Yoron language

The Yoron language (ユンヌフトゥバ Yunnu Futuba) is a dialect continuum spoken on Yoronjima in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan. It is one of the Northern Ryukyuan languages, which are a sub-branch within the Japonic language family. The language is one of the most endangered languages in all of Japan.

Yoron
ユンヌフトゥバ Yunnu Futuba
Native to	Japan
Region	Yoronjima within the Amami Islands, Kagoshima Prefecture
Native speakers	950 (2004)[1]
Language family	Japonic Ryukyuan Northern Ryukyuan Amami or Kunigami Yoron
Writing system	Japanese
Language codes
ISO 639-3	yox
Glottolog	yoro1243

Dialects

According to local folklorist Kiku Chiyo, Yoron dialects can be divided into three groups:^[2]

• Chabana
• Asato (/asi⸢tu/), Gusuku (/gusi⸢ku/ ～ /gusu⸢ku/), Ritchō, Kanō (/ha⸢noː/) and Nama (/naː⸢ma/)
• Mugiya-higashiku, Mugiya-nishiku and Furusato (/puru⸢satu/)

The Mugiya district is often considered to have a distinct form of accent and intonation.

Folk terminology

According to Kiku Hidenori, who leads conservation activities, people of Yoron Island, Kagoshima Prefecture call their language "Yunnu Futuba."^[3] More precisely, a dictionary compiled by his mother Kiku Chiyo (b. 1927) gives /junnuhu⸢tuba/ as the word form of her home community, Mugiya-higashiku. Other words she collected include /junnu⸢jun/ (Yoron accent), /nizjancju⸢jun/ (accent of people of Mugiya-higashiku and Mugiya-nishiku), /sima⸢jun/ (speaking the dialect), /sima⸢guci/ and /simahu⸢tuba/ (the island/home community's language).^[2] Yamada Minoru (b. 1916) provides the word forms of the community of Chabana: /⸢ju⸣nnu ⸢fu⸣tuba/ and /⸢ʃi⸣ma ⸢fu⸣tuba/ (the island's language).^[4]

Phonology

The following is the phonology of the Mugiya dialect, which is based on Hirayama et al. (1969).^[5]

Consonants

Consonant phonemes

	Bilabial		Alveolar		Post- alveolar		Palatal		Velar		Glottal		Moraic
Nasal		m		n									Q N
Stop	p	b	t	d					k	ɡ	ʔ
Affricate					t͡ʃ
Fricative			s	z							h
Approximant								j		w
Flap						r[clarification needed]

Notes

• The null onset /∅/ may be added. It contrasts with glottal /h/ and /ʔ/.
• /h/ is [ç] before /i/, and [ɸ] before /u/. /hwa/ is phonetically realized as [ɸa].
• /si/, /se/ and [t͡ʃu] is realized as [ʃi], [ʃe], and [t͡su], respectively.
• [t͡ʃa], [t͡ʃu] and [t͡ʃo] are phonemically analyzed as /t͡ʃja/, /t͡ʃju/ and /t͡ʃjo/, respectively.
• [ʃa], [ʃu] and [ʃo] are phonemically analyzed as /sja/, /sju/ and /sjo/, respectively.
• N and Q are syllable codas (nasal and geminated stop, respectively).

Vowels

The Yoron language has /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/ and /u/, long and short.

Correspondences to Standard Japanese

Only major sound correspondences are listed.

• Standard Japanese /e/ is merged into /i/.
• Standard Japanese /o/ is merged into /u/.
• Yoron /e/ and /o/ are of secondary or loanword origin and mostly correspond to Standard Japanese diphthongs.
• Yoron retains /p/ while it has changed to /h/ in Standard Japanese.
• Standard Japanese /t͡ʃu/, /su/ and /zu/ correspond to /t͡ʃi/ [t͡ʃi], /si/ [ʃi] and /zi/ [d͡ʒi].
• Standard Japanese /k/ shows complex correspondences. Standard Japanese /ka/ corresponds to both Yoron /ka/ and /ha/. /ki/ corresponds to /ki/ and /si/. /ke/ corresponds to /si/ with some exceptions. /ko/ corresponds to /hu/.
• In some words, Standard Japanese /ni/ corresponds to Yoron /mi/.
• Yoron /r/ is dropped when it is surrounded by a vowel and /i/.
• Standard Japanese /o/ that comes from earlier /wo/ corresponds to Yoron /hu/.

Resources

• Yorontō-go jiten (1995) by Yamada Minoru. The author is from Chabana, Yoron Island of the Amami Islands but also collected data from other communities on the island.
• Yoron hōgen jiten (2005) by Kiku Chiyo and Takahashi Toshizō. A dictionary for Kiku's home community, Mugiya-higashiku, Yoron Island of the Amami Islands.