(95) nuu = ba = ga tu-jur-u ?
what = ACC = FOC take-IPFV-FOC.WHQ
'What will (you) take?'

8.1.3 Imperative clause

An imperative clause takes either -i (IMP) or -na (PROH).

(96) a. kuri = ba tur-i !
this = ACC take-IMP
'Take this!' (imperative)

b. kuri = ba tun-na !
this = ACC take-PROH
'Don't take this!' (prohibitive)

8.2 Equation, proper inclusion, location and possession

8.2.1 Equation and proper inclusion

An equative clause expresses that the subject of the clause is equal to the en-
tity indicated by the nominal predicate, e.g., *He is my father*. Proper inclusion
indicates the subject of the clause is a member of the referent of a nominal
predicate, e.g. *he is a teacher* (see also *Payne 1997*). Yuwan has no grammatical
distinction between the two notions. In both cases, the subjects have the same
case marker, i.e. nominative case.

(97) a. **agga** waa ?cjan
that.person.NOM my father
‘That person is my father.’ (equation)

b. agga sjensjee
that.person.NOM teacher
‘That person is a teacher.’ (proper inclusion)

8.2.2 Location and possession

Location (98a) and possession (98b) are expressed by the same construction in
Yuwan, with a locative case marker and an existential verb.

(98) a. jamməə = nan = nja wututu = nu wu-i
       garden = LOC1 = TOP younger.sibling = NOM exist-NPST
       ‘There is a younger sibling in the garden.’
b. wan=nan=nja wututu=nu wu-i
1SG=LOC1=TOP younger.sibling=NOM exist-NPST

‘I have a younger sibling.’ (lit. ‘There is a younger sibling at me.’)

## 8.3 Negation

Negation is expressed morphologically and/or analytically. The negation of a verb is expressed by a negative inflection as in (99a); on the other hand, the negation of the existence of an inanimate referent is expressed by a negative existential verb with a negative inflection as in (99b).

(99) a. wan=na ikj-an=doo
1SG=TOP go-NEG.NPST=EMP
‘I won’t go.’

b. səə=ja nə-n
alcohol=TOP not.exist-NEG.NPST

‘There is not any alcohol.’

## 8.4 Valency-changing operations

Yuwan has three valency-changing operations: causative, passive and malefac- tive.

### 8.4.1 Causative

Causative voice is expressed by the suffix -as, which introduces a causer with a nominative case marker, and a causee with a dative case marker. As can be seen below, the original subject marked by =ga (NOM) in the sentence of a non-derivational verbal predicate becomes an indirect object marked by =n (DAT), and a new subject marked by =ga (NOM) is introduced.

(100) a. akira=ga hon=ba ju-da
Akira=NOM book=ACC read-PST
‘Akira read a book.’

b. wan=ga akira=n hon=ba jum-a-cja
1SG=NOM Akira=DAT book=ACC read-CAUS-PST

‘I made Akira read a book.’

### 8.4.2 Passive

Passive voice is expressed by the suffix -ar(ir), which introduces an actor with a dative case marker, and an undergoer with a nominative case marker. As can be seen below, the original subject marked by =ga (NOM) in the sentence of
a non-derivational verbal predicate becomes an indirect object marked by =n (DAT), and the original direct object marked by =ba (ACC) becomes a subject marked by =ga (NOM).

(101) a. zjuu=ga akira=ba uc-cja
father=NOM Akira=ACC hit-PST
'The father hit Akira.'

b. akira = ga zju = n ut-at-ta
Akira = NOM father = DAT hit-PASS-PST
'Akira was hit by the father.'

8.4.3 Malefactive

The malefactive (Shimoji 2008a) is marked by the suffix -ar(ìr) (which is for-
mally identical with the passive). It introduces a malefactee with a nominative
case marker (although it is replaced by a topic marker in the following ex-
ample), and a malefactor with a dative case marker. As explained by Shimoji
(2008a: 256), the verb's valency increases in the malefactive (with introduction
of a malefactee), which is the major difference with the passive.

(102) a. ami=nu hu-ta
rain=NOM fall-PST
'It rained.' (lit. 'rain fell')

b. wan=na ami=n hur-at-ta
1SG=TOP rain=DAT fall-MAL-PST
'I was bothered by the rain (that) fell.'

8.5 Tense, aspect and mood

8.5.1 Tense

Yuwan has a non-past/past opposition in tense, which is marked by verbal inflections.

(103) a. wan=ga kak-ju-i
1SG=NOM write-IPFV-NPST
'I will write (it).'

b. wan = ga ka-cja
1SG = NOM write-PST
'I wrote (it).'
### 8.5.2 Aspect

Aspect in Yuwan is expressed morphologically or analytically.

(104) a. *akira=ga zii=ba kak-ju-i*
Akira = NOM character = ACC write-IPFV-NPST
'Akira writes/is writing characters.'

b. *akira=ga zii=ba ka-cju-i*
Akira = NOM character = ACC write-PROG-NPST
'Akira is writing characters.'

c. *ama=nan zii=nu ka-cjə-i*
that place = LOC1 character = NOM write-RES-NPST
'Characters are written there.'

It is worth noting that in the resultative aspect (104c), the actor role is not expressed. Only the undergoer is expressed and takes a nominative case marker.

An analytic means to express aspect is to use auxiliary verbs as in (105a), or compounding as in (105b), or by an adverb derived from a reduplication of a verbal root as in (105c).

(105) a. *ama=nan zii=ba ka-cji nnj-i!*
that place = LOC1 character = ACC write-MED try.to-IMP
‘(Why don’t you) try to write characters there!’

b. *uroo zii=ba kak-j+agir-i=joo*
2SG.NHON.TOP characters = ACC write-SE + raise-IMP = CNF1
‘You write all the characters, right?’

c. *nasi=ba ukkaci iri+iri sju-i*
pear = ACC that ALL1 RED + put in do.PROG -NPST
‘(He) is putting the pears into that again and again.’

### 8.5.3 Mood and modality

In Yuwan, modality is expressed by an inflectional suffix, a modal clitic, or an adverb. The first example includes the modal affix -mai, which expresses obligation, the second example the modal clitic = daroo, which expresses supposition, and the third example the modal adverb abinəə, which can express an irrealis mood. This adverb has to co-occur with a verb taking the affix -jur (IPFV).

(106) a. *wan=na kun hon=ba jum-mai=doo*
1SG=TOP this book = ACC read-OBL=EMP
‘I have to read this book.’ (obligation)
b. **akiroo** *an hon=na jum-an=daroo*
Akira.TOP that book=TOP read-NEG=SUPP

'(I) suppose that Akira will not read that book.' (supposition)

c. **abinəə an hon=ba jum-ju-tan** **mun=doo**
IRLS that book=ACC read-IPFV-PST.ADN thing=EMP

'(I) was about to read that book (but I did not read it).' (irrealis)

## 8.6 Information structure

In this section, two types of constructions relevant to information structure are described: topicalization and focus construction.

### 8.6.1 Topicalization

The term *topic* is here used in the following meaning: “the topic of a sentence is the thing which the proposition expressed by the sentence IS ABOUT” (Lam-brecht 1994: 118). Yuwan has a clitic that marks an information as topical. The following example is taken from a conversation between two persons.

(107) a. **A: uroo taruu?**
2SG.NHON.TOP who
‘Who (are) you?’ (lit. ‘About you, who (is it)?’)

b. **B: wan=na akira=doo**
1SG=TOP Akira=EMP

‘I am Akira.’ (lit. ‘About me, (it is) Akira’)

### 8.6.2 Focus construction

The term *focus* here refers to the point of emphasis. Focus is marked by the clitic = *du* in declarative clauses.

(108) **mura-təə ar-an=doo. ko-i=du sji=doo**
receive-MED.TOP COP-NEG.NPST=EMP buy-NLZ=FOC do.MED=EMP
‘(I) have not received (it). (But I) did buy (it).’ (declarative)

Moreover, = *du* can mark a focused argument in a yes-no interrogative clause, as in (109); on the other hand, = *ga* marks a focused interrogative word in a wh-question interrogative clause, as in (110) (see §7.4 for details).

(109) **uroo kun hon=ba=du jum-jur-ui?**
2SG.NHON.TOP this book=ACC=FOC read-IPFV-FOC.YNQ
‘Will you read this book?’ (yes-no question)
(110) uroo diru=ba=ga jum-jur-u ?
2SG.NHON.TOP which = ACC = FOC read-IPFV-NPST.WHQ
'Which one will you read?' (wh-question)

The other inflections do not take any focus clitics, although -mai (OBL) can appear with =du, e.g. kun hon=ba=du jum-mai=doo (this book=ACC=FOC read-OBL=EMP) '(I) have to read this book'.

9 The complex sentence

This chapter describes complex clause structures, noting three major clause linkage types: (1) coordination, (2) clause chaining, and (3) subordination.

9.1 Overview of complex clause structure

In Yuwan, coordination is marked by a conjunction clitic or by a simple juxtaposition. Clause-chaining consists of a series of non-finite, medial clauses followed by a finite clause. Subordination falls into adverbial subordination (where the subordinate clause functions as a predicate adjunct), adnominal subordination (where the subordinate clause functions as an adnominal), and complementation (where the subordinate clause functions as an argument).

9.2 Coordination

Coordination links two main clauses. Yuwan has a conjunction clitic which is
used in verbal predicate in negative clauses, as in (111). A simple juxtaposition
is used to link two clauses that include PC nominals as predicates, as in (112).

(111) hon=ba jum-an=sjuti, asi-du-ta
book=ACC read-NEG-MED=and play-PROG-PST
'(He) did not read any books, and was playing.'

(112) tin=na taa-sa, un=na huka-sa
sky=TOP high-NLZ sea=TOP deep-NLZ
'The sky is high, and the sea is deep.'

9.3 Clause-chaining

Clause chaining consists of a series of non-finite, medial clauses followed by a
finite clause. The verb in medial clauses, called a *medial verb*, does not exhibit
the non-past/past tense opposition.
(113) daiban + gii = nu a-ti, jinga = nu hasigo ki-ti, nasi = ba
big + tree = NOM exist-MED man = NOM ladder prop-MED pear = ACC
?tii ?tii mu-tu-n wake
one.CLF one.CLF pick.up-PROG-NPST.ADN DSC

‘There is a big tree, and a man props a ladder on (the tree), and (he) is picking up pears one by one.’

## 9.4 Subordination

### 9.4.1 Adverbial subordination

Yuwan expresses adverbial subordination (where the subordinate clause functions as a predicate adjunct) by an inflection (i.e. converb inflection), as in (114), or by a clitic, as in (115).

(114) kjuu = ja nikan = ba mur-an-ba, app-igja
today = TOP orange = ACC pick.up-NEG.NPST-because play-CVB.PUR
koo = joo
come.IMP = CNF1

‘(We) will not pick up oranges today, so come and play.’

(115) wan = na ik-ju-n = ban, uroo ik-ju-n = nja ?
1SG = TOP go-IPFV-NPST.ADN = although 2SG/TOP go-IPFV-NPST = YNQ
‘I will go but will you?’

### 9.4.2 Adnominal subordination

Yuwan expresses adnominal subordination (where the subordinate clause functions as an adnominal) by inflection (see §5.2.2.1).

(116) kurəə akira = ga ju-dan hon
this/top Akira = NOM read-PST.ADN book
‘This is a book that Akira read.’

### 9.4.3 Complementation

Yuwan expresses complementation (where the subordinate clause functions as an argument) through cliticics (see §7.2).

(117) uc-ju-n = ci ju-ta = jaa
hit-IPFV-NPST.ADN = QT say-PST = SLD

‘(He) said that (he was going to) hit (something).’
Sample text: the Pear story

(T.1) daiban + gïi = nu a-ti, jinga = nu hasigo kïi-ti, nasi = ba
big + tree = NOM exist-MED man = NOM ladder prop-MED pear = ACC
?tiï ?tiï mu-tu-n wake
one.CLF one.CLF pick.up-PROG-NPST.ADN DSC

'There is a big tree, and a man props a ladder on (the tree), and (he) is picking up pears one by one.'

(T.2) kïi = nu sja = nan = nja kago = nu ?taa-ci u-cju-ti,
tree = GEN under.part = LOC1 = TOP basket = GEN two-CLF put-PROG-MED
'(He) is putting two baskets under the tree, and'

(T.3) mu-ti (cjəəoo) un kago = kaci ziïsan = na
pick.up-MED ? that basket = ALL1 old.man = TOP
iri-tu-n wake
put.in-PROG-NPST.ADN DSC
'The old man picked (the pears) up, and put (them) into that basket.'

(T.4) hasigo = kara sji (un kun kun mak-i, naa,) ma-cju-n
ladder = ABL do.MED that this this roll-NLZ FIL roll-PROG-NPST.ADN
sankake = nkja = sji huk-jagacinaa, (ukkaci = du = bo)
triangle = APPR = INST wipe-CVB.SIM that.All1 = FOC = ?

'(He) did (it) from the ladder, and (he) is wiping (the pears) with the triangular (scarf) that (he) is wearing.'

(T.5) gan, (maga = n maga = mitai = na)
there grandchild = GEN grandchild = look like = GEN
(maga = micjai = na) maga = minsjan ?kwa = nu mi-cjai,
grandchild = look like = GEN grandchild = look like child = NOM three-CLF
e, ?cjui ?cji,
FIL one.CLF come.MED

'There are three children looking like grandchildren, ah (no!) a child came, and'

(T.6) kago = nu ?tïi ci-di ik-ju-n wake, zitensja = nan
basket = GEN one.CLF lift-MED go-IPFV-NPST.ADN DSC bicycle = LOC1
'(the child) lifted a basket onto the bicycle, and goes.'

(T.7) de cjuuto ik-i = njan zitensja hankəər-a-ci, kugər-a-ci,
and on.the.way go-NLZ = ? bicycle fall-CAUS-MED fall-CARS-MED
baramuk-a-sjan wake
scatter-CAUS-PST.ADN DSC

'And on the way (the child) made the bicycle fall, and made (the pears in the basket) scatter.'
(T.8) un toor-igakari = no san-nin = ga,
that pass-NLZ = GEN three-CLF = NOM

‘There are three passing people’ (spoken in Standard Japanese)

(T.9) toor-igakari = ci = nkjoo i-cja ik-an = jaa
pass-NLZ = QT = APPR.TOP say-PST correct-NEG = SOL

‘(It) is not correct to say something like ‘toorigakari’ (in Standard Japanese).’

(T.10) tuisina = ci = du. tuu-ju-n ?cju = nu wu-ti,
passing = QT = FOC pass-IPFV-NPST.ADN person = NOM exist-MED

‘(I have to say) ‘tuisina’. There was a person who is passing, and’

(T.11) un (mi-cjai tu) mi-cjai tuu-ti, (mi-cjai tuu-ti, ...)
that three-CLF ? three-CLF pass-MED three-CLF pass-MED
‘those three people passed.’

(T.12) hankəə-tə-n ?kwa = nu zitensja = ba huu-cji, mi-cjaa = sji
fall-RES-NPST.ADN child = GEN bicycle = ACC raise-MED three-CLF = INST
(kaz) kasjəə sji, kago = kaci iri-ju-n wake
? help do.PST basket = ALL1 put.in-IPFV-NPST.ADN DSC

‘(They) picked up the bicycle of the child who had fallen, and the three
helped (the child), and (they) put (the pears) into the basket.’

(T.13) iri-tu-n mi-cjai = ja wakari-ti, (seton)
put.in-PROG-NPST.ADN three-CLF = TOP part-MED ?

‘The three people who were putting (pears) in (the basket) parted, and’

(T.14) atoora hurikaep-poo,
after.ABL look.buck-CVB.CND

‘when (they) look back later,’

(T.15) un ?kwa = ga mada boosi utu-cjəə-tattu
that child = NOM still hat drop-RES-PST.because

‘because that child still had left (his) hat,’

(T.16) saki izjan mi-cjai = ja kondo mata isjoobiki hu-cji, un
ahead go.PST.ADN three-CLF = TOP this.time again whistle blow-MED that
?kwa = ba abi-ti
child = ACC call-MED

‘This time again, the three people who went ahead whistled, and called
that child.’

(T.17) zitensja = n nur-u-n ?kwa = ba abi-təəra, boosi
bicycle = DAT ride-SE-NPST.ADN child = ACC call-MED. after hat
wata-cji
hand.in-MED

‘After (they) called the child who rides on the bicycle, (they) handed
him the hat.’
(T.18) **(un cuide = ni ija)**
that opportunity = DAT no
'(At) that opportunity, no' (spoken in Standard Japanese)

(T.19) **gansjan tuki mata, joonasi = nu mii-ci (hora) mura-ti**
that time again pear = GEN three-CLF FIL receive-MED
**ccjaroo**
come.PST.SUPP
'At that time, again, (I) suppose (that they) received three pears.'

(T.20) **un mi-cjai mata (ka-ti) ka-ti ik-ju-n**
wake = jo
that three-CLF again eat-MED eat-MED go-IPFV-NPST.ADN DSC = EMP
'Again, those three people go, eating (the pears).'

(T.21) **sinni mata un mi-cjai = ja mudu-tu-i = nkja?cja**
then again that three-CLF = TOP return-PROG-NLZ = APPR come.PST
'Then those three people are returning again.'

(T.22) **(tta) ari tada uma (aik-ju-n) sanpo = sji?**
that.person.still that/place walk-IPFV-NPST.ADN walking = INST
**aik-ju-n?cju = nkja na-ti = daroo**
walk-IPFV-NPST.ADN person = APPR COP-MED = SUPP
'(I) suppose (that) that person is a kind of person who still walks there.'

(T.23) **ziisan = nu jukkadi mu-ti, sjaaci**
old.man = NOM throughout pick.up-MED below.All1
**urus-i + urus-i = du sup-pa**
unload-NLZ + unload-NLZ = FOC do-because
'Because the old man picked up (the pears) throughout, and unloaded (them) to the ground again and again,'

(T.24) **gan sini uma = kaci mata, hinzjaa suc-cju-n**
there then that/place = ALL1 again goat pull-PROG-NPST.ADN
**jinga = nu**
man = NOM
'Then a man who is pulling a goat, is there again,'

(T.25) **hinzjaa = nu ?tii suc-cju-n?cju = nu gan**
goat = GEN one.CLF pull-PROG-NPST.ADN person = NOM there
**?cjan = ci = joo**
come.PST.ADN = QT = EMP
'A person who is pulling a goat came there.'

(T.26) **hinzja = i sima + hinzja = i ar-an = ban**
goat = TOP(?) village + goat = TOP(?) COP-NEG = although
'Although the goat is not a goat of (our) village.'
(T.27) hinzjaa (cuuci naa) tuisuzi = du izjattu, mata ato = no

goat ? FIL passing = FOC go.PST.because again after = GEN

san-nin = ga mata mudu-ti ccjan = tu

three-CLF = NOM again return-MED come.PST.ADN = ?

‘Because the goat went and passed, the tree people behind returned and came (back) again.’

(T.28) un ?cju = nkjoo uma ai-cju-n

that person = APPR.TOP that place walk-PROG-NPST.ADN

?cju = nkja = daroo

person = APPR = SUPP

‘Those people (are supposed to be) the people who are walking there.’

(T.29) ni-du mata zitensja = nu ?kwoo, ni-du mata ?cji = kai ?

two-time again bicycle = GEN child.TOP two-time again come.MED = Q

ni-du ?cji = kai ?

two-time come.MED = Q

‘Did the child of the bicycle come again, two times?’
Abbreviations

<table><tr><td>1</td><td>first person</td><td>GEN</td><td>genitive</td><td>POL</td><td>politeness</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>second person</td><td>HON</td><td>honorific</td><td>POT</td><td>potential</td></tr><tr><td>ABL</td><td>ablative</td><td>IMP</td><td>imperative</td><td>PRF</td><td>perfect</td></tr><tr><td>ACC</td><td>accusative</td><td>INDFZ</td><td>indefinitizer</td><td>PROG</td><td>progressive</td></tr><tr><td>ADN</td><td>adnominal form</td><td>INST</td><td>instrumental</td><td>PROH</td><td>prohibitive</td></tr><tr><td>ALL</td><td>allative</td><td>INT</td><td>intentional</td><td>PST</td><td>past</td></tr><tr><td>APPR</td><td>approximative</td><td>IPFV</td><td>imperfective</td><td>PSU</td><td>persuasive</td></tr><tr><td>ASC</td><td>associative</td><td>IRLS</td><td>irrealis</td><td>PUR</td><td>purposive</td></tr><tr><td>AVLZ</td><td>adverbializer</td><td>ITR</td><td>interrogative</td><td>Q</td><td>question</td></tr><tr><td>BEN</td><td>benefactive</td><td>LMT</td><td>limitative</td><td>QT</td><td>quotative</td></tr><tr><td>CAUS</td><td>causative</td><td>LOC</td><td>locative</td><td>RED</td><td>reduplication</td></tr><tr><td>CLF</td><td>classifier</td><td>MAL</td><td>malefactive</td><td>RES</td><td>resultative</td></tr><tr><td>CMP</td><td>comparative</td><td>MED</td><td>medial verb</td><td>RFL</td><td>reflexive</td></tr><tr><td>CND</td><td>conditional</td><td>N/A</td><td>not applicable</td><td>SE</td><td>stem extender</td></tr><tr><td>CNF</td><td>confirmative</td><td>NEG</td><td>negative</td><td>SG</td><td>singular</td></tr><tr><td>COP</td><td>copula</td><td>NHON</td><td>non-honorific</td><td>SIM</td><td>simultaneous</td></tr><tr><td>CVB</td><td>converb</td><td>NLZ</td><td>nominalizer</td><td>SLD</td><td>solidarity</td></tr><tr><td>DAT</td><td>dative</td><td>NOM</td><td>nominative</td><td>SUPP</td><td>suppositional</td></tr><tr><td>DIM</td><td>diminutive</td><td>NPST</td><td>non-past</td><td>TOP</td><td>topic</td></tr><tr><td>DSC</td><td>discourse marker</td><td>NUM</td><td>numeral</td><td>VLZ</td><td>verbalizer</td></tr><tr><td>DU</td><td>dual</td><td>OBL</td><td>obligative</td><td>WHQ</td><td>wh-question</td></tr><tr><td>EMP</td><td>emphatic</td><td>PASS</td><td>passive</td><td>YNQ</td><td>yes-no question</td></tr><tr><td>FIL</td><td>filler</td><td>PC</td><td>property concept</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>FOC</td><td>focus</td><td>PL</td><td>plural</td><td></td><td></td></tr></table>
# Tsuken (Okinawan)

## Satomi Matayoshi

*Shigakukan University*

<figure><img src="image_18.png" /><figcaption>Figure 1: Okinawa Islands</figcaption></figure>

## Introduction

Tsuken has a remarkable case system. In particular, instruments are encoded not only by instrumental case, but also by locative case and ablative case. The choice of these case markers is based on the semantic characteristics of the noun to which the case marker is attached, or on the verb that follows the instrument NP.
# 1 The language and its speakers

Tsuken is spoken on the Tsuken Island, which is located approximately 5 kms south-east of the Yokatsu peninsula, in central Okinawa. The number of the local population is 557.<fnref n="1" /> They subsist via fishing and farming, and especially on the cultivation of carrots.

Tsuken is a dialect of Okinawan, a northern Ryukyuan language. Though the Tsuken island is geographically located in central Okinawa, its dialect shares several features with northern Okinawan varieties.

The local population is decreasing, and native speakers are now restricted to those over their seventies. Speakers in their fifties and sixties are also able to speak the local dialect to some degree, even though their speech is influenced by central Okinawan and standard Japanese. The younger generations are most often passive bilinguals, and the situation is worse in generations that are even younger.

Dialectal differences are almost absent, but some speakers do report that in past times there used to be a certain dialectal difference between the inner region and the coastal region.

# 2 Phonology

## 2.1 Vowels

The inventory of vowel phonemes is listed in table 1.

<table><caption>Table 1: Vowels</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th>Front</th><th>Central</th><th>Back</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><th>High</th><td>i</td><td></td><td>u</td></tr><tr><th>Mid</th><td></td><td>e</td><td>o</td></tr><tr><th>Low</th><td></td><td>a</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Long vowels are phonemically treated as vowel sequences. The mid vowels generally occur only in loanwords.

## 2.2 Consonants

The inventory of consonant phonemes is listed in table 2.

<footnote n="1">¹This is valid as of November, 2009.</footnote>
<table><caption>Table 2: Consonants</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th>Labial</th><th>Alveolar</th><th>Velar</th><th>Glottal</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2">Stops</td><td>voiceless</td><td>p</td><td>t</td><td>k</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>voiced</td><td>b</td><td>d</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Fricatives</td><td>voiceless</td><td></td><td>s</td><td></td><td>h</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">Affricates</td><td>voiceless</td><td></td><td>c</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>voiced</td><td></td><td>z</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">Sonorants</td><td>nasal</td><td>m</td><td>n</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>flap</td><td></td><td>r</td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Voice is distinctive for both stops and fricatives. The fricative /s/ is sometimes realized as an affricate [tʃ] when palatalized, in which case the opposition with the palatalized variant of the affricate /c/ is neutralized. The affricate /z/ is realized as [z] or [dz]. The glides (and the vowels /a/ and /i/) contrast in glottalization, and this contrast is phonemically interpreted as the presence or the absence of a preceding glottal stop phoneme /?/.

