An investigation of the Miyako-Yaeyama dialects in Okinawa

从2002年开始，我连续两年获得了一项名为冲绳矢山-宫古地区白话研究的提案的研究资助。根据我最初的计划，我分别在2002年和2003年对矢野县的黑岛区和宫古县的栗岛区进行了一项全面的语音-共轭-特殊研究。由于我的现场研究涉及70岁或70多岁的S或更老的目标语言使用者，我相信收集的数据将密切反映当今最纯粹的原始语言。在目标方言中观察到的一些显著特征是元音和辅音的变化，就像栗岛地区的i和e以及宫古和八山地区的w和b之间的情况一样。鉴于几乎没有采取任何全面的方法来解释辅音转换这样的现象，这只是我通过研究获得的众多见解之一，我相信未来需要对这个问题进行更详细的阐述。已经使用了数百年的地区方言现在正迅速在当地居民中失去影响力，部分原因是标准日语占压倒性优势。它们需要被记录和保存，这一直是我从事我两年项目的优先事项。我的研究结果将于2004年3月发表。

I received a research grant on a proposal entitled Vernacular Studies on the Yaeyama-Miyako Regions of Okinawa for two consecutive years, starting in 2002. According to my initial plan, I conducted a comprehensive phonetico-conjugational-particular study of the Kuroshima district of Yaeyame and Kurima district of Miyako in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Since my on-site study involved actual speakers of the target vernaculars who are in their 70's or older, I am confident that the data gathered are those which closely reflect the purest original language possible today. Some notable features observed in the target vernaculars are vowel and consonant shifts, as is the case between i and e in the Kurima district and w and b in both Miyako and Yaeyama Regions. Seeing that barely any comprehensive approach has been taken to elucidate a phenomenon such as the consonant shift, which is merely one of the numerous insights I gained through my research, I am convinced that more detailed elaboration on the issue needs to be undertaken in the future. The regional dialects that have been in use for hundreds of years are now fast losing their currency among local populations, partly because of the overwhelming predominance of the standard Japanese. They need to be recorded and preserved and that has been my priority in pursuing my two-year project. The result of my research will be published in March, 2004.