A Fundamental Study of Yaeyama Dialects of the Ryukyuan language from the Perspective of Comparative-Historical Dialectology

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I have collected Shiraho dialect data in Shiraho, Ishigaki, and pursued a comparative study of Shiraho and Hateruma dialects of Yaeyama Ryukyuan. It took me three years to complete this project. The project especially focuses on diachronic changes of vowels and consonants in both dialects.Many of the features shared by both dialects are inherited from proto-Hateruma-Shiraho. However, not all common features are due to the inheritance. For instance, the word-final N is seen in both Hateruma and Shiraha dialects. However, my investigation has shown that it is not inherited from proto-Hateruma-Shiraho. Rather it is an innovation in both lines after splitting from their proto-form.Another interesting phenomenon seen in both dialects is metathesis. On the basis of my analysis, the metatheses discussed in this paper are also an innovation.I have concluded that a proto-Hateruma-Shiraho adjectival ending form is ^*-haN. In modern Hateruma and Shiraho dialects some adjectives end in -saN and -sahaN. However, they are due to the influence of neighbor dialects, even though as it is said that grammatical features are not easily borrowed. In this paper it is pointed out that adjectival endings are one of the key features that help us subgrouping dialects within Yaeyama and Miyako Ryukyuan.