RESEARCH IN LINGUISTIC GEOGRAPHY OF AMAMI ISLANDS

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The aim of this study is three-fold: (1) To investigate the basic vocabulary of the dialect of every traditional village found on Amami Islands using the methods of linguistic geography; (2) thereby, to characterize each of the dialects in its phonology, lexicon, and grammar; and (3) to investigate the processes of birth, development and change of the dialects. During the three Years of the project, field research was carried out over three areas of Amami Islands: (1) The Setouchi area including Kakeroma-shima, Uke-shima, Yoro-shima, (2) Toku-no-shima, and (3) Okierabu-shima. Parts of the research results have been reported in the form of a list of cognate words of the dialects and in the form of a linguistic atlas.This study concludes the investigation of linguistic geography of all Amami Islands; for the other areas--Kikai-shima, Northern Amami-Oshima, and Yoron-shima--had been investigated under the GRANT- IN-AID-FOR-SCIENTIFIC-RESEARCH PROJECT granted by Ministry of Education for 1983-85, titled "Research in Linguistic Geography of the Basic Vocabulary of the Ryukyuan Dialects." The completion of this study, "RESEARCH IN LINGUISTIC GEOGRAPHY OF AMAMI ISLANDS," also marks approximately 80% completion of the more comprehensive study of the same kind covering more than 800 dialects over the entire chain of Ryukyu Islands, which the investigators of this study have been conducting.Major findings of this study are: (1) The Setouchi area, despite its complex topography constitutes one unique dialect area (Southern Amami-Oshima Dialect). This is considered to be due to the convenience in transportation made possible by the calm inland sea. (2) Toku-no-shima and Okierabu-shima constitute two distinct dialect areas, showing unique characteristics respectively. (3) Each of the three dialect areas also differs from and contrasts with the other dialect areas of Amami Islands, namely, Kikai-shima, Northern Amami-Oshima to the north and Yoron-shima to the south.