(1) /?jaa/ [?ja:] ‘2sg’ vs. /?waa/ [?wa:] ‘pig’
/jaa/ [ja:] ‘house’ vs. /waa/ [wa:] ‘1sg’

## 2.3 Syllable and mora

The syllable templates are as follows, with pattern (1) being the most basic.

(1) (C)V /kusi/ ‘mouse’, /pana/ ‘flower’

(2) (C) G V /?jaa/ ‘you’, /?waa/ ‘pig’

(3) nC /nmaga/ ‘grandchild’, /nni/ ‘chest’

(4) GV /jaa/ ‘house’, /waa/ ‘I’

(5) CCGV /kkwa/ ‘child’

In (2) the C slot is filled by a glottal stop phoneme, and the nucleus slot is mostly a long vowel as in (4). Only /kkw/ can appear in the onset slot of (5).

## 2.4 Tone/accent

Tsuken is considered to be an accent-less language, but there is much to be uncovered until any solid conclusions are drawn. With regard to intonation, clause-final lowering indicates various speech acts ranging from affirmative/ negative, questions, and rhetorical questions. Clause-final raising is rare in Tsuken.
# 3 Basic clause structure and phrase structure

## 3.1 Basic clause Structure

The basic word order of Tsuken is SOV for transitive clauses. However, in actual speech, neither core argument is frequently unexpressed.

(2) wa = nu mooi = Ø mii-ga ik-un
1SG = NOM dance = CORE watch-CVB go-NPST
'I will go watch a dance.'

Declarative clauses are exemplified in the following examples.

(3) a. ?jaa = ga kak-u-n
2SG = NOM write-NPST-SF
'You will write.'

b. taroo = ja kak-an
Tarō = TOP write-NEG
'Tarō won't write.'

c. taroo = ga kak-u = hazi
Tarō = NOM write-NPST = maybe
'Tarō should write.'

Interrogative clauses carry a sentence-final question marker.

(4) ?jaa = ga kak-u = mi
2SG = NOM write-NPST = Q
'Will you write?'

Imperative clauses have a special verb form inflected for imperative mood, which may be further followed by a special particle.

(5) a. miici = nka wakir-i
three = LOC1 divide-IMP
'Divide it into three.'

b. ?jaa = ga kak-i = be !
2SG = NOM write-IMP = DSC
'Write!'

The intentional inflection is used for the predicate of persuasive clauses.

(6) manna kak-a
together write-INT
'Let's write together.'

Exclamatory clauses often have a stative verb as their predicate.
(7) uri saa anci usu-ha-ru !
this tea so.much thin-VLZ-NPST
'This tea is really thin!'

Complex clause structures are exemplified as follows:

• Adverbial clause

(8) a. ruu=n kwa-nsaa=n kam-an=kutu wattaa=ni
herself=FOC child-PL=FOC eat-NEG=because us=DAT
muta-u-ru=baajo
give-CAUS-NPST=DSC
'Because neither she nor the children ate it, she gave it to us.'

b. ?jaa=ga jaa=nka u-uri-ba wa=nu
2SG=NOM house=LOC1 COP-PROG-CVB.CND 1SG=NOM
suuw-a=ja
go-INT=DSC
'If you are home, I will go.'

• Adnominal clause

(9) anci takaaru=mun kooi-ru cu=nu uu=mi ?
so.much expensive=things buy-NPST man=NOM COP=Q
'Are there people who would buy such an expensive thing?'

• Nominal clause

(10) a. ?jaa=ga iih-Ø-jee<fnref n="2" /> jukucimuni ja=ha
2SG=NOM say-NLZ=TOP lie COP=DSC
'What you say is a lie.'

b. taroo=ga hwuuru=kutu icin wa-sa-ru kutu=bikaa
Tarō=NOM do=thing always bad-VLZ-NPST thing=only
'What Tarō does is always bad.'

4 Word classes

Four major word classes can be identified on the basis of their morphosyntactic
properties.

<footnote n="2">²This forms is the result of a phonological change *ih-i=ja* → *iihjee*.</footnote>
## 4.1 Nominal

The nominal is an uninflected word form which may carry a case marker or other role markers such as topic and focus markers. Nominals are sub-classified into common nouns, proper nouns, pronouns, interrogatives, and numerals.

(11) a. niisan = ga ka-sa-n
elder.brother = NOM write-PST-SF
‘My elder brother wrote it.’

b. isiku = nu tuzi
cousin = GEN wife
‘The cousin’s wife’

c. taa = ga sa = ga ?
who = NOM do = Q
‘Who does?’

d. hwusika = ni ikkwai = ja kusa kat-aku = munaa
two.days = DAT once = TOP green.vegetables eat-HBT = DSC
‘I eat green vegetables once every two days.’

## 4.2 Verb

The verb is an inflected word, and it can be inflected for medial verb form and imperative mood. The verb may also carry tense markers and aspect markers.

(12) a. nmunijanaabi = nka nis-i nmu ka-tu-ta-n = roo
pan = LOC1 boil-MED potato eat-PROG-PST-SF = DSC
‘I boiled potatoes with a pan and ate them.’

b. miici = nka waki-ri
three = LOC1 divide-IMP
‘Divide it into three.’

c. sake kumikoozi = kara suku-ta-n = ro
liquor yeast = ABL make-PST-SF = DSC
‘Liquor was made from yeast.’

d. wattaa cuu = nu nama sika-tu-n = ro
our man = NOM now use-PROG-SF = DSC
‘Someone in our family is using it now.’

The so-called “adjective” is a subtype of verb: the property concept root is transformed into a verb stem by the suffixation of -ha.<fnref n="3" />

<footnote n="3">³This has two variants, -sa and -wa, depending on the preceding phoneme.</footnote>
(13) a. uri saa suu-ha-n = roohja
this tea thin-VLZ-SF = DSC
'This tea is thin.'

b. tuunaa = tu uri = tu ii-ti maa-hat-ta-n
tuna = ASC this = ASC put-CVB delicious-VLZ-PST-SF
'Tuna and this were mixed, and it was good.'

## 4.3 Interjection

Interjections are uninflected words which cannot carry a case marker, and are thus distinguished from nominals. Interjections do not modify other words, but rather they are independent utterances themselves.

(14) a. ?akkee aminaka = kara acc-i kis-i !
oh in.the.rain = ABL walk-MED come-MED
'Oh dear, you have walked in the rain!'

b. ?i ?i jaa = nka un = roo
yes yes house = LOC1 COP = DSC
'Yes, I'm home.'

## 4.4 Adverb

Words other than those discussed above are collectively called adverbs. This catch-all category includes predicate modifiers such as zikoo 'very', manna 'together' or picji ~ piccji 'frequently', and onomatopoeic words such as pisjupisju 'swish-swash'.

# 5 Basic morphology

## 5.1 Morphological typology

### 5.1.1 Derivational morphology

Word-class changing derivation by affixation includes verb-to-noun derivation.

(15) a. hontoo ka-jaa
main.island visit-NLZ
'island visiting'

b. kwaa mu-jaa
child nurse-NLZ
'baby-sitting'
### 5.1.2 Compounding

There are compound nouns and compound verbs. Compound nouns are formed by connecting two noun roots or by connecting a property concept root and a noun root.

* Noun root + Noun root

(16) a. inagu + sooree
woman + brother
'sister'

b. tida + mii
sun + inside
'in the sunlight'

* Property concept root + Noun root

(17) naga + ami
long + rain
'long rain'

A compound verb is formed by connecting a property concept root and a verb root or by connecting a noun root and a verb root.

* Property concept root + Verb root

(18) a. isunaa + sun
busy + do
'be busy'

b. mikegee + sun
hateful + do
'to hate'

The above type of compound is used when the speaker talks about a third person or about himself from an objective point of view.

* Noun root + Verb root

(19) a. tempura + sun
tempura + do
'make tempura'

b. joosaiten + sun
tailor + do
'to tailor'

In this type of compound, the verb root denotes the action related to the concept denoted by the noun root.
### 5.1.3 Reduplicated form

The reduplicated form is a full reduplication of a property concept root followed by a suffix -tu. A reduplicated form functions adverbially.

(20) sabi + sabi-tu sun
lonely + lonely-AVLZ do
'It seems to be lonely.'

## 5.2 Basic nominal morphology

Nominals are not inflected and have only derivational morphology. Nominal derivational affixes include the diminutive and plural suffixes.

### 5.2.1 Diminutive

The diminutive affix is attached to various kinds of noun stems without respect to animacy. Moreover, it may attach to a stem that designates direction and location, with the meaning of ‘somewhere around’.

(21) a. nkazi-gwaa
centipede-DIM
‘centipede’

b. kusui-gwaa
medicine-DIM
‘medicine’

c. waabi-gwa
above-DIM
‘around above’

### 5.2.2 Plural

The plural suffixes are -taa and -nsa. In addition to the expected plural meaning, these suffixes also express the location at which the referent is situated.

(22) a. paapa-taa
grandmother-PL
‘grandmothers’

b. kwa-nsaa
child-PL
‘children’

c. sensee-taa = si ik-u-n
teacher-PL = ALL go-NPST-SF
‘(She) will go to the teacher’s house.’
## 5.3 Basic verbal morphology

Tsuken verbs fall into three major classes in terms of inflectional morphology.

* Regular verbs 1: *akkun* ‘walk’, *kamun* ‘eat’, *numun* ‘drink’, etc.

* Regular verbs 2: *urin* ‘go down’, *utin* ‘fall’, *kiin* ‘kick’, etc.

* Irregular verbs: *sun* ‘come’, *sun* ‘do’, etc.

<table><caption>**Table 3: Finite inflection**</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th colspan="2">Affirmative Negative</th><th colspan="2">Example <i>jum</i> ‘read’</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2">Indicative</td><td>non-past</td><td><i>-un</i></td><td><i>-an-Ø</i></td><td><i>jum-un</i> ‘read’</td><td><i>jum-an-Ø</i> ‘don’t read’</td></tr><tr><td>past</td><td><i>-an</i></td><td><i>-an-tan</i></td><td><i>jud-an</i> ‘read’</td><td><i>jum-an-tan</i> ‘didn’t read’</td></tr><tr><td>Intentional</td><td></td><td><i>-a</i></td><td></td><td><i>jum-a</i> ‘will read’</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Imperative</td><td></td><td><i>-i</i></td><td><i>-una</i></td><td><i>jum-i</i> ‘read’</td><td><i>jum-una</i> ‘don’t read’</td></tr></tbody></table>

Regular verbs 1 and 2 are easily distinguished by the formation of negatives: *-an* for Regular verb 1, and *-ran* for Regular verb 2. Thus we have Regular verb 1 forms like *jum-an*, ‘don’t read’, *num-an*, ‘don’t drink’, and *kam-an*, ‘don’t listen’, whereas we have Regular verb 2 forms like *uri-ran*, ‘don’t go down’, *uti-ran*, ‘don’t fall’, and *siti-ran*, ‘don’t throw (it) away’.

# 6 Argument marking

## 6.1 Case Marking

As listed in **table 4**, there are thirteen case forms, including one zero case form. There are two homophonous case forms, allative = *si* and instrumental = *si*, but they have different historical origins. The nominative and the genitive are formally syncretized.

### Nominative (NOM)

(23) a. *waa* = *ga* *uui-ne* *ama* = *ru* *oo-ta* = *mun*
1SG = NOM COP-CVB there = FOC COP-PST = DSC
‘When I was on the island, she was there.’ (S)

b. *wattaa* *cuu* = *nu* *nama* *sika-tu-n* = *ro*
our man = NOM now use-PROG-SF = DSC
‘Someone in my family is using (the ladder) now.’ (A)
<table><caption>**Table 4:** Case forms and their functions</caption><thead><tr><th>Name</th><th>Form</th><th>Function (case)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Nominative</td><td>=ga/=nu</td><td>S/A</td></tr><tr><td>Genitive</td><td>=ga/=nu</td><td>NP modifier</td></tr><tr><td>Dative</td><td>=ni</td><td>beneficiary, comparative, time, frequency standard</td></tr><tr><td>Allative</td><td>=si</td><td>direction, result of change (forced change), listing (ending marker)</td></tr><tr><td>Locative 1</td><td>=nka</td><td>static action, reaching, point of movement, result of change, instrument</td></tr><tr><td>Locative 2</td><td>=nzi</td><td>active action</td></tr><tr><td>Locative 3</td><td>=uti</td><td>active action</td></tr><tr><td>Instrumental</td><td>=si</td><td>instrument</td></tr><tr><td>Associative</td><td>=tu</td><td>associated motion, result of change (equivalent value), listing (equivalent value), comparative</td></tr><tr><td>Comparative</td><td>=juka</td><td>comparative ('than')</td></tr><tr><td>Ablative</td><td>=kara</td><td>source, instrument (movement), static action (movement), listing (beginning marker)</td></tr><tr><td>Limitative</td><td>=mari</td><td>limit ('as far as')</td></tr><tr><td>Core argument</td><td>=Ø</td><td>S/A/O</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Genitive (GEN)

(24) hanako = ga kkwa

Hanako = GEN child

‘Hanako’s child’ (NP modifier)

### Dative (DAT)

(25) a. hanako = ni aziki-tu-ru = baate

Hanako = DAT leave-PROG-NPST = DSC

‘I will leave (a gift) to Hanako.’ (beneficiary)

b. jaami inagun uja = ni nisu = gajaa

2SG woman parent = DAT look like = DSC

‘You look like your mother.’ (comparative)

c. zuuhaci = ni kkwaa nasu-n = ro

eighteen = DAT child have.a.baby-SF = DSC

‘I gave birth to my child when I was 18 years old.’ (time)

d. hwusika = ni ikkwai = ja kusa

kat-aku = munaa

two.days = DAT once = EMP green.vegetable eat-HBT = DSC

‘I eat green vegetables once every two days.’ (frequency standard)
## Allative (ALL)

(26) a. ?aba umi=si iku-n=ci ii-ta=munaga
oh sea=ALL go-SF=HS say-PST=DSC
'Oh? Didn't he say he went to the sea?' (direction)

b. en=si kirikae-ta-kutu ihwi ra-ta-n=ro
yen=ALL change-PST-because a.few COP-PST-SF=DSC
'I changed it to yen from dollars, which means that I got less in return.'

c. sanee=kara junion=kara seikjoo=si iku-i=ga unu
San'ei=ABL Union=ABL Seikyō=ALL go-CVB=but this
mise=nakante muru urikire jan=baajo
shops=AMBG all sellout COP=DSC

'I went to San'ei, Union, and Seikyō, but in these shops, all the bean-jam buns were sold out.' (equalis (ending marker))

## Locative 1 (LOC1)

(27) a. ?i ?i jaa=nka un=roo
yes yes house=LOC1 COP=DSC
'Yes, yes, I'll be home.' (static action)

b. puni=nu suba=nka utsui-bin=roo
ship=GEN corner=LOC1 put.on-POL=DSC
'Luggage is put on the corner of the ship.' (reaching point of movement)

c. miici=nka waki-ri
three=LOC1 divide-IMP
'Divide it into three.' (result of change)

d. jakwan=(n)ka sizir-an=ga
kettle=LOC1 infuse-NEG=Q
'Infuse it with the kettle.' (instrument)

## Locative 2 (LOC2)

(28) uma sanee=nzi isa-ta-n=ba ?
here san'ei=LOC2 meet-PST-SF=Q
'Did you meet him in a San'ei here?' (active action)
### Locative 3 (LOC3)

(29) anci kazipuki=ni puka=uti asibu-ru cuu=nu uu=mi ?
so.much typhoon=DAT outside=LOC3 play-NPST man=NOM COP=Q
'Is there a person who plays outside during the typhoon?' (= Nobody plays outside at the typhoon.) (active action)

### Instrumental (INST)

(30) zookin = si isur-i = be
dust-cloth = INST wipe-IMP = DSC
'Wipe it with a dust-cloth.' (instrument)

### Associative (ASC)

(31) a. rusinsaa = tu manna iku-n = tsun
friends = ASC together go-SF = HS
'(Hanako) will go with a friend.' (associated motion)
b. uri-satsuu gohjakuen taaci = tu keeti-turahan = ga ?
this = bill five.hundred.yen two = ASC exchange-POL = Q
'Would you exchange this one thousand yen bill for two five hundred yen coins?' (result of change: equivalent value)

c. coonan = tu zinan = tu rokunan = tu ukinaa
eldest son = ASC second son = ASC sixth son = ASC Okinawa
'The eldest son, the second son, and the sixth son are in Okinawa.' (listing: equivalent value)

d. paapa-taa = tu kawa-tu-i = gate
grandmother-PL = ASC different-PROG-CVB = DSC
'My dialect is different from that of my old grandmothers.' (comparative)

### Comparative (CMP)

(32) wan = juka tiicee siizaa = ra-ru
1SG = CMP one older = COP-NPST
'She is one year older than me.' (comparative: 'than')

### Ablative (ABL)

(33) a. arakaa = kara mizi kuru-kuu = be
Araka = ABL water draw-come:IMP = DSC
'Get water from Araka' (name of a well) (source)
b. kuruma=kara si-sa-n=na ?
car = ABL come-PST-SF = Q

'Did you come by car?' (instrument: movement)

c. tidamii=kara acc-aku=mi ?
sunlight = ABL walk-PROG = Q

'Are you walking in the sunlight?' (static action: movement)

d. sanee=kara junion=kara seikjoo=si iku-i=ga
San'ei=ABL Union=ABL Seikyō=ALL go-CVB=but

unu = mise = nakante muru urikire = ja-n = baajo

DEM = shops-AMBG all sellout = COP-SF = DSC

'I went to San'ei, Union, and Seikyō but in these shops, all the bean-
jam buns were sold out.' (equalis: beginning marker)

Limitative (LIM)

(34) jozi = mari asiri-kisu-n = roo
four = LMT play-come-NPST = DSC

'She has played until four o'clock.' (limit: 'as far as')

Core (CORE)

(35) a. koohii=Ø mucuku-ba simu-ta=muja anca
coffee = CORE bring-CVB.CND be.good-PST = DSC DSC

'I should have brought some coffee, shouldn't I?'

b. sooree = Ø uu = gutujo inagu-sooree
relative = CORE COP = DSC female-relative

'There is a female relative.'

6.2 Information structure marking

Focus is marked by the focus clitic = ru. This may co-occur with a range of case-marked NPs (e.g. *maa* = *si* 'to where'), but whether this is also true for the associative = *tu* and the comparative = *juka* can't be confirmed.

(36) a. wattaa niinii-taa = ga = ru kam-un
our son-PL = NOM = FOC eat-NPST

'My son eats.'

b. maa = si = ga muta-ti-nzj-uru wakar-an = baajo
where = ALL = FOC take-CVB-go-NPST know-NEG = DSC

'He doesn't understand where it is taken to.'

Topic is marked by the topic clitic = ja.
(37) a. *hanako-ja taroo=ni pumi-raru-ta-n*
Hanako-TOP Tarō=DAT praise-PASS-PST-SF
‘Hanako was praised by Tarō.’

# 7 Predicate categories

## 7.1 Negation

Negation is made by suffixation of -an or -ran (see §5.3) to the verb stem. When the stative verb is negated, the negative verb neen or its reduced form nen is used.

### i. Negation of ordinary verbs

(38) a. *isaasi suku-i-ta = gaja wakar-an = ja*
how make-CVB-PST = DSC know-NEG = DSC
‘He doesn’t know how it was made, does he?’

### ii. Negation of stative verbs

(39) a. *nbu-ku ne-e = mun*
heavy-AVLZ NEG-NEG = DSC
‘It is not heavy.’

b. *ure maa-ku n-an*
this delicious-AVLZ NEG-NEG
‘This is not good.’

## 7.2 Tense, aspect, and mood

### 7.2.1 Tense

Tense is indicated by verb inflection, with past and non-past formally distinguished. The form of the non-past affix differs depending on the conjugation class: -un for Regular verbs 1, and -in for Regular verbs 2.

(40) a. *wattaa niinii-taa = ga = ru kam-un*
our son-PL = NOM = FOC eat-NPST
‘Our son will eat.’

b. *nama ka-ta-n*
now eat-PST-SF
‘I just ate.’
### 7.2.2 Mood and modality

Mood is expressed by finite inflection, whereas non-grammaticalized modalities are expressed by various post-predicate clitics such as **=hazi**, ‘maybe, will’, and **=ba** (assertive, which has two variants **=baa** and **=baate**), etc. The clitic **=ba** has functions related to emphasis and confirmation. An additional rising intonation contour indicates question and confirmation.

(41) a. sanzuu ama-tu-taru = hazi
30.years exceed-PROG-PST = maybe
‘She’s probably over thirty years old.’
b. nigatsu hwutsuka = ni ja-ta-n = baa
February two = DAT COP-PST-SF = DSC
‘I did it on February 2nd.’

### 7.2.3 Aspect

Three major aspectual expressions are identified, as shown in table 5.

<table><caption>Table 5: Aspect</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th>non-past</th><th>past</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Completive</td><td>kakun ‘write’</td><td>kasan ‘wrote’</td></tr><tr><td>Progressive</td><td>kakinzjan ‘is writing’</td><td>kakutan ‘was writing’</td></tr><tr><td>Resultative</td><td>kakatun ‘have been written’</td><td>kakatutan ‘had been written’</td></tr></tbody></table>

Progressive aspect (non-past) is marked by the affixes **-nzjan** and **-tun**. The suffix **-nzjan** attaches to atelic verb stems, as in **acci-nzjan**, ‘is walking’, **jumi-nzjan**, ‘is reading’, and **kaki-nzjan**, ‘is writing’. On the other hand, the suffix **-tun** attaches to telic verb stems, as in **kuma-tun**, ‘be in trouble.’, **aziki-tun**, ‘is depositing’, and **kasi-tun**, ‘is lending’.

## 7.3 Voice

There are three major voices that contrast to active voice: passive, causative, and potential. These are expressed by the verbal affixes **-raru**, **-hwun** ~ **-un**, and **-run** respectively.

### Active

(42) taroo = ga hanako pumii-ta-n
Tarō = NOM Hanako praise-PST-SF
‘Tarō praised Hanako.’
## Passive (-raru)

(43) *hanako-ja taroo=ni pumi-raru-ta-n*
Hanako-TOP Tarō=DAT praise-PASS-PST-SF
‘Hanako was praised by Tarō.’

## Causative (-hwun)

(44) a. *hanakoo=ni kama-hwu-n*
Hanako=DAT eat-CAUS-SF
‘I will make Hanako eat.’

b. *asa hanakoo=ni muta-u=wa*
tomorrow Hanako=DAT bring-CAUS=DSC
‘I will make Hanako bring (it) tomorrow.’

## Potential (-run)

(45) *nboku-na-an-gutu muta-run*
heavy-NEG-NEG-because have-POSS
‘Because it isn’t heavy, I can hold it.’
Sample text: the Pear story

(T.1) ikiga = nu uhwucu = ru ja-ra-hazi = ro ure
man = GEN adult = EMP COP-CVB-maybe = DSC DEM
'This person might be an adult man.'

(T.2) naa tusui = ga ja-ra mata wak-a-aru<fnref n="4" /> cu = ga ja-ra
DSC old = NOM COP-CVB DSC young-VLZ-NPST man = NOM COP-CVB
wakar-an-i = ga ma anu ikiga jai-ga kii = nu ii = si
know-NEG-CVB = but FIL man COP-CVB tree = GEN above = ALL
nubuj-aaku-n = baajo
climb-PROG-SF = DSC
'I don't know whether he's old or young, but he is climbing the tree.'

(T.3) unru hasigo = kara uma = nka ure kii = nu mii tui-ga
FIL ladder = ABL here = LOC1 DEM tree = GEN fruit take-CVB
ja-ra-hazi = ro
COP-CVB-maybe = DSC
'('He climbs) the ladder, he might take the fruits.'

(T.4) uma = nka rippa-nu unu pasi uri kii = nu mii = ja mata
here = LOC1 properly-AVLZ DSC FIL DEM tree = GEN fruit = TOP DSC
kagu = nka ii-ne sugu muta-r-an = gutu
basket = LOC1 put.in-CVB easy lift-POSS-NEG = because
'When he puts the fruits in the basket, he cannot lift it easily, so...'

(T.5) caanto uma = nka anu tui-sinre ii-ti
properly here = LOC1 DSC take-CVB put.in-CVB
'He puts them in the basket as soon as he takes them.'

(T.6) anci uri-ti kis-i mata miici = nu kago usukat-tu = je
and get.down-CVB come-MED DSC three = GEN basket put-PROG = DSC
'And (he) goes down, and three baskets are put below, aren't they?'

(T.7) uri = nka buru
this = LOC1 all
'('He) puts everything in these (baskets).'

(T.8) taaci = ja ippai-si mata nanci naan tiici = nu mun mata
two = TOP full-do DSC FIL more one = GEN thing DSC
'Two are full, another is...'

(T.9) nugara uma = nka mae jodarekake hankaci-gwa su-i = ga
DSC here = LOC1 FIL bib handkerchief-DIM do-NLZ = NOM
uri-n mata tu-ti-ti su-i-ga hi-nzjan = baajo
this-FOC DSC take-CVB-go:IMP do-CVB-CVB do-PROG = DSC

<footnote n="4">⁴waka-ha-aru → wak-a-aru.</footnote>
'There is something like a handkerchief in that place, and he's taking that.'

