiliary Verb -(u)wa·r/s-

15 Humilific Auxiliary -abir-

16 Humilific Auxiliary t?at°imac°?r-

References

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Leon A Serafim, Ph.D. (1984), Yale, was Associate Professor of Japanese at the University of Hawai‘i. He has published articles on Japonic (Ryukyuan and Japanese) (pre)history, and helped edit the Okinawan-English Wordbook and J/K 19. His current interests are, especially, grammaticalization and historical syntax.

Rumiko Shinzato, Ph.D. (1984), University of Hawai‘i, is Professor at Georgia Institute of Technology. She has published chapters/articles on aspect, evidentiality, subjectivity, grammaticalization and language maintenance. She and Leon A Serafim co-authored a book on Okinawan kakari musubi (Brill 2013).