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

笔者搜集了石垣市白鹤县的白鹤方言资料，并对八谷山琉原的白鹤方言和夏特鲁方言进行了比较研究。我花了三年时间才完成这个项目。该项目特别关注两种方言中元音和辅音的历时变化。两种方言的许多共同特征都继承了原始的Hateruma-Shiraho。然而，并不是所有的共同特征都是由于继承。例如，在Hateruma和Shiraha方言中都可以看到词尾N。然而，我的调查表明，它不是从原始的Hateruma-Shiraho遗传的。相反，这是两种方言从原型中分离出来后的一种创新。另一个有趣的现象是变位。在我分析的基础上，本文讨论的元位也是一种创新。我得出的结论是，一个原始的Hateruma-Shiraho形容词结尾形式是^*-han。在现代Hateruma和Shiraho方言中，有些形容词以-San和-Sahan结尾。然而，它们是由于邻近方言的影响，尽管据说语法特征不容易被借用。本文指出，形容词词尾是帮助我们对八山和宫古琉原方言进行细分的关键特征之一。

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.