(T.10) anci uma = si mata naahwin mata nan cici aru-sa
and here = ALL DSC more DSC more one COP = DSC
'Another is here, isn't it?'

(T.11) uri tui-ga = ci mata nubu-ti-nzja = gutu
DIM take-CVB = HS DSC climb-CVB-go:IMP = DSC
'('He) climbed again to take that.'

(T.12) uma = nka na mata nugara piizaa-neesuru cu tuuj-aaku-n = baajo
here = ALL DSC DSC DSC goat-AMBG man pass-PROG-SF = DSC
'Something looking like a goat and a person are passing.'

(T.13) uri cu-nsa = ja nu-n tu-ra = na tuurisugi-ti
this man-AMBG = TOP what-FOC take-CVB = NEG pass-CVB
ikj-aaku-n = baate
go-PROG-SF = DSC
'This person passes without taking anything'

(T.14) ancuiga mata boosi kan-ti
but DSC hat wear-CVB
'But (he) wears a hat...'

(T.15) naa ure naa ikuci ne-iru warabi = ga = ru wakar-an-i = ga
DSC he DSC how.old become-PROG child = Q = EMP know-NEG-CVB = but
'(I) don't know how old this child is.'

(T.16) sugu naa ari zitensja nu-ti-kis-i boosi kan-ti
DSC DSC DSC bicycle ride-CVB-PROG-MED hat wear-CVB
'('He) is riding a bicycle and is wearing the hat.'

(T.17) sakutu uri mun-ci naa uri-cu mii-mi-si i-nka
and DIM watch-HS DSC this-man watch-watch-do above = ALL
nubu-tu-ru cu mii-mi-su-u-ti climb-PROG-NPST man watch-watch-do-PROG-CVB
'He watches the person climbing the tree.'

(T.18) naa uri ga cuu = nu na nr-an-uci = ti na uri tiici kago
DSC DSC GEN man = NOM DSC watch-NEG-CVB = HS DSC DIM one basket
zitensja ruu = nu zitensja = nu mee = nka nusi-ti ik-aaku-n = baajo
bicycle himself = GEN bicycle = GEN front = ALL put-CVB go-PROG-SF = DSC
'('He) thinks the man is not watching, and (he) is putting one basket on
the front of his bicycle and is leaving.'
(T.19) ncagutu mee=kara nuu=ga cu anu nusu-i-tu sikkakat-ti
and front=ABL what=Q FIL DSC ride-CVB-ASC scratch-CVB
ikkeera-su-n=baate
spill-do-SF=DSC

‘What was put (on the bicycle) collided and fell.’

(T.20) ikkeera-sa-gutu na ruu-n ari su-i=hjeja
spill-do-because DSC himself-FOC DSC do-CVB=DSC

‘The basket overturned and he himself...’

(T.21) uma suu-gisanaa po pooraka-su-gutu uma=nka naa misee=nu
here pass-CVB FIL spill-do-because here=ALL DSC three=GEN
waraba-taa=ga kis-i

child-PL=NOM come-MED

‘Because a basket was turned over when (he) came here...three children
came there.’

(T.22) uri na tu-ti anu kasi hi-nzja-n=baaje manna iri-ti
this DSC take-CVB DSC support do-PROG-SF=DSC together put-CVB

‘They take them, and help him, they put them in the basket together.’

(T.23) sagutu anci ii-ta-gutu mata iki-nzja-n=baajo
and DSC put-PST-CVB DSC go-PROG-SF=DSC

‘They have gone, after putting them into the basket.’

(T.24) cu uru waraba-taa unnen nu-n tu-te na-an=ro
FIL this child-PL DSC something-FOC take-CVB NEG-NEG=DSC
ki-rar-an=ro

give-PASS-NEG=DSC

‘Nothing is given to these children.’

(T.25) uma=uti za saru uma=kara mata boosi sa-kutu boosi muci-nzi
this=LOC3 FIL go-away DEM=ABL DSC hat do-CVB hat take-go
sagu

FIL

‘When (he) was going to go, (they) took a hat.’

(T.26) kusi aizu sun=baje hwuuhwuu-s-i
FIL signal do=DSC ONM-do-MED

‘(They) signal by whistling.’

(T.27) wanni kusibue=kara nugara wakar-an-i=ga
1SG whistle=ABL what know-NEG-CVB=but

‘I don’t know whether it is a whistle or something else.’

(T.28) ancagutu uma tuma-tu-n=baajo
and here stop-PROG-SF=DSC

‘And (he) stops there.’
(T.29) **anci boosi** = roo = ci tura-ca-gutu<fnref n="5" /> **unniutte mata naa anu aa**
DSC hat = DSC = HS take-PST-because DSC DSC DSC FIL
**boosi** = na arigatoo = ci = garana tura-i-nzja-n = baate
hat = DSC thank.you = HS = AMBG take-CVB-PROG-SF = DSC
‘When (they) came with the hat, (he) seemed thankful.’

(T.30) **miici-gara mucci-nz-i**
three-AMBG take-PROG-MED
‘(He) carries out about three.’

(T.31) **ancuru waraba-taa mata anci ari missai ari miccai ja-ta-i** = je
DEM child-PL DSC DSC three DSC three COP-PST-CVB = DSC
‘There were three children, weren’t there?’

(T.32) **ciici** = na = ci turac-i **ki-ti-njza-n** = baajo
one = DSC = HS take-MED give-CVB-PROG-SF = DSC
‘(He) was giving (them) each one.’

(T.33) **ancisagutu naa uri naa zitensja nunguraa** = ja mata uri-ti
and DSC DEM DSC bicycle something = FOC DSC get.off-CVB
‘(He) gets off his bicycle.’

(T.34) **a kii** = nka nubu-tu-i = hjeja **uri naa ippai ii-ti**
FIL tree = ALL climb-PROG-CVB = DSC DEM DSC full put-CVB
**uri-ti-kisa-gutu** **na-an** **na-tu** = je
get.down-CVB-come:IMP-CVB NEG-NEG become-PROG = DSC
‘When the person climbing the tree puts a lot of fruits in a basket and goes down, a basket disappears.’

(T.35) **tooto taa** = ga **tu-ta** = gaja = ci = jo **nasu-i**
DSC who = NOM take-PST = DSC = HS = DSC do-CVB
‘He wondered who had taken it.’

(T.36) **tiic-e kagu nna-kagu ja** = hjeja
one-TOP basket empty-basket COP = DSC
‘One is an empty basket, isn’t it?’

(T.37) **uri misin** = ciru mata nubu-ti-nzju-ru = ha **jaiga ancisinci sagutu**
this fill = HS DSC climb-CVB-go:IMP-NPST = DSC but DSC DSC
**naa taa** = ga **mucc-i-nzja** = gajaa = ci = jo = nu hwuuzii **sun** = baate
DSC who = NOM take-CVB-go:IMP = DSC = HS = NOM atmosphere do = DSC
‘The person climbed the top again to fill this basket, but he seems not to know who took it.’

<footnote n="5">⁵*turasu-ta* → *tura-ca*. The verb *turasun* ‘let somebody take’ is inherently (i.e., lexically) causative.</footnote>
(T.38) **ancisagutu** naa ure-e **isaasi** uma=nka uri nu=ci=ga
DSC DSC DEM-TOP how here=LOC1 DSC what=HS=Q
**toorisugi-ti-nzj-uru** cu=nu=ru **mucc-i-nzj-uru**=ci=nu
pass-CVB-go:IMP-NPST man=NOM=FOC take-CVB-go:IMP-NPST = HS=GEN
**hwuuzii** sa-i=ga
atmosphere do-CVB=but

'It seems that he thinks those who have passed took it.'

(T.39) **ato** naa uri=ga **nunko** wakar-an **na-tu-n**=baaje
DSC DSC this=NOM FIL understand-NEG become-PROG-SF=DSC

'He doesn't know anymore what that is.'

(T.40) **maa**=si=ga **muta-ti-nzj-uru** **wakar-an**=baajo
where=ALL=FOC take-CVB-go:IMP-NPST know-NEG=DSC

'He doesn't know where it was taken.'

(T.41) **unnee**=ru s-i=nu **are** ar-an
DEM=EMP do-MED=GEN DSC COP-NEG

'Wasn't this such a story?'
Abbreviations

<table><tr><td>1SG</td><td>first person singular</td><td>IMP</td><td>imperative</td></tr><tr><td>2SG</td><td>second person singular</td><td>INST</td><td>instrumental</td></tr><tr><td>ABL</td><td>ablative</td><td>INT</td><td>intentional</td></tr><tr><td>ALL</td><td>allative</td><td>LMT</td><td>limitative</td></tr><tr><td>AMBG</td><td>ambiguity</td><td>LOC1</td><td>locative1</td></tr><tr><td>ASC</td><td>associative</td><td>LOC2</td><td>locative2</td></tr><tr><td>AVLZ</td><td>adverbializer</td><td>LOC3</td><td>locative3</td></tr><tr><td>CAUS</td><td>causal</td><td>MED</td><td>medial verb</td></tr><tr><td>CMP</td><td>comparative</td><td>NEG</td><td>negation,negative</td></tr><tr><td>COP</td><td>copula</td><td>NLZ</td><td>nominalizer</td></tr><tr><td>CORE</td><td>core argument</td><td>NOM</td><td>nominative</td></tr><tr><td>CVB</td><td>converb</td><td>NPST</td><td>non-past</td></tr><tr><td>CVB.CND</td><td>converb condition</td><td>ONM</td><td>onomatopoeia</td></tr><tr><td>DAT</td><td>dative</td><td>PASS</td><td>passive</td></tr><tr><td>DEM</td><td>demonstrative</td><td>PL</td><td>plural</td></tr><tr><td>DIM</td><td>diminutive</td><td>POL</td><td>politeness</td></tr><tr><td>DSC</td><td>discourse marker</td><td>POSS</td><td>possessive</td></tr><tr><td>EMP</td><td>emphatic</td><td>PROG</td><td>progressive</td></tr><tr><td>FIL</td><td>filler</td><td>PST</td><td>past</td></tr><tr><td>FOC</td><td>focus</td><td>Q</td><td>question particle/marker</td></tr><tr><td>GEN</td><td>genitive</td><td>SF</td><td>sentence final particle</td></tr><tr><td>HBT</td><td>habitual</td><td>TOP</td><td>topic</td></tr><tr><td>HS</td><td>hearsay</td><td>VLZ</td><td>verbalizer</td></tr></table>
<figure><img src="image_19.png" /></figure>
# Ōgami (Miyako Ryukyuan)

Thomas Pellard

Kyoto University-JSPS

<figure><img src="image_20.png" /><figcaption>Figure 1: Miyako Islands</figcaption></figure>

## Introduction

Ōgami Ryukyuan is a verb-final language with an sxov and a modifier-head order. The alignment is nominative-accusative, with both the nominative and the accusative marked. The phonology has uncommon features, like a very reduced phonemic inventory (5 vowels, 9 consonants) and a great variety of syllabic
consonants, which do not conform to the “universal” hierarchy of syllable nu-
clei. Voiceless fricatives can be syllabic, and whole words and utterances can
be constituted of voiceless consonants only (§ 2.4.3). Property concept stems
(eg. taka ‘high’) are morphologically bound and serve as a base to derive ad-
jectives, stative verbs and nouns. Syntactic, semantic and pragmatic roles of
the different constituents are morphologically encoded by post-posed markers.
Two accusative case markers coexist, one of them being restricted to adverbial
and chain-medial clauses. Two different topic markers coexist: one for general
topics, the other for topicalized objects. Coordinate and sequential events are
encoded by clause-chains, which can involve a dozen of clauses headed by con-
verbs (§ 11.3). Such chain-medial clauses are also subject to desubordination,
and for example the narrative converb can be used as an independent past tense
form (§ 11.5.2).

1 The language and its speakers

1.1 Geography

The main community of Ōgami Ryukyuan speakers is located on the small is-
land of Ōgami (jp. Ōgami-jima, vernac. ukam), located 4 km North-East of the
main Miyako island. It is also spoken to some extent in the Takano village on
the main island, where several families from Ōgami have moved in 1992.

1.2 Affiliation

The Ōgami dialect belongs to the Central Miyako branch of Miyako Ryukyuan, which is defined by several common innovations such as the irregular voicing of the dental consonant in the word for ‘tongue’.<fnref n="1" /> Miyako Ryukyuan belongs in turn to the Southern branch of Ryukyuan, together with the Yaeyama and Yonaguni languages.<fnref n="2" />

No common innovation is found to refine Ōgami's position within the Central Miyako branch. The fact that it preserves some archaic features, like the first person pronoun *anu* or some instances of proto-Miyako *r* after *ŋ*, while other Miyako dialects have lost it,<fnref n="3" /> indicates it might constitute a distinct sub-branch.

<footnote n="1">¹In Ōgami the dental consonant has subsequently devoiced (suta), but the fact the pre-
ceding vowel has not undergone syncope shows the -t- we now observe comes from an earlier
voiced -d-.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">²See Pellard (2009b) for a detailed treatment of the inner classification of the Ryukyuan languages and the Miyako dialects.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³See Pellard (2009b) and Pellard (2010) on the reconstruction of Proto-Miyako.</footnote>
## 1.3 Sociolinguistic overview

### 1.3.1 The number of speakers

The actual number of fluent speakers is difficult to ascertain. The inhabitants of the Ōgami Island currently number as approximately 30. We also have to take into account their relatives living in other places, but the total number of speakers is probably not greater than 100–150 as a rough estimate.

### 1.3.2 Sub-dialects

The variety spoken in the Takano village is under heavy influence of surrounding dialects and has been gradually assimilating to these.

### 1.3.3 Viability, education and documentation

Most speakers are now in their seventies or older, and intergenerational transmission of the language ceased several decades ago. The youngest speakers are in their late forties and they constitute the last generation of native speakers: no children are acquiring Ōgami Ryukyuan as their native language anymore. All speakers are bilingual in Japanese, and the youngest generations are Japanese monolinguals.

No writing system nor educational materials exist, and so far no attempt to revitalize the language has been made. Some documentation exists in the form of some short texts transcribed and translated in Japanese (Hirayama et al. 1967, Shibata 1972). Pellard (2009b) contains four texts transcribed phonemically and accompanied by interlinear glosses and a translation in French.

## 1.4 Previous works

Apart from a few articles on some phonological issues, very little research has been undertaken on Ōgami Ryukyuan. Hōsei daigaku Okinawa bunka kenkyūjo (1977) deserves to be mentioned as it contains a lexicon and tables of verb paradigms, as well as short elicited examples. The many shortcomings and inadequacies of previous works have been criticized in detail in Pellard (2009b), which contains a description of the phonology, morphology, syntax and historical developments of Ōgami Ryukyuan.

# 2 Phonology

## 2.1 Segmentation: grammatical word and phonological word

In Ōgami Ryukyuan the grammatical word does not always correspond one to one with the phonological word. A grammatical word is defined here as:
• the smallest unit that can be manipulated by syntax;

• a unit made up of one or several morphemes which always occur together in a fixed order.

Such a grammatical word can be phonologically bound to a host, the two constituting a single phonological word. This is the case with auxiliary verbs, which can cliticize and fuse with a preceding verb:

(1) a. iki uu → iki = u 'go = IPF'

b. iki au → ikɛ = u 'go = RES'

The phonological word in Ōgami Ryukyuan is characterized by a strict minimal length constraint: a word must be at least bimoraic. In consequence, the many monomoraic markers are phonologically bound to their host and cannot appear independently. Some of the clitics are even monosegmental and are included within their host's final syllable.

(2) pstu = n [pṣ.tun] 'person = DAT'

## 2.2 Phoneme inventory

### 2.2.1 Consonants

The native consonant system of Ōgami Ryukyuan comprises nine consonants (table 1).

<table><caption>Table 1: Ōgami consonants</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th>Bilabial</th><th>Labio-dental</th><th>Dental/alveolar</th><th>Velar</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Stop</td><td>p</td><td></td><td>t</td><td>k</td></tr><tr><td>Nasal</td><td>m</td><td></td><td>n</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Flap</td><td></td><td></td><td>ʃ</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Fricative</td><td></td><td>f</td><td>s</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Affricate</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Approximant</td><td></td><td>v</td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

There is no voicing distinction for stops, which are usually voiceless but can be optionally voiced between vowels.

Other allophonic realizations are as follows:

• /k/ is usually a velar stop, but often lenits to a fricative [x ~ γ] before the vowel /ɑ/;
* /n/ is usually a dental nasal but has a velar or uvular allophone in final position ([:ŋ ~ n:]); this nasal also assimilates to the place of articulation of a following obstruent, and a devoiced allophone is also often observed after a voiceless fricative;

* /s/ has a palato-alveolar realization [ç] before the front vowels /i/ and /ɛ/; for some speakers an intrusive dental stop ([ts ~ tç]) appears after the nasal /n/

* /v/ is usually an approximant but can be a fricative [v] when geminate/long.

There is a length distinction for /m, n, f, s, v/, and we also find a geminate /tt/, but in one morpheme only, the hearsay marker *tta*.

The palatal approximant [j] is not considered to be a distinct phoneme but a contextual allophone of the vowel /i/; there is no minimal pair opposing the two and the realization as [j] or [i] is fully predictable from the linear sequence of segments:

$$ (3) \quad /i/ \rightarrow [j] / \_ \left\{ \begin{matrix} a \\ u \end{matrix} \right\} $$

Furthermore, consistency requires us to treat these two sounds as variants of the same phoneme, like /m, n, f, s, v/, which can similarly appear both as a syllable margin and as a nucleus.

Some words do have distinctively voiced stops, but almost all of them can be demonstrated to be loans from Japanese or other Miyako dialects. There is also some speaker variation regarding voicing, and the distinction is often very unstable. Apart from voiced consonants, borrowings also show some otherwise non existent consonants like the affricates [ts] and [tç].

### 2.2.2 Vowels

The vowel system of Ōgami has the following five vowels, any of which can be short or long (table 2).

<table><caption>Table 2: Ōgami vowels</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th>Front</th><th>Back</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><th>High</th><td>i</td><td>u u</td></tr><tr><th>Mid</th><td>ɛ</td><td></td></tr><tr><th>Open</th><td></td><td>ɑ</td></tr></tbody></table>
The vowel /u/ has been previously described as a central vowel (Hirayama et al. 1967, Kajiku 1977, 1989, Sakumoto 2004) or as an “apical” vowel (Sakiyama 1963, Karimata 1993), but its articulatory and acoustic characteristics are those of a close back unrounded vowel pronounced with spread lips (Pellard 2009b). Some speakers have a somewhat more centralized realization, but on the other hand younger speakers tend to merge /u/ with /u/.

Contrary to other Miyako dialects (or Standard Japanese), vowel devoicing does not occur in Ōgami. Previous studies have usually posited a very active vowel devoicing process, but though this is historically true, those devoiced vowels they posit are better viewed as synchronically nonexistent. Historically, earlier *ι̥ and *u have been completely absorbed by an adjacent fricative when between two voiceless consonants. They correspond to the syllabic fricatives of the present analysis. Acoustic data (Pellard 2009b) clearly shows there is no synchronic vowel devoicing in Ōgami Ryukyuan, even between voiceless consonants.

## 2.3 Suprasegmentals

### 2.3.1 Length

Length is distinctive for both vowels and consonants, and nasals as well as fricatives even exhibit a three-way length distinction, though in such a case they belong to different syllables.

(4) /faa/ [fa:] ‘child’
/f.fa/ [f:a] ‘grass’
/ff.fa/ [f::a] ‘comb = TOP’

However, there seems to be some cases of non-distinctive lengthening in final position of some intonational phrases. This is attested for narrative, sequential and anterior converb forms as well as the quotative particle *ti*. This occurs even if a focus marker is added to the form.

### 2.3.2 Tone and accent

Although Shibata (1972) has reported the existence of a typical Ryukyuan two-word tone system in Ōgami, no other scholar has been able to confirm this fact. Even the eldest speakers still alive have no such system, and no recordings nor acoustic analyses exist to confirm this claim.

Ōgami Ryukyuan has no fixed lexical pitch pattern nowadays, and words spoken in isolation can be pronounced with various melodies. The details of Ōgami Ryukyuan’s prosody above the word are still yet to be investigated.
### 2.3.3 Mora

The basic prosodic unit of Ōgami Ryukyuan is the mora, and its importance is most visible in the bimoraic minimal word constraint and the compensatory lengthening processes. For instance, there are no words of the mono-moraic shape CV, while CCV and CVV words are common. Speakers are also most of the time able to break a word into morae by separating them with pauses.

Syllabic segments, geminate consonants and codas each bear a mora, and long vowels as well as long syllabic consonants bear two morae. The segments that can bear a mora are thus /i w u ε a m n f s v/, i.e. all continuants but /r/.

### 2.3.4 Syllable

The syllable is also a meaningful unit in the description of some morphophonological processes. For instance, the topic marker has a different shape depending on whether it attaches to words with a final diphthong or long vowel, or to a word ending with a short vowel.

(5) a. ‘staff’ /pau + =a/ → /pau = ia/

b. ‘vegetable’ /suu + =a/ → /suu = ia/

c. ‘person’ /pstu + =a/ → /psta =a/

The syllable is also needed to explain why words like /kss/ ‘breast’ escape the *u*-epenthesis phenomenon while words like /ksks/ ‘month’ do not, although both are bimoraic (§2.5).

In Ōgami Ryukyuan, any continuant except /r/ can be syllabic: vowels as well as /m, n, f, s, v/ can assume the function of syllable nucleus.

(6) a. /mm/ [m:] ‘yam’

b. /vv/ [v:] ‘sell’

c. /nta/ [ṇta] ‘where?’

d. /pstu/ [pṣtu] ‘person’

e. /ftai/ [ftai] ‘forehead’

This seems to be in contradiction with the “universal” hierarchy of syllable nuclei (Zec 2007): the existence of syllabic fricatives is usually assumed to entail the existence of syllabic liquids.

Syllable nuclei can be short and simple, long or complex. Complex nuclei are those that contain a sequence of two different vowels.

(7) a. /a.mi/ ‘rain’ (simple nucleus)

b. /paa/ ‘leaf’ (long nucleus)

c. /mm.na/ ‘all’ (long nucleus)

d. /pai/ ‘south’ (complex nucleus)
All consonants as well as as the vowel /i/ can be syllable onsets, and the
sonorants /m n v/ can also appear in the coda. There are no long or complex
onsets nor codas, and there are no medial glides. The syllabic consonants are
also subject to restrictions on their possible onsets:

• the sonorant consonants /m n v/ cannot have an onset;

• /s/ can only have /p/ or /k/ as its onset;

• /f/ can only have /k/ as its onset.

The syllable structure is thus rather simple in Ōgami Ryukyuan. There is an
obligatory nucleus (Nu), long or complex, which can be occupied by a vowel
or a consonant. There can be a simple onset (O) and a simple coda (Co), but
they remain optional. The syllable template is thus as follows:

(8) (O)Nu(Nu)(Co)

## 2.4 Phonotactics

### 2.4.1 The structure and phonotactics of the root word

Root words are most often dissyllabic, although mono- and trisyllabic roots are
not uncommon. This is due to the strict minimality constraint applying to both
lexical roots and phonological words: a word is minimally bimoraic, and C, V
or CV are not valid word forms.

In lexical roots, onsetless syllables are usually restricted to the word-initial
position. Other phonotactic constraints restrict the possible segment sequences.
Many of them are the consequence of sonority sequencing principles and of the
syllable template described above, but others, such as the absence of sequences
like *sm, *sf, *ts, *tw, *æ, etc, are mostly by-products of historical develop-
ments.

### 2.4.2 The structure and phonotactics of the morphologically complex
word

In a morphologically complex word, some otherwise non-existent segment se-
quences and syllable structures can appear when suffixes attach to a root or
stem, or when clitics are incorporated into a phonological host.

(9) a. /us=n/ ‘cow=DAT’

b. /ff=si/ ‘comb=INSTR’
### 2.4.3 Voiceless, vowelless words and utterances

Ōgami Ryukyuan is very unique within the Japonic family as it allows words to be constituted by voiceless consonants only, a typologically very uncommon feature, reported hitherto for only a handful of languages in the world.

<table><caption>**Table 3:** Voiceless, vowelless words in Ōgami Ryukyuan</caption><tr><td>/ss/</td><td>'dust', 'rub'</td></tr><tr><td>/ff/</td><td>'comb', 'bite', 'fall (rain)'</td></tr><tr><td>/kss/</td><td>'breast', 'fish-hook', 'to fish', 'come'</td></tr><tr><td>/kff/</td><td>'make'</td></tr><tr><td>/ksks/</td><td>'month', 'listen'</td></tr><tr><td>/fks/</td><td>'mouth', 'build'</td></tr><tr><td>/psks/</td><td>'pull'</td></tr></table>

Some short sentences or phrases aligning several voiceless words can be found:

(10) a. *uɛ* = *ɛ*   *a* = *ka*   *iks* = *mai*   *kff* = *kss*
this = TOP I = NOM when? = INCL make fish-hook
'These are the fish-hooks that I use to make.'

b. *uɛ* = *ɛ*   *tuu* = *nu*   *maitus* = *kff ss*
this = TOP bird = NOM each.year make nest
'This is the nest that the bird makes every year.'

Previous studies have often assumed the presence of an underlying devoiced /u/ or /u/, but this view is clearly untenable, as shown by both acoustic analyses and (morph-)phonological evidence (Pellard 2009b). Strong evidence is found in the existence of minimal pairs like /sta/ 'below' vs. /swa/ 'tongue', /fkw/ 'mouth' vs. /fukw/ 'lottery, lapel', /kss/ 'breast' vs. /kww/ 'written character' or /ff/ 'comb' vs. /ffu/ 'excrement'. More supporting evidence is found in the patterning of syllabic fricatives with consonants and not vowels in morphophonological processes and in the absence of the putative vowel where devoicing should be blocked (i.e. before clitics with a voiced initial segment or when lengthened).

(11) a. /us/ + / = a/ → /ussa/ *uswa 'cow = TOP'
b. /us = nu/ → [usŋu] *[usunu] 'cow = NOM'

## 2.5 Phonological alternation rules

A final /s/ is regularly followed by an epenthetic vocoid [u] when preceding a pause. This phenomenon is mandatory for polysyllabic voiceless words, but not
for monosyllabic ones. Similarly, a final /f/ is often followed by an epenthetic vocoid, though it is difficult to say whether it is [w] or [ʊ]. This inserted vocoid is not a true segment but a boundary marker.

(12) a. /ksks#/ → [ksksw] ‘moon’

b. /saiaf#/ → [sajafw ~ sajafu] ‘carpenter’

Other alternation rules involve several vowel coalescence processes:

• Ci + a → Cɛɛ

• Cu + a → Caa

• Ci + u → Cii

• Ci + a → εɛ

• C₀u + w → C₀uu (optional)

Some consonant assimilations also occur:

• s + f, f + s → ff

• v + f → v

• n/m + n]σ → n/m

• w + s → ss

In the verbal morphology, suffixes lose their initial consonant when they
attach to verbs of the general class:

(13) fa + -rai → fa-ai ‘eat-POT’

ur + -samar- → ur-amaw ‘be-HON’

num + -ripa → num-ipa ‘drink-CIRC’

Before the topic and accusative markers *a* and *u*, a word-final consonant is reduplicated, while an epenthetic /i/ is inserted if the word ends with a heavy vocalic nucleus.

(14) ‘stone’ is → issa

‘sea’ im → imma

‘child’ faa → faaia

Stems and suffixes underlyingly ending in /r/ undergo a /r/ → /w/ change
before a word boundary and also lose their final consonant before the indica-
tive suffix -m:

(15) a. mma-kar → mma-ka w ‘tasty-VBZ’

b. mma-kar + -m → mma-ka-m ‘tasty-VBZ-IND’
## 2.6 Variation

One of the most vexing issues in the description of Ōgami Ryukyuan phonology is the behavior of the vowel /u/. First of all, as seen above, some instances of word-final [u] are not truly phonemic segments but epenthetic boundary markers. Second, /u/ and the syllabic /s/ seem to be in the process of merging to /u/ after /k-/ in word-final position. While one can find several minimal pairs opposing the two, the opposition is often neutralized and both phones are then in free variation.

(16) /mukʷ/ ‘wheat’ ≠ /muks/ ‘rice cake’
/mkʷ/ ‘right (side)’ ≠ /mks/ ‘road’
[fks] ~ [fkʷ] ‘mouth’
[fta:ks] ~ [fta:kw] ‘two’
[iks] ~ [ikʷ] ‘go’

# 3 Descriptive preliminaries

## 3.1 Basic clause and phrase structure

### 3.1.1 Basic clause structure

A basic clause is minimally constituted of a predicate, verbal, nominal or adjec-
tival. Core arguments are often unexpressed, especially if they are speech-act
participants, though if they are expressed the basic word order is SXOV.

This basic order is rather rigid, but can be modified according to the information structure of the sentence. In such a case, a special marking is required on the topicalized or focalized elements. The head of the clause is always final, though it can be followed by some clitic markers.

### 3.1.2 Nominal phrase

A nominal phrase is headed by a nominal. An **NP** followed by role markers, which indicate its syntactic, semantic and/or pragmatic role(s), can be recognized as an *extended NP* rather than as a different constituent type. An **NP** can be modified by a determiner, an adjective, a relative clause or a genitival **NP**, and all modifiers are placed before the head noun.

### 3.1.3 Predicate

A predicate can be verbal, nominal or adjectival.
### 3.1.3.1 Verbal predicate

A verbal predicate minimally contains a lexical verb. Analytic verb forms exist and combine a lexical main verb with an auxiliary verb, most usually an aspectual marker. Complex verbal predicates that combine more than one lexical verb into a single predicate are also found in Ōgami Ryukyuan.

### 3.1.3.2 Nominal predicate

A nominal predicate consists of an NP, which can be reduced to a single bare nominal. No copula is required unless converb, TAM or polarity markers are added to the predicate.

(17) a. $a=ka=tu$ **suta**
$I=\text{NOM}=\text{FOC elder.brother}$
'I am older (than him).'

b. $ikɛɛm=n=na$ **kama=nu im=ma suma=tu ia-tau=tim**
old.days=$DAT=TOP$ there=$NOM$ sea=$TOP$ island=$FOC$ COP-PST=$HS$
'It is said this part of the sea was land during the old days.'

### 3.1.3.3 Adjectival predicate

An adjectival predicate involves an adjective in predicative position. In the case of reduplicated adjectives, an auxiliary verb is always required, while similative adjectives can stand on their own as a predicate, like nominals.

(18) a. *upu-upu* = *tu uu ira*
big-big = FOC IPF DSC
'It's big, isn't it?'

b. $im=nu kssitiki ira$
sea=$NOM$ beautiful DSC
'The sea is beautiful, isn't it?'

## 3.2 Word, clitic and affix

### 3.2.1 Word

A word minimally contains a root, more than one if it is a compound. In the case of nouns, a bare root is always an independent word, while many verb roots must first undergo a stem-formation process to acquire wordhood. Adjectives on the other hand are always morphologically complex and involve a property concept stem accompanied by a suffix or are reduplicated.
### 3.2.2 Suffix

Ōgami Ryukyuan's morphology is suffixal, and there seem to be no prefixes nor infixes. However, it is not always easy to distinguish a suffix from a clitic (see below). The main criteria usually invoked are:

i. suffixes can attach to a bound root or stem, but not clitics;

ii. suffixes exhibit serious restrictions on the kind of host they can attach to, while clitics have more freedom;

iii. suffixes are bound to a word, while the syntactic host of a clitic can be a phrase.

Verb suffixes are the most easily identified since they appear only on verbs and often attach to a bound root or stem. Some other morphemes attach to nominals only and do not seem to have any freedom, and they can be recognized as nominal suffixes, like the plural.

### 3.2.3 Clitic

The distinction between suffixes and clitics is not always straightforward. Some role markers like the nominative *ka* or the topic *a* attach to an irregular bound stem of the first person pronoun (*anu* + *ka* → *aka*, *anu* + *a* → *araa*). On the other hand, the scope of role markers is an entire phrase, and some of them can attach not only to NPs but also to predicates of subordinate clauses as well. In such cases, it would make sense to consider them to be a kind of phrasal affix.

(19) a. [[us = tu pinta] = nu] = tu uwu
cow = COM goat = NOM = FOC be
'There is a cow and a goat.'

b. [kisa mii-r-ipa] = tu nau-kara = nu mui u-tau
before see-CIRC = FOC what?-INDEF = NOM burn.CVB IPF-PST
'When I looked before, something was burning.'

Moreover, several auxiliary verbs tend to lose their phonological autonomy and to cliticize to the main verb. They tend to get phonologically reduced and to fuse with the main verb, to the point where it is sometimes difficult to segment the two units. They are clearly gradually acquiring more and more suffixal properties, but retain some syntactic freedom that prevent treating them as pure suffixes. For example auxiliary constructions retain the possibility of introducing a pragmatic role marker between their two terms.

(20) a. ik-i = u 'go-CVB = IPF'

b. ik-i = tu = u 'go-CVB = FOC = IPF'
Finally, there are several short words that do not seem to belong to a partic-
ular word class, cannot head a constituent, and are usually not uttered alone.
There is often little basis to decide if these are truly phonologically dependent
or not and if they should be described as clitics. I have chosen to label them as
*particles* and to remain somewhat agnostic about their exact status.

3.2.3.1 Syntactic host and phonological host

For clitics, we must distinguish their phonological host, the word they attach to and form a single phonological unit with, and their syntactic host, the word or constituent they have scope over. As seen above (19), role markers usually attach to a noun, but have scope over a whole NP, and some of them can attach to a verb but have scope over a whole clause.

3.3 Word classes

There are two major word classes in Ōgami Ryukyuan: nominals and verbs. To these we can add a class of adjectives, a heterogeneous class of grammatical particles, and several other minor word classes.

3.3.1 Nominals

Nominals are defined as the class of words that can head an NP and can consti-
tute an argument of a predicate. Nominals thus regroup nouns, pronouns and
numerals.

3.3.2 Verbs

Verbs differ from other word classes by their ability to take TAM markers and to head an independent sentence on their own, while not being able to assume directly the role of argument of a predicate.

3.3.3 Adjectives

Adjectives are a secondary word class in Ōgami Ryukyuan. They are derived by reduplication or addition of the similative suffix -ki to a property concept stem. Adjectives are generally used to modify a noun, and they cannot constitute the argument of a predicate (unlike nominals) and do not inflect (unlike verbs).

3.3.4 Particles

Ōgami Ryukyuan has a set of grammatical morphemes that are not suffixes but
do not belong to a precise word class and cannot head a phrase. Many of them
are clitics that attach to a phrasal constituent. The label *particle* is used here to
regroup such markers as the role markers, the restrictive and inclusive markers, as well as the modal markers. The role markers will be detailed in § 8, and an overview of other particles is given below.

### 3.3.4.1 Final particles

Final particles are markers that appear after a main predicate and express various kinds of modal values. They can appear after any kind of predicate, and in the case of a nominal predicate they do not trigger insertion of the copula.

The most common final particles include *tta* ~ *tim* for hearsay, *i* ~ *iu* for exclamation, *ira* for requesting agreement, *saika* for requesting confirmation, *pēem* for doubt, *tara* for assertion, *ka* for question or *na* for prohibition.

### 3.3.4.2 Restrictive and inclusive particles

The restrictive particle *tēen* attaches to an extended NP before a focus marker, or to a dependent verb form.

(21) *karɛ* = ɛ *saki* = i = tɛɛn *num-i* = tu *skama* = u = pa
DIST = TOP alcohol = ACC = RESTR drink-CVB = FOC work = ACC = TOP.OBJ
*asi-n*
do-NEG

‘He only drinks alcohol and does not work.’

The inclusive particle *mai* attaches to extended NPs or to subordinate clauses.

(22) *akawrɛɛ* = nu <kjoodai> *ftaau* = nu <fuufu> = n
Akawrɛɛ = NOM sibling two = NOM couple = DAT
*nar-i* = ik-i *mamuia* = u = mai *nas-tau*
become-CVB = PARF-CVB *Mamuya* = ACC = INCL to.father-PST

‘The brother and the sister of the *Akaureɛ* house became husband and wife and gave birth to Mamuya too.’

### 3.3.5 Other word classes

#### 3.3.5.1 Determiners

Determiners form a small closed word class (*unu* ‘proximal’ and *kanu* ‘distal’) and are used for adnominal modification only. They correspond to demonstrative adjectives in other languages and are based on the same roots as the demonstrative pronouns.

(23) *unu* *nkɛna* = *u upu-upu-na* *kitam-i fii-ru
PROX *nigana* = ACC big-big-DISTR cut-CVB give-IMP
‘Cut me these *nigana* roughly.’
### 3.3.5.2 Adverbs

Adverbs are used to modify a verbal predicate and cannot be used as a predicate (unlike verbs, nominals and adjectives), as a predicate's argument (unlike nominals). Adverbs do not inflect (unlike verbs).

(24) a. piima-kaa-na *mut-i=ra*
few-DIM-DISTR hold-IMP=DISC

'Take them little by little!'

b. *ikɛɛm=n=na*      *ansi=nu muna=a*      *nɛɛ-tata-m*
old.days=DAT=TOP so=NOM thing=TOP NEG-PST.NEG-IND

'In the old days, there were no such things.'

### 3.3.5.3 Conjunctions

There are few conjunctions in Ōgami Ryukyuan, and only one is used for (dis-)junctive) coordination: *suka* 'but'. Most of the conjunctions seem to be clitics attaching to the right edge of a clause.

(25) *aks-kau=kɛ num-i=ra*
hot-VBZ=when drink-IMP=DISC

'Drink while it's still hot!'

### 3.3.5.4 Ideophones

Ideophones are used adverbially and are of two types: reduplicated ideophones (*samisami* 'rugose') and simple ideophones (*ɛtti* 'circular movement').

### 3.3.5.5 Interjections

Interjections are uninflected words that can be used in isolation to mark an exclamation, like *ikɛi* and *akira* for surprise, *mmaiu* for refusal or *tii* to raise attention.

## 4 Nominals and nominal phrases

Nominals are words that can head a nominal phrase, take (in general) any role marker and function as a predicate with or without the copula. Nouns are the most common type of nominals, and their bare root is always a free form. Other noticeable nominal subclasses are detailed below, as well as the properties of the nominal phrase.
## 4.1 Subclasses of nominals

### 4.1.1 Pronouns

The basic pronouns of Ōgami Ryukyuan are given in **table 4** (some stem variants are omitted). Pronouns referring to humans can be marked for (associative) plural, but there is no inclusive/exclusive distinction for the first person pronoun. There is no real third person pronoun, and demonstrative pronouns are used instead. Both demonstrative and locative pronouns are organized around a proximal/distal opposition. The original proximal pronouns have been replaced by the original mesial ones, though the former do appear in some rare occasions.

<table><caption>**Table 4:** Pronouns in Ōgami Ryukyuan</caption><thead><tr><th>Category</th><th></th><th>sg.</th><th>Form<br>pl.</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2">Personal</td><td>first person</td><td>anu</td><td>anta</td></tr><tr><td>second person</td><td>vva</td><td>vvata</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">Demonstrative</td><td>proximal</td><td>uri (kuri)</td><td>urita</td></tr><tr><td>distal</td><td>kari</td><td>karita ~ karikɛ</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">Locative</td><td>proximal</td><td>uma</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>distal</td><td>kama</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Reflexive</td><td></td><td>tuu</td><td>tuuta</td></tr><tr><td>Logophoric</td><td></td><td>naa</td><td>naata</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="10">Interrogative</td><td>humans</td><td>taru</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>non humans</td><td>nau</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>alternative</td><td>nti ~ iti</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>locative</td><td>nta ~ ita</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>temporal</td><td>iks</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>causal</td><td>nauripa</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>numeral</td><td>if + classifier</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>manner</td><td>naupasi</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>quantity</td><td>naunupusa ~ ntikapusa</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Some other pronouns derived from the interrogative ones exist too:

* specific indefinite pronouns are derived by the suffix -kara (ex: ‘what?’ *nau* → *nau-kara* ‘something’)

* non-specific indefinite pronouns are derived by addition of the inclusive marker *mai*, after any case marker (ex: ‘what?’ *nau* → *nau=mai* ‘anything’)

<figure><img src="image_21.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_22.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_23.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_24.png" /></figure>
### 4.1.2 Time nouns

Time nouns are a subclass of nouns, like ‘today’, ‘now’ or ‘old days’, that can be used like adverbs: their bare form can appear alone in the sentence, without any role marker.

(26) kii sinsii = ka kuu-ti = tta
today teacher = NOM come-PROSP = HS

‘It is said the teacher will come today.’

### 4.1.3 Numerals

The original numerals are gradually being replaced by Sino-Japanese ones bor-
rowed from Japanese. This is especially true of numerals over ten.

For generic enumerations, the following series of truncated numerals is
used: tii ‘1’, taa ‘2’, mii ‘3’, iuu ‘4’, iks ‘5’, muiu ‘6’, nana ‘7’, iaa ‘8’, kukunu
‘9’, tuu ‘10’.

On the other hand, a numeral root is always followed by a classifier suffix when counting or quantifying beings or objects. There are some stem alternatives and idiosyncrasies in the combination of numeral roots and classifiers, but the usual numerals are as follows: *pstu* ‘1’, *fta* ‘2’, *miu* ‘3’, *iu* ‘4’, *iks* ‘5’, *muiu* ~ *mm* ‘6’, *nana* ‘7’, *ia* ‘8’, *kukunu* ‘9’ , *tuu* ‘10’. Classifier suffixes include for example *-ks*, a generic classifier, *-nupstu* for humans, *-ka* for days, *-kara* for animals, *-uuna* for ships, *-ua* for flat objects, *-kssi* for cut bits, *-kiv* for houses, etc.

Numerals behave like other nominals and can head an NP, but they can also be floating:

(27) nnama siitu = nu = tu an-ta = ka iaa = nkai ftaaw
now student = NOM FOC I-PLUR = NOM house = DIR two

kss-i = w

come-CVB = IPF

‘Now there are two students in my house.’

### 4.1.4 Formal nouns

Formal nouns are nouns that have undergone some grammaticalization. Some of them have entirely lost their lexical meaning and are now pure grammatical markers, while others can still be used as lexical nouns. Both retain some morpho-syntactic characteristics of nouns, which requires classifying them as a subcategory of nouns. For example, formal nouns can be used in predicative position on their own and take the copula for some inflectional categories.

Usually formal nouns follow a verb in relative clause-like structure and serve as conjunctions or TAM markers.
(28) kari = ka ks-tika panas kumata ia-tau munuu
DIST = NOM come-ANT speak PREV COP-PST though
‘If he had come we would have spoken.’

The most common formal nouns are *kumata* ‘previsional’, *munu* ‘complementizer’, *paa* ‘temporal subordinator’, *paku* ‘presumptive’, *sammin* ‘intentional’.

## 4.2 Nominal morphology

Nominals can attach some suffixes like the plural, diminutive, and approximative.

### 4.2.1 Plural

Plural marking is possible for animate nouns, though it is always optional except for personal pronouns. There are three different plural suffixes, which all convey the same associative plural meaning:

* -ta attaches to pronouns referring to humans as well as address nouns (see §4.3);

* -kɛ attaches only to the distal demonstrative pronoun *kari*, which can also be pluralized by -ta;

* -nummi attaches to other animate nouns.

(29) a. kama = n = tu taroo-ta = ka uw
there = DAT = FOC Tarō-PLUR = NOM be
‘Tarō and the others are over there.’

b. kari-kɛ = ε ikima = nkai iks kumata
DIST-PLUR = TOP Ikema = DIR go PREV
‘They are going to Ikema.’

c. uɛ = ε an-ta = ka faa-nummi
PROX = TOP I-PLUR = NOM child-PLUR
‘These are our children.’

### 4.2.2 Diminutive

The suffix -kaa generally has a diminutive value, but it can also convey the meaning of an approximate direction. Polysemous markers combining such seemingly disconnected meanings as diminutive, approximative, endearment and plural are in fact not uncommon in the world's languages, especially in Japanese and other East Asian languages (Antonov 2007). The diminutive suffix can appear not only on nominals but also on reduplicated adjectives and some adverbs.
(30) a. *mitum-faa-kaa=nsi=nu      pstu ira*
woman-child-DIM=SIMIL=NOM person DISC
'He looks like a little girl.'

b. *uma-kaa=n=tu      aw*
here-DIM=DAT=FOC RES

'It's around here.'

4.2.3 Approximative

The suffix -naki indicates an approximation or an ambiguity.

(31) uma-naki = i = kara sauku = pa assu
here-APPROX = ACC = ABL cleaning = TOP.OBJ do.IMP

'Clean the room beginning from around here.'

4.3 Nominal hierarchy

Nominals in Ōgami Ryukyuan are organized according to a hierarchy that gov-
erns several morphosyntactic features. It is not fundamentally different from
what is usually called the *animacy*, *empathy*, *topicality*, *referentiality* or *indexa-
bility* hierarchy (Silverstein 1976, Bickel and Nichols 2007).

The nominal hierarchy of Ōgami Ryukyuan specifically distinguishes inan-
imates from animates, humans and non-humans, address nouns from common
nouns. *Address nouns* are kinship terms for elders (‘father’, ‘elder sister’, etc.)
or status or function names (‘teacher’, ‘chief’, etc.) that are used to address
someone.

Features correlated with the nominal hierarchy are:

• the choice of the interrogative pronoun *taru* or *nau*;

• the choice of the nominative-genitive marker *ka* or *nu*;

• the possibility and choice of the plural suffix-*ta* or *-nummi*;

• the choice of the existential verb *ur* or *ar*.

The nominal hierarchy and the correlating features can be schematized as
in figure 2.
<figure><img src="image_25.png" /><figcaption>Figure 2: The nominal hierarchy in Ōgami Ryukyuan</figcaption></figure>

## 4.4 Nominal phrases

A nominal phrase contains a nominal head that can be preceded by a modifier and followed by a role marker.

### 4.4.1 Modifier

Nominal phrases contain an optional modifier slot before the head noun. It can be occupied by a determiner, another NP, a relative clause or an adjective.

#### 4.4.1.1 Modifier filled by a determiner

The NP modifier position may be occupied by a determiner.

(32) *araa kanu mitum=mu=tu nukum-i=w*
I.TOP DIST woman=ACC=FOC love-CVB=IPF
'I love that woman.'

#### 4.4.1.2 Modifier filled by an NP

A modifier NP is marked by one of the two nominative-genitive case markers and can be labeled a *genitive phrase*. However, the semantic relationship involved is not restricted to possession but also includes attribution or quantification.
(33) a. $ur\epsilon=\epsilon$ a=ka kankai=kami ia=ssuka=tu
PROX=TOP I=NOM thought=TERM COP=but=FOC
'This is just my opinion.'

b. `<epuron> = nu <poketto> = kara mut-i kss-i`
`apron=NOM pocket=ABL hold-CVB comeCVB`
'He brought them from his apron's pocket'

c. mii-tau = nu pstu = nu kss-i
three-CLF = NOM person = NOM come-CVB
'Three persons came...'

The modifier NP may already carry a case marker, and then the marker *nu* attaches after it, no matter the place of the noun in the nominal hierarchy.

(34) an=kara=nu <tegamepsilon> =epsilon a-ta-m?
I=ABL=NOM letter=TOP be-PST-IND
'Was there a letter from me?'

4.4.1.3 Modifier filled by a relative clause

A noun can also be modified by a relative clause.

(35) uma=a [[a=ka mai ks-tau] tukuma]
here=TOP I=NOM before come-PST place
'This is a place I have been before.'

4.4.1.4 Modifier filled by an adjective

An adjective may also appear as a noun modifier.

(36) imi-imi = nu suma-kaa iar-iiri = tu pari = mai
small-small = NOM island-DIM COP-CVB.IPF = FOC field = INCL
tar-a-n
suffice-IRR-NEG
'Since (Ōgami) is a small island, there are not enough fields.'

4.4.2 Head

The head nominal is always required in an NP, and no headless NPs seem to
occur, though some headless relative clauses are attested.

Some NPs have a formal noun as their head. These nouns are more or less
grammaticalized nouns which have the morphosyntactic properties of nouns
but serve as grammatical markers. Relativization of a formal noun is a widely
used strategy of complementation and subordination.
### 4.4.3 Extended nominal phrases

Nominal phrases also often carry *role markers* that indicate their grammatical, semantic and/or pragmatic role in the clause or sentence. Most of these grammatical morphemes are clitic particles and cannot be said to form a new kind of phrase that they would head, though some of the role markers do have postposition-like properties. They are better viewed as extensions of the NP, with whom they form an *extended nominal phrase*. Like simple NPs, extended NPs can act as predicates, though it is not very frequent.

(37) <iakuba> = nkai ia-tika uma = nu mks = kara = si ik-i town.hall = DIR COP-ANT here = NOM road = ABL = INSTR go-IMP

‘If you’re going to the town hall, go by this way.’

## 5 Verb morphology

All regular verbs can be divided into two main classes according to the shape of their stem and to which suffix they take for certain inflectional categories: the *-i* verbs class and the *general class*. There is only one completely irregular verb (*kss* ‘come’), and less than a dozen verbs (including the copula) have one or two irregular forms in their paradigm.

### 5.1 The structure of the verb

The morphological structure of the verb can be symbolized as follows:

(38) [ **ROOT** **-derivation** ]<sub>STEM</sub> **-inflection**

{ **-honorific**
  **-causative-passive** } { **POLARITY-DEPENDENCY**
  **TAM** }

#### 5.1.1 Stem

The *-i* verbs, which also include the passive and one class of derived causative verbs, have a single and invariable *basic stem* ending in *-i*. For non-derived verbs, the stem is identical to the root, and all inflectional affixes attach directly to it.

The general verb class is less homogeneous and has a more complicated morphology. Some of these verbs have not only a *basic stem* but also a *special stem*, whose form is not entirely predictable (table 5). Both stems take different inflectional suffixes and have to be listed in the lexicon. Some verbs also undergo some minor phonological alternations in their paradigms, but these are regular processes which apply elsewhere in the phonology. We also have to mention the gemination in *-f* and *-v* verbs:
(39) *niv + -i → niv- vi* ‘sleep-IMP’

The *irrealis* form is also used as a stem to build other forms like the negative, negative past, negative converb, prospective and anti-commissive.

<table><caption>Table 5: Verb stems in Ōgami Ryukyuan</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th>Root</th><th>Basic stem</th><th>Special stem</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>-i class</td><td>-i</td><td>‘get up’</td><td>uki</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="7">General class</td><td>1 stem</td><td>-f ‘to water’<br/>-v ‘sleep’<br/>-m ‘drink’<br/>-n ‘die’<br/>-s ‘push’</td><td>ikef<br/>niv<br/>num<br/>sun<br/>us</td></tr><tr><td>2 stems</td><td>-p ‘play’<br/>-k<sub>(1)</sub> ‘row’<br/>-k<sub>(2)</sub> ‘write’<br/>-t ‘wait’<br/>-r ‘take’<br/>-u ‘think’<br/>-a ‘laugh’</td><td>asup<br/>kuk<br/>kak<br/>mat<br/>tur<br/>umu<br/>para</td><td>asupu<br/>kuku<br/>kaks<br/>maks<br/>tuu<br/>umuu<br/>parau</td></tr></tbody></table>

### 5.1.2 Inflection

Inflection is marked by suffixes attaching to a stem, though it can also be marked by particles and some formal nouns attached to a predicate. Inflection covers the categories of tense, aspect, mood and polarity, but also encodes differences in the syntactic status of forms.

### 5.2 Inflectional morphology

A primary distinction is made between *dependent* and *independent* verb forms. This roughly corresponds to the finite/non-finite distinction, but finiteness is an ambiguous concept which can refer to morphological deficiency, syntactic autonomy, or both.<fnref n="4" /> *Dependent verb forms* are defined here as special verb forms that cannot head an independent sentence and are morphologically overtly marked as such.

<footnote n="4">⁴See Creissels (2006a,b), Nikolaeva (2007b).</footnote>
### 5.2.1 Independent verb forms

Independent verb forms appear in main independent clauses, as well as in relative clauses, but independent verb forms inflected for the directive moods are restricted to main clauses.

The bare basic stem is used as an independent verb form, called here the *neuter* form, to express generic non-past tense. Other forms show an overt marker for tense-aspect-mood and polarity. A list of suffixes appearing on independent verb forms is given in *table 6*.

<table><caption>Table 6: Independent verb suffixes in Ōgami Ryukyuan</caption><thead><tr><th>Category</th><th>Generic class<br>'say' <i>aur</i>-</th><th>-i verbs<br>'see' <i>mii</i>-</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>neuter</td><td><i>au</i></td><td><i>mii</i></td></tr><tr><td>negative</td><td><i>au-a-n</i></td><td><i>mii-n</i></td></tr><tr><td>past</td><td><i>au-tar</i>-</td><td><i>mii-tar</i>-</td></tr><tr><td>negative past</td><td><i>au-a-tatar</i>-</td><td><i>mii-tatar</i>-</td></tr><tr><td>imperative</td><td><i>aur-i</i></td><td><i>mii-ru</i></td></tr><tr><td>precative</td><td><i>aur-εεri</i></td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>prohibitive</td><td><i>auu=na</i></td><td><i>mii=nna</i></td></tr><tr><td>irrealis</td><td><i>auu-a</i></td><td><i>mii-</i></td></tr><tr><td>previsional</td><td><i>auu-a-ti</i></td><td><i>mii-ti</i></td></tr><tr><td>anti-commissive</td><td><i>auu-a-tεεn</i></td><td><i>mii-tεεn</i></td></tr><tr><td>interrogative</td><td><i>aur-εε</i></td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>potential</td><td><i>auu-ai</i></td><td><i>mii-rai</i></td></tr></tbody></table>

### 5.2.2 Dependent verb forms: converbs

Ōgami Ryukyuan has a set of dependent verb forms that cannot head an independent sentence<fnref n="5" /> and appear only in adverbial subordinate clauses and non-final clauses of clause-chains. These verb forms can be labelled *converbs* as a whole, although some of them are not strictly confined to adverbial subordinated clauses. The definition of *converb* adopted here thus follows that of Nedjalkov (1995) rather than the narrower definition of Haspelmath (1995), and it partly overlaps with the category of *medial verbs* (Foley 1986).

At least some of the converb suffixes can combine, and some of them can follow an otherwise independent inflected verb form to mark it as dependent.

Table 7 lists the different converb forms and their major uses.

<footnote n="5">⁵See §11.5 for the special desubordination constructions.</footnote>
<table><caption>Table 7: Converbs in Ōgami Ryukyuan</caption><thead><tr><th>converb</th><th>attaches to</th><th>suffix</th><th>use</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>concessive</td><td>irrealis</td><td>-pamai</td><td>concession</td></tr><tr><td>negative concessive</td><td>irrealis</td><td>-tarapamai</td><td>negative concession</td></tr><tr><td>simultaneous</td><td>special stem</td><td>-(s)seen</td><td>simultaneity</td></tr><tr><td>purposive</td><td>special stem</td><td>-ka</td><td>goal of motion</td></tr><tr><td>negative conditional</td><td>irrealis</td><td>-taka</td><td>negative condition</td></tr><tr><td>anterior</td><td>special stem</td><td>-tika</td><td>anteriority, condition</td></tr><tr><td>circumstancial</td><td>basic stem</td><td>-(r)ipa</td><td>circumstance, condition</td></tr><tr><td>imperfective</td><td>basic stem</td><td>-(i)iri</td><td>state parallel to the main event</td></tr><tr><td>conditional</td><td>basic stem</td><td>-iika</td><td>condition</td></tr><tr><td>negative</td><td>irrealis</td><td>-ta</td><td>negation</td></tr><tr><td>narrative</td><td>basic stem</td><td>-i, Ø for -i verbs</td><td>sequentiality, manner, complex predicate</td></tr><tr><td>sequential</td><td>narrative converb</td><td>-siti ~ -sti</td><td>event sequence</td></tr></tbody></table>
## 5.3 Derivational morphology

Non-class changing verbal derivation includes the voice categories (causative and passive) as well as honorification. These are marked by suffixes attached directly to the root.

### 5.3.1 Voice: causative and passive

Voice categories include the causative and the passive, which trigger the valency changes to be detailed in §10.4. The causative is marked by either -as or -(a)sumi, with no major distinction between the two, except that the former appears only with verbs from the general class. The passive is marked by the suffix -(r)ai and it should be distinguished from the potential even if both are marked by the same suffix and are historically related; while the passive triggers important changes in the verb's valency, the potential only adds a modal value to the verb.

## 5.4 Honorific

The honorific category marks deference toward the subject of the verb. Honorific verbs are scarcely used nowadays in Ōgami Ryukyuan, but it is still possible to elicit partial paradigms that involve the suffix -(s)amar-. Several verbs exhibit suppletive morphology for honorification.

(40) 'be' ur- → uramar-
'eat' fa- → nkɛk-
'drink' num- → nkɛk-
'come' ks- → mmɛr-
'give' fii- → mɛrəs-

## 5.5 Complex verb forms

Ōgami Ryukyuan has several types of *complex verb forms* that involve several verb roots but function as a whole and do not form different clauses.

First, *compound verbs* are easily identifiable from their morphophonological and syntactic properties: the first member is always a special stem, the two terms form a single phonological word and cannot be separated by another element, and the second member does not affect the global valency of the compound, which is identical to that of the first one. For example *V-pakumi* 'begin to V' compounds where *V* is intransitive do not acquire an extra argument though *pakumi* 'begin' is itself transitive. Most of the second members of compounds are thus more like auxiliaries and often add an aspectual or modal value. Some of the most frequent ones include *pakumi* 'begin', *puskar* 'want', *kani* 'cannot' and *iuus* 'can'.
Analytic verb forms on the other hand involve a narrative converb followed by a TAM auxiliary, and the two can be interrupted by a topic or focus marker attached to the converb. This structure is similar to that of complex predicates (§9.2.1), but the second term of analytical forms is not a fully lexical verb but an auxiliary verb. Auxiliary verbs have undergone grammaticalization, and thus have no argument structure. Moreover, auxiliaries have a value sometimes rather different from their original lexical meaning. The most frequent auxiliary verbs are given in table 8.

<table><caption>Table 8: Auxiliary verbs in Ōgami Ryukyuan</caption><thead><tr><th>Form</th><th>Auxiliary value</th><th>Lexical meaning</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>ur</td><td>imperfective</td><td>&lt; 'be' (animate)</td></tr><tr><td>ar</td><td>resultative</td><td>&lt; 'be' (inanimate)</td></tr><tr><td>neen</td><td>completive</td><td>&lt; 'not be'</td></tr><tr><td>mii</td><td>conative, experiential</td><td>&lt; 'see'</td></tr><tr><td>usk</td><td>preparative</td><td>&lt; 'put'</td></tr></tbody></table>

Complex predicates are very similar to analytical verb forms, the main difference is that their second member retains its argumental structure and has not (yet) undergone full grammaticalization. They will be further detailed in §9.2.1.

# 6 Adjectives

## 6.1 The adjective class as opposed to nominals and verbs

A class of adjectives can be distinguished from both nominals and verbs. Unlike nominals, adjectives cannot stand as an argument of a predicate and cannot be marked for most case categories or for plural, nor can they be modified by a determiner. Adjectives also do not occur with the copula iar-. Unlike verbs, they do not inflect, and are thus incompatible with the TAM suffixes.

Two subclasses of adjectives exist in Ōgami Ryukyuan. The reduplicated adjectives are formed by reduplication of a property concept stem, with lengthening of the final mora of the first part. The similative adjectives are formed with the suffix -ki added to a property concept stem and have the special meaning 'like, seemingly'.

## 6.2 The function of adjectives

The principal function of adjectives is to modify a noun. While similative adjectives can be placed just before the noun they modify, reduplicated adjectives
must be followed by the nominative-genitive case marker *nu*.

(41) a. *urɛ=ɛ* ututu=nu *fau-pus-ki* kaas ira
PROX=TOP younger.sibling=NOM eat-DES-SIMIL cookie DISC
‘This is the cookie my younger brother seems to want to eat.’

b. *takaa-taka* = nu kii
high-high = NOM tree
‘A tall tree’

Adjectives can also be used predicatively. In such a case, similative adjec-
tives can be used alone while reduplicated adjectives must be followed by the
imperfective auxiliary *ur*.-

(42) a. *im* = *nu* kssiti-ki ira
sea = NOM beautiful-SIMIL DISC
‘The sea is beautiful, isn’t it?’

b. *ikima* = *a* *irav* = *nsɛ* = *ɛ* *upu-upa* = *a* *ur-a-n* *suma*
Ikema = TOP Irabu = SIMIL = TOP big-big = TOP IPF-IRR-NEG island
‘Ikema is an island not as big as Irabu.’

Reduplicated adjectives can also be used adverbially, though it is not their
most frequent use.

(43) unu nkɛna = u upu-upu-na kitam-i fii-ru
PROX nigana = ACC big-big-DISTR cut-CVB give-IMP
‘Cut me these *nigana* roughly.’

Adjectives also appear in fientive and causative constructions, and redupli-
cated adjectives then appear with a suffix -f

(44) a. vva=ka tii=nu skata-ki nar-i urɛ=ɛ ara-i
you=NOM hand=NOM dirty-SIMIL become-CVB PROX=TOP wash-IMP
‘Your hands are dirty, wash them.’

b. *pxsi-f* = *tu* *nar-i* *kss*
cold-SUFF = FOC become-CVB come
‘The weather is becoming cold.’

7 Class-changing derivations

7.1 Nominalization

Nouns can be derived from a property concept stem in two ways:

• the suffix -sa derives abstract nouns
(45) *taka* 'high' → *takasa* 'height'

• the suffix -munu derives concrete nouns

(46) *uturus* ‘frightening’ → *uturusmunu* ‘something/someone frightening’

Nominalization of verbs seems to be rather unproductive. It is difficult to identify synchronically the process of nominalization behind such examples as *panas* ‘to speak’ → *panas* ‘story’ or *nika* ‘to pray’ → *nikau* ‘prayer’. On the other hand, it is possible to identify a suffix -ɛɛ deriving agent nouns:

(47) *kupar-* ‘to stutter’ → *kupar*-ɛɛ ‘stutterer’

## 7.2 Verbalization

Stative verbs can be derived from property concept stems, similative adjectives and property nouns by adjunction of the suffix -kar-.

(48) a. *taka-* ‘high’ → *taka-kar-* ‘be high’

b. *pus-ki* ‘seem to want’ → *pus-ki-kar-* ‘seem to want’

c. *taia* ‘strength’ → *taiakar-* ‘be strong’

## 7.3 Adjectivalization

Adjectives are derived from property concept stems by reduplication with lengthening or by adding the similative suffix -ki.

(49) a. *taka-* ‘high’ → *takaa-taka* ‘high’

b. *skata-* ‘dirty’ → *skata-ki* ‘seem dirty’

# 8 Role marking: case and information structure marking

Ōgami Ryukyuan has a set of role markers that can appear on NPs, as well as some converbs. Some of these markers have some suffixal properties, while others are more akin to cliticized postpositions, and still others exhibit a rather ambiguous combination of the two. For the sake of convenience I will write all of them as clitics (with the = boundary symbol) and assume they simply form an extended phrase with the phrase they attach to.

The main role markers of Ōgami Ryukyuan are given in **table 9**, where S, A, P and E respectively refer to the single argument of an intransitive predicate (S), the most agent-like (A) and patient-like (P) argument of a prototypical
<table><caption>**Table 9:** Role markers in Ōgami Ryukyuan</caption><thead><tr><th>Label</th><th>Marker</th><th>Categories or functions marked</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>nominative</td><td>a</td><td>S/A, possessor, nominal modifier</td></tr><tr><td>nominative</td><td>nu</td><td>S/A, possessor, nominal modifier</td></tr><tr><td>accusative</td><td>u</td><td>P</td></tr><tr><td>accusative</td><td>a</td><td>P</td></tr><tr><td>dative</td><td>n</td><td>E, destination, location, passive/causative agent</td></tr><tr><td>directive</td><td>nkai</td><td>E, destination, agent in passive constructions</td></tr><tr><td>ablative</td><td>kara</td><td>source, mean or path of transportation</td></tr><tr><td>terminative</td><td>kami ~ taasi</td><td>temporal or spatial limit</td></tr><tr><td>instrumental</td><td>si</td><td>instrument, material</td></tr><tr><td>comitative</td><td>tu ~ sui</td><td>companion, addition</td></tr><tr><td>comparative</td><td>iuuu</td><td>standard of comparison</td></tr><tr><td>similative</td><td>nsi</td><td>standard of equal comparison</td></tr><tr><td>topic</td><td>a</td><td>topic</td></tr><tr><td>topic object</td><td>pa</td><td>topicalized object</td></tr><tr><td>focus</td><td>tu</td><td>focus</td></tr></tbody></table>

transitive predicate, and to the extended core argument (E). The topic and focus markers will be further described in §10.6.

The difference between the two nominative-genitive markers lies within the nominal hierarchy: *ka* is used with nominals located on the upper part of the hierarchy (pronouns and address nouns), and *nu* with the other nominals.

(50) a. $a=ka=tu$ kss
I = NOM = FOC come
'Here I come!'</td>

b. mii-tau = nu pstu = nu kss-i
three-CLF = NOM person = NOM come-CVB
'Three people came.'</td>

The accusative marker *a* is not very common in the Ōgami dialect in comparison to other Miyako dialects (Koloskova 2007, Shimoji 2009b), and contrary to the other accusative marker *u*, it can only appear in non-final clauses of a chain or in subordinate clauses.

(51) a. faa-nummi = i saar-i im = nkai ik-i
child-PLUR = ACC take.to-CVB sea = DIR go-CVB
‘We used to take the children to the sea…’

b. nnama = kara kam = ma nika-i
now = ABL god = ACC pray-CVB
‘Going to pray the gods now…’
Case ellipsis occurs only with the core arguments SAP marked for nomina-
tive or accusative. It is not uncommon in the case of the accusative, but very
rare in the case of the nominative, except for topicalized subjects, in which
case the topic marker *a* is obligatory and forbids the presence of the nomina-
tive marker. The nominative is also always ellipted when the inclusive marker
*mai* appears on the NP.

9 Predicate phrase

9.1 The structure of the predicate phrase

A predicate can be verbal, nominal or adjectival in Ōgami Ryukyuan.

9.2 Verbal predicate

A verbal predicate can be a simple verb, a compound verb, an analytic form or
a complex predicate.

9.2.1 Complex predicates

Complex predicates involve several verb forms that resemble complex phrasal
constructions since they are formed by narrative converbs. In fact, complex
predicates act as single mono-clausal predicates. In this way they differ from
both subordinate constructions and clause-chains. They must also be distin-
guished from analytic verb forms, which they also resemble superficially: in
the case of complex predicates all verbs retain their lexical meaning and argu-
ment structure, while only the first member of analytical verb forms is a lexical
verb.

Complex predicates do not imply a temporal sequence of several events,
and, contrary to clause-chains, it is never possible to replace the narrative con-
verb with a sequential converb or to introduce a constituent between the two
members without changing the meaning.

(52) *pampin* = *nu mut-i(*-siti)* *kss-i(*-siti)* *fii-ru*
*fritter* = *ACC hold-CVB(-SEQ) come-CVB(-SEQ) give-IMP*

‘Bring me some fritter!’

Complex predicates are also often not interpretable as involving a manner
adverbial subordinate clause, though some cases can be ambiguous. However,
contrary to subordinate clauses, members inside a complex predicate cannot
be focalized or negated independently.

Moreover, all verbs of a complex predicate retain their argument structure
which they share as a whole with the other members. For instance a complex
predicate with a motion verb like kss 'come' entitles the presence of a locative argument.

(53) uma = nkai muti kuu
here = DIR hold-CVB come-IMP
'Bring it here!'

## 9.3 Nominal predicate

A nominal can also serve as a predicate. It can appear without a copula if the clause is independent and does not require special TAM marking. In other cases, the copula iar- (negative stem ara-) is required and it bears the marks of coordination, subordination or TAM and polarity.

(54) a. urɛ = ɛ mɛɛku-pstu ?
         PROX = TOP Miyako-person
         'Is he from Miyako?'

b. mɛɛku-pstu ar-a-n
Miyako-person COP-IRR-NEG
'He's not from Miyako.'

## 9.4 Adjectival predicate

Adjectives, too, can be used as predicates. In such cases, reduplicated adjectives must appear with the auxiliary ur-, while similative adjectives can stand on their own.

# 10 The simple sentence

## 10.1 Speech acts

The different types of sentences, declarative, interrogative and imperative can be distinguished by their morphosyntactic features. Intonation is also an important cue to distinguish between the three types, and it can be the only evidence to discriminate between declarations and questions.

### 10.1.1 Declarative sentence

Declarative sentences are the unmarked type: they exhibit the greatest variety of inflections and have no specific morpho-syntactic marking.
### 10.1.2 Interrogative sentence

Interrogative sentences are very much similar to declarative ones and often exhibit no morpho-syntactic differences. A special question marker *ka* can *optionally* be added to a sentence to mark it overtly as interrogative. Verbs of the generic class can also be marked with the interrogative suffix -ɛɛ. The interrogative mood is detailed in §10.5.2.4.

However, the main cue to discriminate interrogative sentences from declarative ones is the intonation: interrogative sentences are uttered with a special pitch pattern. The pitch is high and level and falls sharply on the last syllable.

### 10.1.3 Imperative sentence

Imperative sentences can easily be identified as the verb is always inflected for one of the *directive* categories: imperative, precative or prohibitive.

## 10.2 Existence

The expression of the various types of existence show isomorphism to some extent.

### 10.2.1 Equation and proper inclusion

Proper inclusion (e.g. 'he is a student') and equation (e.g. 'he is my father') are mainly expressed by a nominal predicate, which does not require the copula in most cases.

(55) *karɛ=ɛ* *sinsii*
DIST=TOP teacher
‘He’s a teacher.’

### 10.2.2 Location

Location is expressed by an existential verb. The choice between the two verbs *ur* and *ar* depends on the nominal hierarchy, and here correlates with the animacy feature: animate subjects (humans, gods, animals) require *ur* while *ar* is used with inanimate subjects. The place of location is marked by the dative case marker *n*.

(56) a. *a=ka asta=a nta=n=tu auu*
I=NOM clog=TOP where?=DAT=FOC be
‘Where are my clogs?’

b. *kama=n=tu tuu=nu <ippai> uu*
there=DAT=FOC bird=NOM lot be
‘There are a lot of birds there.’
### 10.2.3 Possession

Existence of a possession can be encoded by the same construction as a locative existence, i.e. with an existential verb. In this case the possessed thing or being is marked for nominative.

(57) a. **tin** = **nu** **nɛɛ-n** = **suka** = **tu** **tin** = **nu** **ar-ipa** = **tu**
money = NOM be.NEG-NEG = but = FOC money = NOM be.CIRC = FOC
iaa = u fks-pus-kau
house-ACC build-DES-VBZ

‘I don’t have money but if I had I would like to build a house.’

b. **suta** = **ka** = **tu** **uu** = **tim**
elder.brother = NOM = FOC be = HS

‘He said he has an elder brother.’

When the possessor is human, the verb *ur* can be used even if the possession is an inanimate object.

(58) **kanu psta** = **a** **funi** = **nu** = **tu** **miu-uuna uu**
DIST person = TOP boat = NOM = FOC three-CLF be

‘He has three boats.’

Possession of animals can be expressed by the verb *kskana* ‘to rear’, and temporary possession of an object is usually expressed by the verb *mut-* ‘hold’.

## 10.3 Negation

Negation is expressed by special suffixes carried by a predicative element (verb, copula, auxiliary). The main negative suffix is -n, which attaches to the irrealis form of verbs. However, the two existential verbs as well as the copula have irregular or suppletive negative forms.<fnref n="6" />

(59) ‘be’ : *ur* → *mii-n*
‘be’ *ar* → *nɛɛ-n*
copula *jar* → *ara-n*

Derived stative verbs in -kar exhibit special negative forms in which the verbalizing suffix is replaced by -ffanɛɛ-n

(60) *takakar-* → *taka-ffanɛɛ-n*

There are also several portmanteau morphemes that express both negation and another inflectional category:

* prohibitive *na* (imperative + negation);

<footnote n="6">⁶The regular forms in -a-n are however used when the existential verbs are used as auxiliaries.</footnote>
• negative converb -ta;

• negative past -tatar-;

• anti-commissive -teen (prospective + negation);

• impotential auxiliary kani (potential + negation).

## 10.4 Valency-changing operations

The two valency-changing operations in Ōgami Ryukyuan, the causative and the passive, which can be also be combined together.

### 10.4.1 Causative

The causative has the main effect of increasing the verb's valency. A new participant is introduced as the subject, and the original subject of the corresponding active construction is demoted. The subject is demoted to the role of object in the case of intransitive verbs, and to an oblique dative role with transitive verbs. Typically, the new participant is a *causer* controlling the *causee*, the effective agent.

(61) a. faa = nu = tu <hon> = nu ium-i
       child = NOM = FOC book = ACC read-CVB
       ‘The child read a book.’ (active)

b. sinsii = ka = tu faa = n <hon> = nu ium-as-i
       teacher = NOM = FOC child = DAT book = ACC read-CAUS-CVB
       ‘The teacher made the child read a book.’ (causative)

We also find an *adversative* use of the causative, where the subject is not a real causer but a participant negatively affected by the event.

(62) a. araa tin = nu = tu nustu = n nisum-as-i
       I.TOP money = ACC = FOC burglar = DAT steal-CAUS-CVB
       ‘I got my money stolen by a burglar.’

### 10.4.2 Passive

The passive voice has the main effect of demoting the subject of an active construction to the role of oblique argument. The demoted argument is marked as dative or directive. In the case of transitive verbs, the original object is also typically promoted to the role of subject.

(63) a. pav = nu = tu faa = iu ff-i
       snake = NOM = FOC child = ACC bite-CVB
       ‘A snake bit a child.’ (active)
b. faa = nu      pav = n = tu      ff-ai
        child = NOM snake = DAT = FOC bite-PASS.CVB

        'A child was bitten by a snake.' (passive)

The passive voice also has some uses more akin to that of a *middle voice*, with a decausative/anti-causative meaning: the subject is viewed as the center of a spontaneous event.

(64) a. unu iata = a ff-ipa = mai suku aki-rai
       PROX door = TOP close-CIRC = INCL immediately open-PASS
       'Even if we close this door, it opens right away.'

b. suma = nu = tu mii-rai uu
island = NOM = FOC see-PASS.CVB IPF
        'We see an island.' (= is visible)

In some constructions the valency seems to be increased instead of being decreased; the subject is demoted but there is no promotion of the object, and another participant is introduced as the subject. The new subject is usually a possessor or controller, and such constructions can be interpreted as cases of *possessor-raising*.

(65) a. araa paku = u = tu us = n fumtar-ai paku = u
       I.TOP leg = ACC = FOC cow = DAT trample-PASS.CVB leg = ACC
       iam-as-ε = εu
       suffer-CAUS-CVB = RES
       'I got my legged trampled by a cow and I'm injured.'

b. kau-tau ftakina = nu kuruma = u = tu nisum-ai
buy-PST recently = NOM car = ACC = FOC steal-PASS.CVB
             'The car I had just bought was robbed.'

However, Ōgami Ryukyuan seems to have no *indirect passive*, an adversative passive used with intransitive verbs, as attested in Japanese (Shibatani 1990).

### 10.4.3 Combination of the causative and the passive

Both the causative and the passive voice can be combined in a single construction, by attaching the passive suffix after the causative. There is no demotion of the subject nor promotion of the object, and instead a causer is newly introduced as an oblique argument, and the causee/detrimental assumes the role of subject.

(66) a. araa kunu = tu sinsii = n simuks ium-as-ai
I.TOP yesterday = FOC teacher = DAT book read-CAUS-PASS.CVB
             'I was obliged by the teacher to read a book yesterday.'
b. kuna = a upu-wa = n = tu <ippai> saki = i
yesterday = TOP grand-father = DAT = FOC lot alcohol = ACC
num-as-ai
drink-CAUS-PASS.CVB

'Yesterday, I was obliged by my grand-father to drink a lot of alco-
hol.'

10.5 Tense, aspect and mood

10.5.1 Tense

Ōgami Ryukyuan has only one formally marked purely temporal category: the past tense, marked by the verbal suffix -tar-.

(67) <zitença> = kara kss-i <kago> = sui nisum-i pɛw-taw
bicycle = ABL come-CVB basket-COM steal-CVB leave-PST

‘He came by bicycle and robbed them with his basket.’

Perfective past tense can also be expressed by a desubordinated construction
with a narrative converb.

(68) katam = mu = tu kurus-i
mosquito = ACC = FOC kill-CVB

‘I killed the mosquito.’

Non past-tense categories are not overtly marked. The *neuter* form can thus
mark present or future, often with a value of generic truth or habitual.

(69) *ansi* = *tu tauf* = *fu pa* kff
so = FOC tōfu = ACC = TOP.OBJ make

‘This is how we make tōfu.’

10.5.2 Major moods

10.5.2.1 Indicative

The indicative mood is nowadays very rare in Ōgami Ryukyuan, though it
seems it was more frequent some decades ago (Hirayama et al. 1967, Shibata
1972, Hōsei daigaku Okinawa bunka kenkyūjo 1977). The indicative suffix -m
is now restricted to past tense forms and stative verbs. The exact semantic value
of this decaying suffix is difficult to pin down, but the comparison with other
dialects reveals its original value was to indicate the speaker's certitude and
implication in the assertion (Shimoji 2008b).
### 10.5.2.2 Irrealis

The bare irrealis form in -a is used with a hortative meaning, expressing request, invitation, or intention of the speaker.

(70) suu = nu pss-i = ir-ipa im = nkai ik-a
tide = NOM dry-CVB = IPF-CIRC sea = DIR go-IRR
‘Let’s go to the sea when the tide is out.’

### 10.5.2.3 Directive

Ōgami Ryukyuan has different types of directive mood that express more or less strong requests: the imperative (-i/-ru), the precative (-εεri/-nε) and the prohibitive (=na).

(71) a. ara-i mut-i kss-i
wash-CVB carry-CVB come-IMP
‘Wash it and bring it!’

b. kanu pau = iu tur-εεri
DIST staff = ACC take-PREC
‘Give me that staff!’

c. uri = nkai savau = na
PROX = DIR touch = PROH
‘Don’t touch this!’

### 10.5.2.4 Interrogative

Interrogative mood is often unmarked, but can be marked by the particle ka. A special verb form with a suffix -εε also exists but is limited to past tense forms, the copula and stative verbs.

(72) nauripa = tu kuu-tatar-εε ?
why? = FOC come-PST.NEG-INTERR
‘Why didn’t you come?’

### 10.5.2.5 Emphatic

Emphatic mood indicates a special emphasis made by the speaker, often a strong assertion. It is formed by adding the focus marker to the special stem of a verb, followed by a reduced form s of the verb ‘do’ (as).

(73) a. naupasi = nu wu = u = mai fau = tu = s
how? = NOM fish = ACC = INCL eat = FOC = EMPH
‘I do eat all sorts of fishes.’
b. ata = a kuu-rai = tu = s ?
tomorrow = TOP come-POT = FOC = EMPH
‘Can you come tomorrow?’

**10.5.3 Possibility and obligation**

**10.5.3.1 Potential**

Potential expressions can be formed by either the suffix -rai or compounding
with iuus.

(74) a. asatɛ = ɛ kuu-rai = ssuka ata = a kuu-rai-n
day after tomorrow come-POT = but tomorrow = TOP come-POT-NEG
‘I can come the day after tomorrow but not tomorrow.’

b. upuusa iar-iiri = tu fau-iuus-a-n
lot COP-CVB.IPF = FOC eat-POT-IRR-NEG
‘There is a lot so I can’t eat all of it.’

**10.5.3.2 Impotential**

Impotential indicates impossibility and is formed by compounds with kani.

(75) unu psta = a ukam = nu pstu ia = ssuka = tu ukam = nu
PROX person = TOP Ōgami = NOM person COP = but = FOC Ōgami = NOM
munuu = u = pa au-kani uu
word = ACC = TOP.OBJ say-IMPOT IPF
‘He’s from Ōgami, but he cannot speak the local language.’

**10.5.3.3 Permissive**

Permissive expresses permission granted to the subject of the verb and is formed
by desubordination of the concessive converb (see §11.5).

(76) ata = a kuu-pamai ?
tomorrow = TOP come-CSV
‘May I come tomorrow?’

**10.5.3.4 Debitive**

Debitive expression is periphrastic and combines a negative conditional con-
verb with a negative form of the verb nar- ‘become’.

(77) karɛ = ɛ uki-takaa nar-a-n = suka mmita uki-n
DIST = TOP get.up-COND.NEG become-IRR-NEG = but still get.up-NEG
‘He must get up but he’s still not waking up.’
### 10.5.4 Volition

#### 10.5.4.1 Intentional

Intentional indicates a concrete project of the subject and is formed by adding the formal noun *sammin* to the predicate.

(78) *ara = a ata*      *pssara = nkai iks sammin*
I = TOP tomorrow Hirara = DIR go INT

'Tomorrow I'm planning to go to Hirara.'

#### 10.5.4.2 Desiderative

Desiderative is formed by compounding with *puskar-* and marks a wish or a desire of the subject.

(79) *a = ka fau-pus-ka-m*      *muna = a uri*
I = TOP eat-DES-VBZ-IND thing = TOP PROX

'That's what I want to eat.'

#### 10.5.4.3 Anti-commissive

Anti-commissive indicates a refusal or the lack of intention by adding the suffix *-teen* to the irrealis form.

(80) *ara = a ik-a-teen*
I = TOP go-IRR-ACOM

'I won't go'

### 10.5.5 Conjecture

Conjectural categories express the commitment of the speaker regarding the truth of the information.

#### 10.5.5.1 Presumptive

The presumptive (*paku*) indicates the information is deduced by the speaker and is highly probable or logically expected to be true.

(81) *ata = a*      *stumuti = kara = tu*      *ami = nu*      *ff paku*
tomorrow = TOP morning = ABL = FOC rain = NOM fall PRESUM

'Tomorrow it will probably rain from the morning.'
### 10.5.5.2 Prospective

The prospective (-ti) is used as a kind of modal future or conjectural imperfective. It expresses an event that has not yet occurred but is, or was, expected to occur. It can also express the intention of the subject.

(82) a. $a=ka vva=ka iaa=nkai kuu-ti=ssɛɛ mat-i=ir-i$
I = NOM you = NOM house = DIR go-PROSP = since wait-CVB = IPF-IMP
'I'm coming to your house so wait for me!'

b. $ami=nu ff-a-ti$
rain = NOM fall-IRR-PROSP
'It's going to rain.'

### 10.5.5.3 Previsional

The previsional (kumata) expresses an expectation or a project of the speaker.

(83) $vva=ka ks-tau paa=n=na araa iti pɛw$
you = NOM come-PST moment = DAT = TOP I>TOP go.out.CVB leave
kumata = tu iatau
PREV = FOC COP-PST
'When you came I was about to go out.'

## 10.5.6 Evidentiality

Ōgami Ryukyuan has four evidential categories which indicate the existence of an external source for the information provided.

### 10.5.6.1 Hearsay

Hearsay is marked by = tim or = tta:<fnref n="7" />

(84) a. $tunau=nu <ŏzii> =ka=tu kunu sun-tau=tta$
neighbour = NOM old.man = NOM = FOC yesterday die-PST = HS
'It's said the old man from the neighbour house passed away yesterday.'

b. $ikɛɛm=n=na kama=nu im=ma suma=tu ia-tau=tim$
old.days = DAT = TOP there = NOM sea = TOP island = FOC COP-PST = HS
'It is said this part of the sea was land during the old days.'

### 10.5.6.2 Inferential

The inferential is marked by sauna and expresses the existence of an external source of information and a certain unreliability of this information: the in-

<footnote n="7">⁷The difference between the two remains unclear.</footnote>
formation is presented as what can be inferred to be true from the evidence
available.

(85) <obaa> uu=tu=s sauna
grand-mother be=FOC=EMPH INFER

‘It seems grand mother is there.’

10.5.7 Aspect

10.5.7.1 Imperfective

Imperfective aspect is formed with the auxiliary verb *ur*-. It can express a habit, an ongoing action or state. It thus combines the values of habitual, progressive and durative.

(86) a. makssɛ=ɛ mainiks <ku>=n=tu aki=u
store=TOP everyday 9h=DAT=FOC open.CVB=IPF
‘The store opens everyday at 9.’

b. pataka=n nar-i=tu=u
naked=DAT become-CVB=FOC=IPF
‘He’s naked.’

c. karɛ=ɛ skama=u=mai asi-ta=tu niv-vi=tɛɛn uu
DIST=TOP work=ACC=INCL do-CVB.NEG=FOC sleep-CVB=RESTR IPF
‘He does not work and all he does is sleep.’

10.5.7.2 Completive

Completive aspect is marked by the auxiliary *nɛɛn* and conveys the meaning of
an event completed in an irreversible fashion.

(87) <bas> = nu=tu kui pɛr-i nɛɛn
bus=NOM=FOC go.past.CVB leave-CVB CPLF

‘The bus has left (and won’t come back).’

10.5.7.3 Inchoative

Inchoative aspect is marked by compounding with *pakumi* and indicates the
event is at its beginning stage.

(88) unu <hon> = nu=pa kuna=a ium-pakumi=tu
PROX book=ACC=TOP.OBJ yesterday=TOP read-INCHO=FOC

‘I began to read this book yesterday.’
### 10.5.7.4 Terminative

Terminative aspect can be marked by the auxiliaries *tukumi* and *uvar*-. It marks an event at its final stage.

(89) a. *kak-i* = *tu*   *uvar-i* = *u*
write-CVB = FOC TERM-CVB = IPF
'I have finished writing.'

b. *fau-tukumi* = *tu*
*eat-TERM* = *FOC*
'I have finished eating.'

### 10.5.7.5 Resultative

Resultative aspect is formed with the auxiliary *ar-* and marks a persistent result of an event.

(90) *ua* = *ka* = *tu*   *mmita pssara* = *n*   *ik-*ε = *u*
father = NOM = FOC still   Hirara = DAT go-CVB = RES
'My father is still in Hirara.'

### 10.5.7.6 Perfect

The perfect is seldom used in Ōgami Ryukyuan. It is formed with the auxiliary *uk-* and expresses a past event viewed as linked with a posterior situation.

(91) *akaurɛɛ* = *nu* <*kjoodai*> *ftaau* = *nu fuufu* = *n*
Akaurɛɛ = NOM sibling two = NOM couple = DAT
*nar-i* = *ik-i*   *mamuia* = *u* = *mai*   *nas-tau*
become-CVB = PARF-CVB *Mamuiaa* = ACC = INCL to.father-PST

'The brother and sister of the *Akaurɛɛ* house, having become husband and wife, gave birth to Mamujaa.'

### 10.5.7.7 Conative

Conative aspect is marked by the auxiliary *mii* and expresses an attempt, a try or an experience.

(92) a. *ansi* = *nu* *muna* = *a* *upu-mma* = *nkai* *ksk-i* *mii-ripa* = *tu*
*so* = *NOM* *thing* = *TOP* *grand-mother* = *DIR* *ask-CVB CON-CIRC* = *FOC*
*ss-i* = *u*
*know-CVB* = *IPF*
'That kind of thing, if we ask grand-mother, she will know it.'

b. *uɛ* = *ɛ*   *mii* = *ia* *mii-n* = *uu*
PROX = TOP see = TOP CON-NEG fish
'It's a fish I have never seen.'
### 10.5.7.8 Preparative

Preparative aspect indicates an action done ahead, in prevision of an other event. It is marked with the auxiliary usk-.

(93) urii ara-i-siti nukui-siti nnas-i usk-i
PROX = ACC wash-CVB-SEQ wipe.CVB-SEQ tidy; up-CVB PREP-IMP

‘Clean it, wipe it and put it away (for next use).’

## 10.6 Information structure

### 10.6.1 Topicalization

Topicalization of a constituent is always formally marked in Ōgami Ryukyuan. The two different topic markers *a* and *pa* have a different distribution:

* *pa* appears after object arguments only;

* *a* can appear after all other kinds of constituents, subject and oblique arguments, as well as adverbial clauses; it follows case markers but prevents the occurrence of a nominative-genitive marker.

The topic marker *a* is also used to mark arguments that are at the same time the object of a clause and the subject of another.

A topicalized constituent is free to appear in a non-canonical position, usually the sentence-initial position.

Topicalization is also used to express contrast or emphatic negation.

(94) a. akawrɛɛ = nu miitu-kam = ma uri = kara = tu
Akawrɛɛ = NOM couple-god = TOP PROX = ABL = FOC
suma = u = pa pssuki-tau
village = ACC = TOP.OBJ widen-PST

‘The married gods of the house of Akawrɛɛ then populated the village.’

b. unu <gaikoku> = nu psta = a unu ukam = nu
PROX foreign = NOM person = TOP PROX Ōgami = NOM
pstu = pa mmna <zenbu> pstu-tukuma = n matumar-i
person = TOP.OBJ all all one-place = DAT gather-CVB

‘These foreigners gathered all the people of Ōgami in one place...’

c. unu katana = sɛ = ε skss-ai-n
PROX knife = INSTR = TOP cut-POT-NEG

‘I can’t cut it with this knife.’
### 10.6.2 Focalization

Focalization of a constituent is also always morphologically marked, by the clitic marker *tu*. Focus marking is very common, and most sentences contain an overtly marked focus, even if its informative value is rather low. The variety of focus markers in Ōgami Ryukyuan is rather poor in comparison of other Miyako dialects (see Shimoji 2008a). The main focus marker is *tu*, which can appear after any constituent. However, it seems impossible to focalize a constituent embedded inside a subordinate clause or an NP.

(95) a. $tauf=fu=pa$ <daizu> = $si=tu$ as
    tōfu = ACC = TOP.OBJ soy = INSTR = FOC do
    ‘Tōfu is made from soy beans.’

b. upusuu paur-ipa = tu <sizento> tauf = n nar-i = w
seawater pour-CIRC = FOC naturally tōfu = DAT become = CVB = IPF
‘When you pour seawater in it, it naturally becomes tōfu.’

## 11 The complex sentence

### 11.1 Overview of complex clause structures

Apart from subordinate relative clauses, whose recognition is rather straightforward, the distinction between coordination and subordination in complex sentences is problematic in Ōgami Ryukyuan.

The main strategy to build complex sentences is by the combination of clauses headed by converbs, which are formally dependent verb forms. However, many clauses headed by converbs cannot be straightforwardly described as strictly subordinate. They rather encode coordinate events, and such clauses correspond to the co-subordinate structures defined by Van Valin and LaPolla (1997).

The distinction between coordination and subordination in Ōgami Ryukyuan is thus rather blurred, and the same clause can be interpreted as co-ordinate/co-subordinate or subordinate depending on the context.<fnref n="8" />

### 11.2 Coordination

Syntactic clausal coordination is not a prominent feature in Ōgami Ryukyuan, and clause-chains (§11.3) are used instead as a coordination strategy. The only coordination construction *stricto sensu* is by the disjunctives conjunction *suka*.

<footnote n="8">⁸See Bickel (1998) for a typological overview of the blurred distinction between coordination and subordination as well as the converb category in Asian languages.</footnote>
(96) ara = a saki num-a-ti = ssuka vva = a num-a-teen ?
I = TOP alcohol drink-IRR-PROSP = but you = TOP drink-IRR-ACOM
'I am going to drink alcohol, but will you drink too?'

11.3 Clause-chaining

Ōgami Ryukyuan exhibits syntactic constructs that resemble the clause-chains
of the languages of Papua-New Guinea (Foley 1986). In such chains a series
of clauses follow each other and only the final verb is an independent verb
form carrying the TAM markers. In Ōgami Ryukyuan, such chain-medial clauses
are usually headed by a narrative or sequential converb, and clause-chains are
sometimes difficult to distinguish from adverbial subordinate structures. Clause
chains are also close to coordinated structures, and indeed they are the only
strategy to express conjunctive coordination in Ōgami Ryukyuan.

(97) a. uri = i ara-i-siti nuku-i-siti nnas-i usk-i
       PROX = ACC wash-CVB-SEQ wipe-CVB-SEQ put.in.order-CVB PREP-IMP
       ‘Wash it, wipe it and put it away!’

b. kama-naki = kara <tomodatçi> = nu kss-i pssui mmna
there-APPROX = ABL friend = NOM come-CVB pick.up.CVB all
kago = nkai ur-i tur-as-i-sitii = tu...
basket = DIR put.in-CVB take-CAUS-CVB-SEQ = FOC

‘Some friends came from somewhere, they picked (the pears) up,
put them all in the basket and gave it to him...’

Clause chains are frequently used in narrations to express a sequence of
events in their chronological order, and all of these events are seen as hav-
ing the same semantic and discursive rank. Clause chains can easily include a
dozen narrative or sequential converbs, to which many true adverbial subor-
dinate clauses can be added. Chain-medial clauses are used for plot-advancing
in narrations, while adverbial subordinate clauses are used to describe back-
ground information.

(98) fii-ripa urɛ = ɛ mut-i pɛr-i-sitii = tu...
give-CIRC PROX = ACC carry-CVB leave-CVB-SEQ = FOC

‘As they gave them to him, he took them and left...’

11.4 Subordination

11.4.1 Adverbial subordination

Adverbial subordinate clauses are most usually headed by converbs.

(99) a. aspu-ka kuu
play-PURP come.IMP
‘Come to have fun.’ (purpose)
b. mainiks ffa-f nau-tikaa iatu = u = tu ff
everyday dark-SUFF become-ANT door = ACC = FOC close

‘Everyday I close the door when it gets dark.’ (time)

c. iāa = nkai kss-ipa = tu ami = nu ff-i taiku ia-tau
house = DIR come-CIRC = FOC rain = NOM fall-CVB terrible COP-PST

‘While I was going home, it rained and it was terrible.’ (simultaneous time)

The other adverbial subordination strategy available is through the use of an independent verb form followed by a subordinating conjunction or by formal noun in a relative-like construction (see §11.4.2).

(100) a. aks-kau = kɛ num-i = ra
hot-VBZ = when drink-IMP = DISC

‘Drink while it’s hot!’

b. suma = nu pstu = n = mai mii-rai-n iaun kss-i...
village = NOM person = DAT = INCL see-PASS-NEG for come-CVB

‘They came in a way that they would not be seen by the villagers…’

c. uri = i sumar-a-ti = ssɛɛ kanu kisku = nu paa = u
PROX = ACC bind-IRR-PROSP = car DIST Eulalia.grass = NOM leaf = ACC

mut-i kuu
carry-CVB come.IMP

‘Since I’m going to bind this, bring me those leaves of Eulaliae grass!’

11.4.2 Relative subordination

Relative subordinate clauses appear just before the relativized domain noun, without any relativizer of any kind. Relative clauses are headed by independent verb forms, but there are some restrictions on the moods that can appear in a relative clause. There seem to be no internally headed relative clauses in Ōgami Ryukyuan, and headless relative clauses are very uncommon.

All kinds of syntactic and semantic roles can be relativized, like the subject,
the object, as well as various oblique arguments.

(101) a. [[pssara = nkai iks] pstu]
Hirara = DIR go person
‘the person going to Hirara’ (subject)

b. uɛ = ɛ [[a = ka kff] kss]
PROX = TOP I = NOM make fish-hook

‘Here are the fish-hooks I make.’ (object)

c. [[fii-tau] pstu] = nu naa = u = tu passi = u
give-PST person = NOM name = ACC = FOC forget.CVB = IPF
‘I forgot the name of the person I gave it.’ (dative)

d. kurɛ=ɛ [[<tegami>=i kaks-tau] <pen>]
this=TOP letter=ACC write-PST spen

‘This is the pen I used to write the letter.’ (instrumental)

Relative clauses are also widely used as a complementation and adverbial
subordination strategy. For example, the noun *munu* ‘thing’ often appears as
a complementizer in relative-like structures which cannot be interpreted as
relative clauses meaning ‘the thing that...’.

(102) [[kari=ka iaa=n simuks ium-i=i-tau] munu]=u=tu
DIST=NOM house=DAT book read-CVB=IPF-PST thing=ACC=FOC
mii-tau
see-PST

‘I saw him reading a book at home.’

Relativization of a formal noun is also often used to express adverbial subordination, like with *paa* ‘moment’ > ‘when’.

(103) [[imi-kau] paa] = n = na iamutu = n = tu u-tau
small-VBZ time = DAT = TOP Japan = DAT = FOC be-PST

‘When he was a child, he lived in mainland Japan.’

11.4.3 Complementation

For most verbs, the only complementation strategy available is through the *munu* construction described above. However, verbs of speech and thought have a complementation strategy with the quotative marker *ti(i)* following the quoted speech.

(104) Taroo=ia [naa=ka=tu pau-kau=ti] umu-i uu
Tarō=TOP LOG=NOM=FOC bad-VBZ=QUOT think-CVB IPF

‘Tarō thinks it’s his fault.’

Interrogative complements are usually embedded questions marked by *ka*, and yes-no questions are marked by *mukara*.

(105) a. [nau=iu as-sipa=tu tau-kau=ka] ss-ai-n
what? = ACC do-CIRC = FOC good-VBZ = Q know-POT-NEG
'I don't know what I should do.'

b. maataki naw mukara ss-ai-n
together become Q know-PASS-NEG

‘I don’t know whether they are getting married.’
## 11.5 Desubordination

Ōgami exhibits a desubordination process whereby a dependent clause headed by a converb is used as a main clause. Though this phenomenon also applies to coordinate-like medial clauses of clause-chains and not only to strictly subordinate clauses, I shall retain the term of desubordination.<fnref n="9" />

### 11.5.1 From concessive to permissive

The concessive converb in -pamai is often used in a construction with iunumunu 'same' to express permission.

(106) *karɛ=ɛ kuu-pamai iunumunu*
DIST=TOP come.IRR-CSV same
'He can come.' (litt. 'Even if he comes, it is the same.')

The iunumunu part can be ellipted without altering the meaning of the sentence. This is a case of conventional ellipsis: the missing element can be recovered, but ellipsis is restricted to this particular element and the sentence cannot have another interpretation (Evans 2007).

(107) a. *karɛ=ɛ ik-a-pamai ias=suka*
DIST=TOP go-IRR-CSV COP=but
'He, he may go but...'
b. *ata kuu-pamai?*
tomorrow come.IRR-CSV
'May I come tomorrow?'

### 11.5.2 From narrative to past

Clauses headed by a narrative converb in -i can also undergo desubordination. The narrative converb then has a perfective past value, and no aspectual auxiliary may appear on the verb.

The desubordinate clause retains the characteristics of a dependent clause, and for instance the narrative converb can be followed by the focus marker tu. Indexfocus This is the only case where this marker can appear in the final position of a sentence. The desubordinate clause also cannot carry polarity or TAM markers, like many dependent clauses that depend on a matrix clause for the expression of these categories, and contrary to independent clauses.

(108) a. *ffuu=u=pa mmɛ num-i=tu*
medicine=ACC=TOP.OBJ already drink-CVB=FOC
'I have already taken my medicine.'

<footnote n="9">⁹See Aikhenvald (2004). The same phenomenon is labelled insubordination by Evans (2007).</footnote>
b. vva = a pssnii=pa asi=tu ?
you=TOP nap=TOP.OBJ do.CVB=FOC

‘Did you take your nap?’

c. kuna = a nau=iu=tu asi?
yesterday=TOP what?=ACC=FOC do.CVB

‘What did you do yesterday?’

The desubordinate clauses headed by a narrative converb have gone one step further on the desubordination scale, and contrary to the desubordinate concessive clauses, they cannot be considered as cases of ellipsis. No element can be recovered and added to the sentence, and the desubordinate clause is clearly fully independent.

The emergence of new tense-aspect forms through desubordination seems to be not very common from a typological point of view (Evans 2007), and the Ōgami case is thus remarkable.
Sample text: the Pear story

(T.1) <ożii> = ka <nasi> = i mur-i = ir-ipa... mur-i...
old.man = NOM pear = ACC pick.up-CVB = IPF-CIRC pick.up-CVB
'An old man was picking up pears,'

(T.2) <epuron> = nu <poketto> = kara <poketto> = nkai uri mur-i...
apron = NOM pocket = ABL pocket = DIR PROX pick.up-CVB
mur-i-sitii = tu
pick.up-CVB-SEQ = FOC
'he was picking them up into his apron's pocket, then'

(T.3) <epuron> = nu <poketto> = kara mut-i kss-i
apron = NOM pocket = ABL carry-CVB come-CVB
'he brought them from his apron's pocket'

(T.4) mmna uma = nkai mut-i-siti auk-i-siti
all there = DIR carry-CVB-SEQ pour-CVB-SEQ
'he brought them up over there and then poured them'

(T.5) ik-i <nasi> muu-ka pεr-ε = εr-ipa = tu mata
go-CVB pear pick.up-PURP leave-CVB = RES-CIRC = FOC again
'and as he was gone to pick up pears,'

(T.6) tau-karaa... nau-karaa iarapi = nu kss-i
who?-INDEF what?-INDEF child = NOM come-CVB
'somebody, a child, came,'

(T.7) <żitenga> = kara kss-i <kago> = sui... nisum-i pɛu-tau
bicycle = ABL come-CVB basket-COM steal-CVB leave-PST
'he came by bicycle and stole them with his basket.'

(T.8) nisum-i pɛu-tau
steal-CVB leave-PST
'He stole them.'

(T.9) asi mut-i ik-i kama = nki ik-i
do.CVB carry-CVB go-CVB there = DIR go-CVB
'Then he took them away,'

(T.10) <żitenga> = kara <hikkurigaer> -i mmna sti-ripa = tu
bicycle = ABL turn.over-CVB all loose-CIRC = FOC
'he fell off his bicycle and as he lost them all,'

(T.11) kama-naki = kara <tomodatçi> = nu kss-i pssui
there-APPROX = ABL friend = NOM come-CVB pick.up-CVB
'some friends came from over there and picked them up,'
(T.12) mmna <kago> = nkai ur-i... tur-as-ipa... -sitii = tu pɛur-ipa
all basket = DIR put.in-CVB take-CAUS-CVB -SEQ = FOC leave-CIRC
'they put them all into the basket, gave them to him, and as they went
away,'

(T.13) <boosi> = i = tu passi per-ɛ = wu = ti mut-i kss-i
hat = ACC = FOC forget.CVB leave-CVB = RES = QUOT carry-CVB come-CVB
tur-as-ipa
take-CAUS-CIRC
'they realized “he's leaving without his hat” and brought it and gave it
to him,'

(T.14) unu <nasi> = i pstii-ks tama nakaar-i fii fii au fii-tau
PROX pear = ACC one-CLF share share-CVB give.CVB give.CVB RES give-PST
'then he gave one of those pears to each one of them.'

(T.15) fii-ripa urɛ = ɛ mut-i per-i-sitii = tu
give-CIRC PROX = ACC carry-CVB leave-CVB-SEQ = FOC
'He gave them and they went away with them.'

(T.16) <ożii> = ka mai = nkai mata kss-i mii-tau = nu
old.man = NOM front = DIR again come-CVB three-CLF = NOM
pstu = nu kss-i
person = NOM come-CVB
'They came again in front of the old man, three of them,'

(T.17) maar-i <ożii> = ka mai maar-i-siti pɛut-tau... pɛut-au
turn-CVB old.man = NOM front turn-CVB-SEQ leave-PST leave-PST
'they went past the old man and went away.'
Abbreviations

<table><tr><td>&lt;...&gt;</td><td>loanword from Japanese / code-switching</td><td>INDEF</td><td>indefinite</td></tr><tr><td>ABL</td><td>ablative</td><td>INFER</td><td>inferential</td></tr><tr><td>ACC</td><td>accusative</td><td>INSTR</td><td>instrumental</td></tr><tr><td>ACOM</td><td>Anti-comissive</td><td>INT</td><td>intentional</td></tr><tr><td>ANT</td><td>anterior</td><td>INTERR</td><td>interrogative</td></tr><tr><td>APPROX</td><td>approximative</td><td>IPF</td><td>imperfective</td></tr><tr><td>CAUS</td><td>causative</td><td>IRR</td><td>irrealis</td></tr><tr><td>CIRC</td><td>circumstantial</td><td>LOG</td><td>logophoric</td></tr><tr><td>CLF</td><td>classifier</td><td>NEG</td><td>negative</td></tr><tr><td>COM</td><td>comitative</td><td>NOM</td><td>nominative</td></tr><tr><td>CON</td><td>conative</td><td>PASS</td><td>passive</td></tr><tr><td>COND.NEG</td><td>negative conditional</td><td>PERF</td><td>perfect</td></tr><tr><td>COP</td><td>copula</td><td>PLUR</td><td>plural</td></tr><tr><td>CPLF</td><td>completive</td><td>POT</td><td>potential</td></tr><tr><td>CSV</td><td>concessive</td><td>PREC</td><td>precative</td></tr><tr><td>CVB.IPF</td><td>imperfective converb</td><td>PREP</td><td>preparative</td></tr><tr><td>CVB.NEG</td><td>negative converb</td><td>PRESUM</td><td>presumptive</td></tr><tr><td>CVB</td><td>narrative converb</td><td>PREV</td><td>previsional</td></tr><tr><td>DAT</td><td>dative</td><td>PROH</td><td>prohibitive</td></tr><tr><td>DES</td><td>desiderative</td><td>PROSP</td><td>prospective</td></tr><tr><td>DIM</td><td>diminutive</td><td>PROX</td><td>proximal</td></tr><tr><td>DIR</td><td>directive</td><td>PST.NEG</td><td>negative past</td></tr><tr><td>DISC</td><td>discourse marker</td><td>PST</td><td>past</td></tr><tr><td>DIST</td><td>distal</td><td>PURP</td><td>purposive</td></tr><tr><td>DISTR</td><td>distributive</td><td>Q</td><td>question</td></tr><tr><td>EMPH</td><td>emphatic</td><td>QUOT</td><td>quotative</td></tr><tr><td>FOC</td><td>focus</td><td>RES</td><td>resultative</td></tr><tr><td>HON</td><td>honorific</td><td>RESTR</td><td>restrictive</td></tr><tr><td>HS</td><td>hear-say</td><td>SEQ</td><td>sequential</td></tr><tr><td>IMP</td><td>imperative</td><td>SIMIL</td><td>similative</td></tr><tr><td>IMPOT</td><td>impotential</td><td>SUFF</td><td>suffix</td></tr><tr><td>INCHO</td><td>inchoative</td><td>TERM</td><td>terminative</td></tr><tr><td>INCL</td><td>inclusive</td><td>TOP.OBJ</td><td>topicalized object</td></tr><tr><td>IND</td><td>indicative</td><td>TOP</td><td>topic</td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td>VBZ</td><td>verbalizer</td></tr></table>
# Ikema (Miyako Ryukyuan)

## Yuka Hayashi*

Kyoto University

<figure><img src="image_26.png" /><figcaption>Figure 1: Miyako Islands</figcaption></figure>

## Introduction

Ikema is one of the varieties of Miyako Ryukyuan.<fnref n="1" /> According to Pellard (2009b), it is one of the dialects which branched off from Common Miyako in an earlier

<footnote>*The research for this work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Kak-enhi) #20.6104 from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).</footnote>

<footnote n="1">¹This paper is mainly based on data from Nishihara, one of the three areas of Miyako Islands on which Ikema is spoken.</footnote>
period with the Irabu dialects described in Shimoji (2008a). Basic morpho-
syntax of Ikema is that of a typical Japonic language, verb-final and modifier-
head constituent order. Ikema shares some typologically distinctive features
with other Miyako varieties such as Irabu and Ōgami. Prosodically, Ikema has
tonal rhythm<fnref n="2" /> as its basic melody just as Irabu does. Unlike Irabu, however,
Ikema also has a lexical word-tone system which makes the tonal realization of
Ikema rather complicated. Ikema also shares with other Miyako varieties the
richness in class assignment in adjectival stems<fnref n="3" /> (which cannot stand alone as
a word), which is the basis of their “switch adjectival system” (Wetzer 1996).
What is striking in this respect is that Ikema does not have the morphologi-
cal strategy of reduplication typical of adjectives in Miyako Ryukyuan, which
means that Ikema does not have adjective as a word class. As a language which
has both topic and focus markers in its Information Structure (IS) coding sys-
tem, Ikema (and some other Miyako varieties) can be also striking in that it has
an extensive marking system related to IS, especially on direct objects. That
is, it has four variations of accusative marking expressing different statuses in
IS. Ikema also has what is called the *kakari-musubi*<fnref n="4" /> construction observed in
Old Japanese, which has been believed to be no longer active in other Miyako
varieties.<fnref n="5" />

# 1 The language and its speakers

Ikema Ryukyuan is spoken on Ikema Island, Sarahama (Irabu Island) and Nishi-
hara (main Miyako Island) in Miyako-jima City of Okinawa Prefecture. Like
other Ryukyuan varieties, Ikema is generally not spoken by the younger gener-
ations. The number of the speakers of Ikema can be estimated at approximately
two thousand if we assume that people over sixty all speak Ikema.<fnref n="6" /> Ikema is
still used in everyday language situations among native speakers at home and in
gatherings within the community. Ikema is not systematically taught in schools,
but some effort has been made to give the children an opportunity to get in
touch with the language as part of extra-curricular programs.

<footnote n="2">²Rhythmic alternation is usually seen as a phenomenon of stress languages, but Ikema as well as Irabu have a rhythm which is clearly tonal.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³It is what is called “PC stems” in Shimoji (2008a), and “racines adjectivales” (lit. ‘adjectival roots’) in Pellard (2009b).</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴A certain restriction between focus structure and the verb form of the predicate.</footnote>

<footnote n="5">⁵For reasons of space, I omit the discussion about the *kakari-musubi* system in Ikema in this chapter. See Hayashi (in prep) for further information.</footnote>

<footnote n="6">⁶As Iwasaki and Ono (2009) reported, however, there is a possibility that we can lower the youngest age of fluency at least to fifty-five. In fact, some speakers in their forties (in 2009) can be seen as native speakers of Ikema.</footnote>
# 2 Phonology

## 2.1 Vowels

Ikema has four main vowels and two other vowels which appear in restricted lexemes. Table 1 shows the vowel inventory.

<table><caption>Table 1: Vowels in Ikema Ryukyuan</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th>Anterior</th><th>Central</th><th>Posterior</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><th>High</th><td>i</td><td>i</td><td>u</td></tr><tr><th></th><td>(e)</td><td></td><td>(o)</td></tr><tr><th>Low</th><td></td><td>a</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

* /e/ and /o/ are only seen in lexemes of interjection or sentence final particles.

* /i/ must be preceded by a consonant, restricted to /s, z, c, f/.<fnref n="7" />

* Length is distinctive for all vowels.

## 2.2 Consonants

Table 2 shows the consonant inventory in Ikema.

<table><caption>Table 2: Consonants in Ikema Ryukyuan</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th>Labial</th><th>Alveolar</th><th>Palatal</th><th>Velar</th><th>Glottal</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><th>Stops</th><td>p b</td><td>t d</td><td></td><td>k g</td><td></td></tr><tr><th>Affricate</th><td></td><td></td><td>c<br/>[ts ~ tç]</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>Fricatives</th><td>f v</td><td>s z<br/>[s ~ ç] [z ~ z]</td><td></td><td></td><td>h<br/>[hʷ ~ ç ~ h]</td></tr><tr><th>Nasals</th><td>m</td><td>n ņ</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>Flaps</th><td></td><td>r [r]</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>Approximants</th><td>w</td><td></td><td>y [j]</td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="7">⁷It could be analyzed that /i/ is an epenthetic vowel and that /s, z, c, f/ are syllabic consonants (like nasals) in the underlying structure.</footnote>
• /n̥/ ([m̥/n̥ ~ m̥/n̥]) is a voiceless nasal that carries a mora by itself, as shown in § 2.3. It always precedes another nasal onset and its place of articulation assimilates to that of the following nasal.

• /n/ ([n ~ ɲ/n ~ ŋ ~ ũ]) changes its phonetic value depending on its position in the syllable. It can be an onset immediately preceding a vowel and also functions as a syllabic consonant.

• /y/ is a semi-consonant which occupies a special position in the syllable.

## 2.3 Syllable and mora

The possible syllable types and the constraints in combining the syllables into a word are shown in (1). As Ikema has a mora-timed rhythm and syllables do not take an important role in prosodic phonology, the concept of *syllable* is introduced mainly to explain the phonotactics of segments.<fnref n="8" />

(1) Phonotactics in Ikema<fnref n="9" />

i. Syllables in Ikema

a) $(C_1)(C_2)(y)V(V)(C_3)$

b) NN (N = syllabic nasal)

ii. Restriction on the members of each slot

a) $C_1C_2$: the consonants which can fill the slot $C_1$ are /t, c, k, f, v, s, z, m, n/.<fnref n="10" /> $C_1$ and the following $C_2$ must be a geminate to $C_1$. In the case of /n/ or /n̥/ as $C_1$, partial gemination of the place of articulation is also allowed. (cf. /nta/ [nta] ‘mud’, /nkyaan/ [ŋkja:n] ‘past times’). As for word internal geminates, /p/, /b/, and /d/ are allowed in addition to the ones which can stand word initially.

b) $C_3$: Only N is allowed in word final position.

iii. Constraints in combining the syllables into a word

a) Phonotactics prohibits the following within a root

i. Sequences of more than two Vs consisting of the same vowel

<footnote n="8">⁸The CCV structure I mention here is a syllable which carries two morae. Usually, onsets are considered to be entities which do not have syllable weight (Hayes 1989). However, in Ikema (and other Miyako varieties) CCV is clearly a unit in terms of phonotactics.</footnote>

<footnote n="9">⁹(1) explains the phonotactics in Ikema found in the surface structure. See Hayashi (in prep) for further discussion.</footnote>

<footnote n="10">¹⁰It is hard to conceive that these form some natural class. As for word internal CCs, approximants and a glottal cannot form a geminate, and for word initial CCs, bilabials and alveo-dental voiced stops are not allowed in addition to the approximants and a glottal.</footnote>
ii. Sequences of more than three consonants

b) Sequences of Ns are only found at the initial position of a word<fnref n="11" />

## 2.4 Tone/accent

Ikema is a language with a word-tone system. Lexical tone appears at the rightmost position of the lexical word. There are two patterns (α/β) in the system: the surface contour of Type α appears as a falling pattern and Type β appears as a rising/high level pattern. If there is a falling pattern at the right-edge of the lexical word, the word is Type α. We can assume that there is a floating L tone at the right-edge of Type α words.

Just like the neighboring dialect Irabu, Ikema also has a HL tone sequence as its basic melody in which H and L are assigned to each tonal foot<fnref n="12" /> (consisting of two to three morae) iteratively (trochaic tonal rhythm).<fnref n="13" />

$$ (2) \quad \begin{array}{l} \text{koozaburoo} + \text{-gama} + = \text{kara} + = \text{mai} \\ \text{(boys'-name)} + \text{-DIM} + = \text{ABL} + = \text{also} \\ \text{(koo)}_H \text{(zabu)}_L \text{(roo)}_H \text{(gama)}_L \text{(kara)}_H \text{(mai)}_L \\ \text{'also from Kozaburo'} \quad \text{(Shimoji 2008a: 2-75d)} \end{array} $$

Unlike Irabu, however, Ikema has lexical tone in addition, which makes its tonal realization somewhat complicated. In Irabu, a HL pattern appears in each foot group (rhythmic unit) consisting of two or three feet. This HL pattern in Irabu is not lexically specified.

Tonal contour in Ikema is decided by the combination of both this non-distinctive melody and the lexical tone. Figure 2 shows an example of a four-mora (two-foot) word. The lowering can be seen in the middle of the lexical word in both the type α word and the type β word where there is a non-distinctive one. On the other hand, in the case of the same set of words with some postpositions attached, we can see both the non-distinctive lowering in the middle of the lexical word and the lexical tone at the right-edge of each

<footnote n="11">¹¹Shimoji (2008a) calls this a “presyllable” in his study of Irabu with some more “resonants” (/r/, /v/) which fill the slot of the syllable that contains long consonants. In Ikema, only a nasal can fill this slot.</footnote>

<footnote n="12">¹²It should be noted that this is a unit for a tonal event based on the mora length, but not the domain of stress.</footnote>

<footnote n="13">¹³Shimoji (2008a) analyzed this contour as the presence of the marked prosodic feature /H/ at as regular intervals as possible, in accordance with the PRA (Principle of Rhythmic Alternation, Selkirk 1984), rather than as the presence of a specific tonal melody such as /HL/. That is, the HL pattern appears to result from the assignment of a marked tone (H) to the rhythmic head, in the same way a marked feature is assigned to the rhythmic head in languages with a stress-based rhythm.</footnote>
lexical word. At the right-edge of the lexical word, we can see the falling pattern in type α words (**bakamunu** (•)) and the rising pattern in type β words (**sarahama** (x)).

For reasons of space, I only mention that there are two factors that decide the pitch contour for the word here. See Hayashi (2010) for further information.

<figure><img src="image_27.png" /><figcaption>**Figure 2:** Normalized F0 contours for four-mora (two-foot) words, Type α *bakamunu* (•) and Type β *sarahama* (x). Error bars indicate SE.¹⁴</figcaption></figure>

<footnote n="13">¹³Figures by Yōsuke Igarashi (Hayashi et al. 2008).</footnote>
# 3 Basic clause structure and phrase structure

## 3.1 Basic clause structure

Ikema is a verb final-language. Like many other verb-final languages (Dryer 2007: 61), Ikema has SOV word order. While verbs are strictly fixed at the last position, the order of arguments (and adjuncts) is somewhat variable according to pragmatic factors. (3)-(6) represent clauses of the different speech act categories. The difference in speech acts does not change the word order of the clause. Specific speech acts are often indicated by final particles and intonation<fnref n="15" /> (for the interrogatives) or inflection (for the imperative). As for the interrogatives indicated in (4) (5), the Yes-No interrogative and WH interrogative have different particles respectively.<fnref n="16" />

(3) husi = nu = du mii-rai ui
star = NOM = du look-POT CONT.NPST
‘We can see the stars.’

(4) husi = nu = du mii-rai ui na ?
star = NOM = FOC look-POT CONT.NPST Q.Y
‘Can you see the stars?’

(5) nau = nu = du mii-rai ui ga ?
what = NOM = FOC look-POT CONT.NPST Q.W
‘What can you see?’

(6) uru = u mii-ru
it = ACC see-IMP
‘Look at it.’

As I discuss in §5.3, a dependent clause which is syntactically dependent on the main clause is indicated by different verbal forms from those of a main clause (7). Another construction for dependent clauses is the noun clause headed by formal nouns which function as adverbial clauses (8).

(7) kansi mutagi-tigaa uti-i hai-gamata
that.way hold.up-COND fall.CVB-i go-away-FUT
‘If you hold it up like that, you will drop it.’

(8) myaaku = n ui tukya = n = na nnaagyaan yarabi = du a-tai
Miyako = DAT be.NPST time = DAT = TOP1 still child = FOC COP-PST
‘I was still a child when I was in Miyako.’

<footnote n="15">¹⁵The intonational pattern for interrogatives seems to occur within the final particles. If there is no final particle, the Yes-No interrogative can be the same as the declarative either in morpho-syntax or intonation.</footnote>

<footnote n="16">¹⁶Ikema has another question marker = da, which only attaches to the topic marker and express the meaning ‘how about ~ ?’. Ex: vva = a = da (2.SG=TOP1=Q) ‘How about you?’</footnote>
## 3.2 Basic phrase structure

The basic structures of two canonical phrases, namely the noun phrase and the verb phrase, are shown in (9) and (10) respectively. There are three strategies to make a noun phrase. As for the verb phrase, auxiliary verb constructions are often employed to express meanings such as aspect, benefactive and so on.

(9) Noun phrase structure

i. $N = [\text{Genitive marker}] N <\text{possessive construction}>$
   *kai=ga ffa* (3.SG=GEN child) ‘his child’

ii. Adnominal N <modified by adnominal>
*kanu ffa* (that child) ‘that child’

iii. [Adnominal phrase] N <modified by adnominal phrase>
*kama=n tacyu=ui ffa* (there=DAT stand=CONT.NPST child) ‘the child who is standing there’

(10) Verb phrase structure: [Converb.Absolutive] [Auxiliary verb]
hus=su=du mii ui (star=ACC=FOC look.CVB be.NPST)
‘(I’m) looking at the stars.’

## 4 Word classes

Ikema has the following word classes: Noun, Verb, Adnominal, Adverb, Final Particle, Conjunction, Interjection.

Each word class except Adnominal holds a syntactic position which is not dependent on other word classes. The criteria to distinguish the different classes are mainly based on the morpho-syntax of the major categories (Noun and Verb) shown in § 3.2.

(11) Criteria for the word classes.<fnref n="17" />

(A) Heads an NP

(B) Directly fills the dependent slot of an NP

(C) Inflects

The class for which (A) upholds is Noun, (B) for Adnominal, and (C) for Verb. The other classes can be identified by their unique distribution in the syntax or their function.

There are two other categories that should be mentioned here. One is adjectival stems and the other is postpositions.

<footnote n="17">¹⁷These are three out of the four criteria in Shimoji (2008a: 3–33). Another one is “(D) Is a reduplicated form with the input-stem-final phoneme lengthened”, which can not be applied to Ikema because it does not have the reduplication system as in Irabu.</footnote>
Adjectival stems are a group of stems which describe certain property concepts and do not stand alone as a word. Instead, verbs, nouns and adverbs are derived from adjectival stems. Taking *zyau* ‘good’ as an example, nouns are formed by nominal compounding (*zyau* + *munu*), verbs and adverbs are formed by affixes (*zyau*-kai, *zyau*-fi). The two types of predicates formed from adjectival stems exemplify the so-called “switch-adjectival system”<fnref n="18" /> (Wetzer 1996).

(12)

a. $ura = a$   $zyau + munu$
   3.SG=TOP1 good+thing
   ‘This is good.’

b. $kui = ga = du$   $zyau-kai$
    this=NOM=FOC good-VZ
    ‘This one is better/the best.’

c. $zyau-fi nai$
    good-AZ become.NPST
    ‘It gets better.’

Postpositions in Ikema do not form a word class but take an important role in the phrase organization. I define them as function words which attach to each word and express grammatical relations, pragmatic salience and so on. Typical “postpositions” in descriptive studies are usually case markers attached to nouns (Evans 2000), but what I call postpositions here are not restricted to case markers of nouns.<fnref n="19" /> Postpositions in Ikema also do not form a postpositional phrase as they do in other languages.

# 5 Basic morphology

## 5.1 Morphological typology

A word can be a simple root or complex form in Ikema. Major morphological strategies are affixation and compounding. As for affixation, all the functional affixes are suffixes extensively employed in verbal morphology and lesser in nominal morphology. Compounding is more common in nominal morphology, though it is also a common strategy in verbal morphology, too. In compounding, usually two roots are just serialized to be combined and the latter part becomes a head. Compounding can occur between noun and noun, verb and verb,

<footnote n="18">¹⁸Shimoji (2008a) as well as Koloskova and Ohori (2008) claim that the nominal strategy is used when the predicate is in the focus domain while the verbal strategy is used when the predicate is presupposed.</footnote>

<footnote n="19">¹⁹In languages in which function words follow content words agglutinatively, it is sometimes hard to distinguish adpositional clitics from case affixes, as is shown in Dryer (2007). As for the case of Miyako Ryukyuan, there is a detailed discussion in Pellard (2009b) on Ōgami.</footnote>
adjectival stem and noun, verb and adjectival stems. As noted in the introduction to this chapter, Ikema does not have a productive reduplication strategy within its morphology, unlike other Miyako Ryukyuan varieties.

## 5.2 Basic nominal morphology

In nominal morphology, some suffixes are attached directly to the right edge of the noun. Table 3 is a list of nominal suffixes. The followings are examples of compounding between noun and noun (13a) and also adjectival stem and noun (13b).

<table><caption>Table 3: Nominal derivational suffixes</caption><thead><tr><td>Suffix</td><td>Gloss</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>-gama</td><td>Diminutive</td></tr><tr><td>-mmi</td><td>Plural 1</td></tr><tr><td>-ta</td><td>Plural 2</td></tr><tr><td>-nagi</td><td>Approximative</td></tr></tbody></table>

(13) a. midun + ffa
woman + child
‘a girl’

b. imi + ffa
small + child

‘a small child’

## 5.3 Basic verbal morphology

Verbs have a rich and complex morphology compared to other classes in Ikema. Inflected verb forms can be categorized into finite verbs and converbs, which head dependent clauses. Converbs are not marked for mood/tense but head dependent clauses and indicate the relational meaning between a dependent and a main clause (Causal, Conditional, etc.). Suffixes of each verb form are shown in table 4 and table 5.

Two classes of verbs can be identified according to the pattern of morphological process. Class 1 verbs do not involve a stem change while Class 2 verbs change their stem along with the inflectional form they take. Class 2 verbs may also undergo suppletion in their stem formation in addition to suffixation. If the root-final segment is a consonant, a thematic vowel will be added to complete the stem. Figure 3 is the schema of verbal morphology. Derivational suffixes also appear within the stem, just after the root. Each suffix specifies the verb class of the derived stem. The different derivational suffixes are shown in table 6.
<table><caption>**Table 4: Suffixes of finite verbs**</caption><thead><tr><th>Label</th><th>Suffix</th><th>Example</th><th>Example</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Hortative</td><td>-baa</td><td>Class 1 idi-i 'go-out'</td><td>Class 2 kuz-i 'row'</td></tr><tr><td>Volitional</td><td>-di</td><td>idi-baa</td><td>kug-a-baa</td></tr><tr><td>Negative Volitional</td><td>-zyaan</td><td>idi-di</td><td>kug-a-di</td></tr><tr><td>Negative</td><td>-n</td><td>idi-zyaan</td><td>kug-a-zyaan</td></tr><tr><td>Negative Past</td><td>-ddan</td><td>idi-n</td><td>kug-a-n</td></tr><tr><td>Imperative</td><td>-ru / -Ø<sup>20</sup></td><td>idi-ddan</td><td>kug-a-ddan</td></tr><tr><td>Non-past</td><td>-i / -Ø</td><td>idi-ru</td><td>kug-i-Ø</td></tr><tr><td>Past</td><td>-tai</td><td>idi-i</td><td>kuz-i-Ø</td></tr><tr><td>Prohibitive</td><td>-na</td><td>idi-tai</td><td>kuz-i-tai</td></tr><tr><td>Future<sup>21</sup></td><td>-gamata</td><td>idi(-i)-na</td><td>kuz-i-na</td></tr><tr><td>Speculative</td><td>-n</td><td>idi-gamata</td><td>kuz-gamata</td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td>mii-n</td><td>kuz-i-n</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table><caption>**Table 5: Converb suffixes**</caption><thead><tr><th>Label</th><th>Suffix</th><th>Example</th><th>Example</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Concession</td><td>-ban</td><td>Class 1 idi-i 'go-out'</td><td>Class 2 kuz-i 'row'</td></tr><tr><td>Negative Absolutive</td><td>-da</td><td>idi-ban</td><td>kug-a-ban</td></tr><tr><td>Negative Conditional</td><td>-dakaa</td><td>idi-da</td><td>kug-a-da</td></tr><tr><td>Absolutive</td><td>-i<sup>22</sup></td><td>idi-dakaa</td><td>kug-a-dakaa</td></tr><tr><td>Circumstantial</td><td>-utui</td><td>idi-i</td><td>kug-i-i</td></tr><tr><td>Simultaneous</td><td>-ccyaan</td><td>idi-utui</td><td>kug-i-utui</td></tr><tr><td>Immediate anterior</td><td>-tuu</td><td>idi-tuui</td><td>kuz-ccyaan</td></tr><tr><td>Purpose</td><td>-ga</td><td>idi-ga</td><td>kuz-i-ga</td></tr><tr><td>Conditional 1</td><td>-tigaa</td><td>idi-tigaa</td><td>kuz-i-tigaa</td></tr><tr><td>Conditional 2</td><td>-ttaa</td><td>idi-ttaa</td><td>kuz-i-ttaa</td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="20"><sup>20</sup>I put the zero marker here just for notational convenience. I do not assume the zero marker as a suffix.</footnote>

<footnote n="21"><sup>21</sup>The -gamata form shows highly nominal features with its syntactic behavior. However, I tentatively put it in the list of verbal suffixes because its function and morphological distribution show a certain extent of grammaticalization as a verbal suffix.</footnote>

<footnote n="22"><sup>22</sup>The Absolutive Converb often appears in its bare stem form without this additional -i. There are some rules as to when it is lengthened and when it is not, but the whole problem has not been solved yet. In this paper I glossed the two versions in the same way, putting '-i' after the functional label if it is lengthened.</footnote>
<figure><img src="image_28.png" /><figcaption>Figure 3: Components of verbal inflection</figcaption></figure>

<table><caption>Table 6: Derivational suffixes</caption><thead><tr><th rowspan="2">Function</th><th colspan="2">Original stem class</th><th rowspan="2">Derived stem class</th></tr><tr><th>Class 1</th><th>Class 2</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2">Causative</td><td>-ssas</td><td>-as</td><td>→ Class 2</td></tr><tr><td>-simi</td><td>-(asi)mi</td><td>→ Class 1</td></tr><tr><td>Passive/Potential</td><td>-rai</td><td>-ai</td><td>→ Class 1</td></tr><tr><td>Honorific</td><td>-sama</td><td>-ama</td><td>→ Class 2</td></tr></tbody></table>

# 6 Argument marking

## 6.1 Case marking

Case is indicated by postpositions following an NP, as noted in § 4. Table 7 shows the list of case markers in Ikema. Subjects are usually marked by the nominative marker, and objects are usually marked by the accusative marker.

<table><caption>Table 7: Case markers</caption><thead><tr><th>Marker</th><th>Label</th><th>Marker</th><th>Label</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>=ga / =nu</td><td>Nominative/Genitive</td><td>=taahii</td><td>Limitative</td></tr><tr><td>=u</td><td>Accusative</td><td>=kara</td><td>Ablative</td></tr><tr><td>=n</td><td>Dative</td><td>=hii</td><td>Instrumental</td></tr><tr><td>=nkai</td><td>Allative 1</td><td>=tu</td><td>Comitative</td></tr><tr><td>=nki</td><td>Allative 2</td><td>=ncikyaa</td><td>Comparative</td></tr></tbody></table>
## 6.2 Information structure marking

Like all other Ryukyuan varieties, Ikema has both topic and focus marking postpositions. They can be attached to most of the phrases from noun to clause, but here I will show only the case when they are attached to arguments. For reasons of space, I cannot explain the whole phenomena related to information structure in detail, so I will just discuss a difference between my analysis for Ikema and the analysis done in a previous study on a neighboring dialect.

Topic and focus markers can co-occur with other postpositions with some exceptions. Table 8 shows the possible combinations of each case marker and topic/focus markers. The core nominative and accusative markers are differentiated from other cases in that they have some different restrictions and options with topic/focus markers. It should be noted that the accusative marker has four different combinations marking information structure.

<table><caption>Table 8: Co-occurrence restrictions of focus/topic markers and case markers</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th>= Focus</th><th>= Topic 1</th><th>= Topic 2</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Nominative</td><td>= nu/ga</td><td>= nu/ga = du</td><td>= a</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>Accusative</td><td>= u</td><td>= u = du</td><td>= a</td><td>= u = gyaa</td></tr><tr><td>Obliques</td><td>= n (DAT)</td><td>= n = du</td><td>= n = na</td><td>—</td></tr></tbody></table>

Topic 2 is the special topic marker for the accusative case, though it can also be used as the so-called contrastive marker, especially with the quantifiers.<fnref n="23" /> Topic 1 can also appear with a noun in the accusative case (direct object). A similar pattern has been discussed for Irabu by Shimoji (2008a) who calls it the “second accusative”. This second accusative only appears as a direct object in dependent clauses and indicates “low-transitivity” on the object in the terminology of Hopper and Thompson (1980)’s transitivity parameters. According to Shimoji, it mostly appears in dependent clauses in clause chaining constructions. (14) is an example from Irabu.

$$ (14) \quad kasa = a \qquad par-i-i = du \qquad niv-vi + u-tar = ca \\ \text{mosquito.net} = \text{ACC2 hang-THM-MED} = \text{FOC sleep-THM} + \text{PROG-PST} = \text{HS} $$

‘Hanging a mosquito net, (they) were sleeping.’ (Shimoji 2008a: 197, ex:4-62)

A similar strategy for marking low-transitivity can also be observed in Ikema. However, unlike Irabu, the “second accusative” phenomenon is not necessarily restricted to the accusative marker (direct object). In Ikema, it can even appear in a main clause (15b) or with a subject in a dependent clause (15a).

<footnote n="23">²³Ex: tuka = gyaa mut-i-i du = ui (ten.days = TOP2 hold.out -THM.CVB-i FOC = CONT.NPST) ‘It holds out at least ten days.’</footnote>
(15) a. midun-ta = a muitu kicigi = n = ti = du
woman-PL=TOP1 so.much beautiful = DAT = QUOT = FOC
kiree = n = ti = du [cin = na ccyu = u-tai]
beautiful = DAT = QUOT = FOC dress = TOP1 wear = CONT-PST
'The women were trying so hard to be nicely dressed.'

b. amya = a ffi-i undookai = ya hirai-ddan
rain = TOP1 fall-CVB athletic.festival = TOP1 do-NEG.PST
'We could not hold the athletic festival because of the rain.'

Regarding the evidence in Ikema, I would analyze this marker as identical to TOP1, although it is not restricted to typical “topics”. I analyze it as a marker which indicates the information is “backgrounded”<fnref n="24" /> or not important in terms of its informative value. That is, the TOP1 in Ikema can express both “topicalized” entities and entities which do not carry any important information for the hearer. See Hayashi (in prep) for further evidence and discussion.

# 7 Predicate categories (finiteness; tense, mood, and aspect)

## 7.1 Negation

Negation is mainly realized within verbal morphology. As for the nominal predicate phrase, copula verbs carry negation. Adjectival stems are exceptions in that they have a different construction to express negation. They employ adverbialization plus a verb *nyaa-n*,<fnref n="25" /> ‘non-existent’. (16) and (17) show examples of each type of negation.

(16) ba = a uug-ai-n
1.SG=TOP1 swim-POT-NEG.NPST
'I cannot swim.'

(17) ura = a mma-f=fa nyaa-n
it = TOP1 tasty-AZ = TOP1 no.to.be-NEG.NPST
'It is not tasty.'

## 7.2 Tense, aspect and mood

Ikema has PAST/NON-PAST distinction expressed in the verbal morphology as in (18).

<footnote n="24">²⁴This can be also seen in Shimoji's description: "chained clauses in which a second ac- cusative appears tend to encode descriptive states (they are 'backgrounded' in Hopper and Thompson (1980)'s terms) rather than temporally sequential ('foregrounded') events." (Shi- moji 2008a: 198)</footnote>

<footnote n="25">²⁵*nyaa-n* “no.to.be-NEG.NPST” only appears in negative form.</footnote>
(18) a. bas=sa kuma=kara=du idi-i
bus=TOP1 here=from=FOC go-NPST
‘(lit.) The bus departs from here.’ (Non-Past)

b. bas=sa kuma=kara=du idi-tai
bus=TOP1 here=from=FOC go-PAST
‘(lit.) The bus departed from here.’ (Past)

Aspect is carried mainly by the auxiliary verb in the verb phrase. Like Japanese, verbs of “existence” are used for expressing aspect.<fnref n="26" /> (19) shows the three representative verbs which carry the aspectual meaning.<fnref n="27" />

(19) a. mizi=nu nagari-i ui
water=NOM stream-CVB CONT.NPST
‘Water is streaming.’ (Continuous)

b. nn=nu nii=du ai
potato=TOP1 cook.CVB=FOC RES.NPST
‘I have cooked potatoes.’ (Resultative)

c. miz=zya itaki-i nyaa-n
water=TOP1 spill-CVB not.to.be-NEG.NPST
‘I spilled water.’ (Perfect)

As for modality, it is expressed by verbal morphology, a clausal postposi-
tion or final particles. Taking the broader sense of “modality” where all kinds
of relationships between proposition and agent/speaker’s attitude/status are
involved (evidentiality, mirativity etc.), final particles in Ikema have a rich
system of a kind of modality in which speakers maintain the knowledge status
between speaker and hearer. For example, in (20a) the speaker assumes that
the fact ‘it is beautiful’ is not shared with the hearer, and in (20b) the speaker
assumes they are sharing the fact that ‘it is beautiful.’

(20) a. ura=a kagi+munu doo
it=TOP1 beautiful+NZ FP
‘It is beautiful.’

b. ura=a kagi+munu i
it=TOP1 beautiful+NZ FP
‘It is beautiful, isn’t it?’

From a typological perspective, it should be noted that Ikema has an in-
flectional suffix which expresses agent-oriented modality (table 4, Volitional

<footnote n="26">²⁶The difference is that Ikema (and other Ryukyuan varieties) has a verb meaning ‘non-existence’, while Japanese does not.</footnote>

<footnote n="27">²⁷These auxiliary verbs are often cliticized in connected speech.</footnote>
-di). According to Bybee et al. (1994), speaker-oriented modality tends to be closer to verbs and appearing within inflectional morphology of verbs, while agent-oriented modality tends to appear outside of the verb. There are a few exceptions to this trend, and -di in Ikema would be one clearly exceptional case.

## 7.3 Voice

Voice is expressed by derivational morphology as indicated in table 6, -as/-ssas and -simi for causative and -(r)ai for passive marker. As for valency operations, a demoted NP is marked by a dative or allative marker (=n, =nkai) as in (21) (22).

(21) **zza**=a **kai**=n **ffa**=u **dumi-ssasi-tai**
father=TOP1 3.SG=DAT child=ACC punch-CAUS-PST
'Father made him punch his child.' (Causative)

(22) ba=a zza=n dumi-ssasi-tai
1.SG=TOP1 father=DAT punch-CAUS-PST
'I was punched by my father.' (Passive)
Sample text: the Pear story

(T.1) gaabaa nasi + gii = ya mmya sidati = du mmya
big pear + tree = TOP1 DSC raise.CVB = FOC DSC
'A man has grown a big pear tree'

(T.2) nasi = nu nusi = nu <kago> = mai miici muc-i tti
pear = GEN owner = GEN basket = also three have-THM.CVB come.CVB
nasi mur-a-d = di huu = kyaa
pear gather-THM.IRR-VOL = QUOT do(CONT.NPST = while
'and he came to pick up the pears with three baskets.'

(T.3) tui-gama = nu kui = mai cik-ai mata hinzya = nu kui = mai
bird-DIM = GEN voice = also hear-POT.CVB also goat = GEN voice = also
cik-ai ui = suga are nzya = n = du hinzya = nu ui
hear-POT.CVB CONT.CVB = but ah where = DAT = FOC goat = GEN be.NPST
ga cyau = kyaa
Q.W say_so.NPST = while
'He could hear the birds singing and also a goat bleating but he was
wondering where the goat was.'

(T.4) naugara hinzya = nu nusi = nu ffugara + hinzya ssabik-i-i
DSC goat = GEN owner = GEN black + goat take_along-THM.CVB-i
maar-u = u-tai
hang_out-THM = CONT-PST

'Then he noticed that the owner of the goat was taking along his goat.'

(T.5) hasigo = o kak-i-i mmya ba = a mmya nasyu = u
ladder = ACC write-THM.CVB-i DSC 1.SG = TOP1 DSC pear = ACC
mur-i-i mmya
gather-THM.CVB-i DSC

'I (the owner of the pear tree) put the ladder on the tree and was picking
up the pears.'

(T.6) naugara <kago> = nu ttic = cya mur-i-i mata
DSC basket = GEN one = TOP1 gather-THM.CVB-i also
mur-i tti mata mmya ikkai = mai mata nuur-i-i
gather-THM.CVB come.CVB also DSC once = also also climb-THM.CVB-i
ik-i-i nankai = mai nuur-i-i
go-THM.CVB-i number_of_times = also climb-THM.CVB-i
'He picked up the pears and filled a basket and went back to the tree
again and again'

(T.7) mmya unu kii = nkai nuui tukya = n = na bata = hii hukuru = nu
DSC the tree = ALL climb time = DAT = TOP1 stomach = INST bag = GEN
mmara = a hii simar-i yaa munu = nkai uma = nkai
similar = TOP1 do.CVB tie-THM.CVB RES.NPST thing = ALL there = ALL
iri-i
put_in.CVB-i

'When he climbed the tree he put the pears in a bag he tied around his
body.'

(T.8) [x..x] mata uri tti mata <kago> = nkai iri-i
[x..x] also step_down.CVB come.CVB also basket = ALL put_in.CVB-i
nankai = mai urahi-i naugara mur-i-i
number_of_times = also put_down.CVB-i DSC gather-THM.CVB-i
mur-i-i ai mur-u = u = kyaa
gather-THM.CVB-i this way gather-THM = ACC = while

'Again he climbed down, put the pears in the basket. While he was
doing so repeatedly,'

(T.9) yarabi = nu <zitensya> = kara tti mmya
child = GEN bicycle = ABL come.CVB DSC

'A child was coming on a bicycle.'

(T.10) naugara unu ozisan = na ss-a-n = suga nus = sa
DSC the old_guy = TOP1 know-THM.IRR-NEG.NPST = but owner = TOP1
ss-a-n = suga saami
know-THM.IRR-NEG.NPST = but FP

'Well, the man didn't know (that the child was coming).'

(T.11) mur-u = u = kyaa mmya yarabi = nu mmya <zitensya> = kara
gather-THM = ACC = while DSC child = GEN DSC bicycle = ABL
mmya tti mmya
DSC come.CVB DSC

'While he was picking up the pears a child came on a bicycle.'

(T.12) agai nasi = nu ar-u-utui = du unu hitici = nu <kago> = o mmya
oh pear = GEN be-CIRC = FOC the one = GEN basket = ACC DSC
hiyasa = ti <zitensya> = nkai mutagi-i mmya
INTJ = QUOT bicycle = ALL hold_up.CVB-i DSC

'Oh, the child picked up one of the full baskets and put it on the bicycle,'

(T.13) nusumi-i mmya <zitensya> = u kug-i-i mmya
rub.CVB-i DSC bicycle = ACC row-THM.CVB-i DSC
hing-i-i ui = kyaa
get_away-THM.CVB-i CONT = while

'stole the basket full of pears, and he ran away on a bicycle.'
(T.14) midun + yarabi = nu izya-i ura = a ui = tu
woman + child = GEN encounter-THM.CVB it = TOP1 be = COM
izya-i ui = kyaa
encounter-THM.CVB CONT = while

'On the way, he encountered a girl and as they passed by each other'

(T.15) naugara <zitensya> burakairah-i-i mii-tigaa mmya
DSC bicycle turnover-THM.CVB-i look-COND DSC
'the child fell down with his bicycle.'

(T.16) nasi = mai mmya <kago> [x..x] har-i-i mmya
pear = also DSC basket [x..x] go_away-THM.CVB-i DSC
sikyaar-i-i mess_up-THM.CVB-i

'The pears in the basket dropped out and scattered'

(T.17) naubai hu-di ga = ti hazi = mai yam-i ui mmya
how do-VOL Q.W = QUOT leg = also ache-THM.CVB CONT.NPST DSC
naubai hu-di ga cyau = kyaa
how do-VOL Q.W say.so.NPST = while

"How can I do. And my leg is also aching. How can I do"

(T.18) aa mmya yarabi-mmi = nu mata micyaai tti
INTJ DSC child-PL2 = GEN also three_people come.CVB
'Then three children came.'

(T.19) nasi = mai, <kago> = nkai zenbu iri-i fii
pear = also, basket = ALL all put_in.CVB-i give.CVB

'They kindly gathered the scattered pears and put them back to the basket,'

(T.20) mata <zitensya> = mai ukk-ah-i-i naugara hii fii
also bicycle = also put-CAUS.CVB-i.CVB-i DSC do.CVB give.CVB
ai-ba RES-CSL

'and they helped him raise up the fallen bicycle.'

(T.21) unu nusum-i yaai yarabya = a mmya <zitensya> kug-i-i
the rub-THM.CVB RES child = TOP1 DSC bicycle row-THM.CVB-i
mmya har-i-i nyaa-ddan = suga = du
DSC go_away-THM.CVB-i not_to_be-NEG.PST = but = FOC

'The thief child went away on a bicycle.'

(T.22) unu biki + yarabi = nu micyaai = ya aik-i-i
the male + child = GEN three_people = TOP1 walk-THM.CVB-i
yuu = kyaa <boosi> = nu uti ar-u = u-ba
CONT.NPST = while hat = GEN fall.CVB be-THM = ACC-CSL
'While the three boys were walking they found a hat.'

(T.23) ura = a kanu <zitensya> nuur-u = u-tai yarabi = nu <boosi>
it = TOP1 that bicycle ride-THM = ACC-PST child = GEN hat
hazi i = ti taukyaa = ga ik-i-i
INFR FP = QUOT one = NOM go-THM.CVB-i
'They thought "this must be a hat of the boy with bicycle.'

(T.24) naugara <kutibii> aa sibabii = ya fik-i-i
DSC whistle INTJ whistle = TOP1 whistle-THM.CVB-i
'He whistled,'

(T.25) sibabii = ya fik-i-i ooi = ti sibabii = ya
whistle = TOP1 whistle-THM.CVB-i hey = QUOT whistle = TOP1
fik-i-i yurab-i-i namar-ah-i
whistle-THM.CVB-i call.CVB-i.CVB-i stop-CAUS.CVB-i
'He whistled and yelled to him "hey!" '

(T.26) ura = a vva = ga <boosi> = na = ti = du [x..x]
it = TOP1 2.SG = NOM hat = QY = QUOT = FOC [x..x]
ar-u = u-ba ik-i-i <boosya> = a tur-ah-i-i
be-THM = ACC-CSL go-THM.CVB-i hat = TOP1 take-CAUS-THM.CVB-i
ui = kyaa
CONT = while

'When they asked "is this your hat?" (he said yes) so they went to give it back to him.'

(T.27) <boosi> = nu ssui ccya = a kaari = n nasi = u
hat = GEN pick_up.CVB come.CVB = RES alternative = DAT pear = ACC
miici fii ai-ba
three give.CVB RES-CSL

'The child gave them three pears in return for doing a nice thing for him.'

(T.28) ura = a hitit + tama tui-i fau-ccyaan = na fii = kyaa mmya
it = TOP1 oneportion take.CVB-i eat-SIM = TOP1 come = while DSC
'They take the pear and going on eating the pears.'

(T.29) naugara <ozisan> = ga nasya = a <kago> = n nci-i
DSC man = NOM pear = TOP1 basket = DAT fill_up.CVB-i
ur-u = u-tai = suu mmya ur-u = u-tai
be-THM = ACC-PST = but DSC be-THM = ACC-PST
'The man was filling up the baskets with pears.'

(T.30) unu nasi = nu nusi = nu ozisan = na mmya
the pear = GEN owner = GEN old_guy = TOP1 DSC
'The owner of the pear tree,'
(T.31) mmya futaaci=n=na nti ai-ba mmya mmya hitici=n
DSC two=DAT=TOP1 fill_up RES-CSL DSC DSC one=DAT
nti-di = ti mmya uri-i fii=kyaa
fill_up-VOL = QUOT DSC step_down.CVB-i come=while

'he already filled two baskets so he was trying to fill the other one and climbed down the tree.'

(T.32) naugara uri tti <kago> = o
DSC step_down.CVB come.CVB basket=ACC
tara-a-n = ti hinna munu i
suffice-THM.IRR-NEG.NPST = QUOT strange thing FP

'When he climbed down and (he said) "it's weird, one of my baskets is missing."'

(T.33) unaga miici muc-i t-tai=suga hitic=cya
self.NOM three have-THM.CVB come-PST=but one=TOP1
tara-a-n nusumi-i har-i-i
suffice-THM.IRR-NEG.NPST rub.CVB-i go_away-THM.CVB-i
nyaa-n
not_to_be-NEG.NPST

'"I brought three baskets but one of them is missing. Someone must have stolen it.'

(T.34) fituti kasamasi + munu=mai daai cyau=kyaa
irritating frustrating + thing=also FOC.RES say.so.NPST=while
'"So irritating," he said.'

(T.35) yarabi-mmi=nu nasi fau-ccyaan naugara micyaai fii-ba
child-PL2=GEN pear eat-SIM DSC three.people come-CSL
'Then he saw three children comming eating pears.'

(T.36) aa ura=a taruganaa=ga=du mmya
INTJ it=TOP1 someone=NOM=FOC DSC
'He thought, "ah, that's maybe someone'

(T.37) nusum-i ik-i-i kunu-kya=n mmya baki-i fii yaai
rub-THM.CVB go-THM.CVB-i this-PL3=DAT DSC share.CVB-i give RES
= ti umu-i yuui
= QUOT think-THM.CVB CONT.NPST

'took it away and he might give them the pears.'
Abbreviations

<table><tr><td>&lt;...&gt;</td><td>Loanword from Japanese</td><td>FOC</td><td>Focus</td><td>PROG</td><td>Progressive</td></tr><tr><td>[x...x]</td><td>Unclear text</td><td>FP</td><td>Final Particle</td><td>PST</td><td>Past</td></tr><tr><td>ABL</td><td>Ablative</td><td>GEN</td><td>Genitive</td><td>QUOT</td><td>Quotation</td></tr><tr><td>ACC</td><td>Accusative</td><td>IMP</td><td>imperative</td><td>Q.Y</td><td>Question Yes-No</td></tr><tr><td>ALL</td><td>Allative</td><td>INFR</td><td>Inference</td><td>Q.W</td><td>Question WH</td></tr><tr><td>AZ</td><td>Adjectiviser</td><td>INST</td><td>Instrumental</td><td>RES</td><td>Resultative</td></tr><tr><td>CAUS</td><td>Causative</td><td>INTJ</td><td>Interjection</td><td>SG</td><td>Singular</td></tr><tr><td>COM</td><td>Comitative</td><td>IRR</td><td>Irrealis</td><td>SIM</td><td>Simultaneous</td></tr><tr><td>COND</td><td>Conditional</td><td>MED</td><td>Medial verb</td><td>THM</td><td>Thematic Vowel</td></tr><tr><td>CONT</td><td>Continuous</td><td>NEG</td><td>Negative</td><td>CIRC</td><td>Circumstantial</td></tr><tr><td>CSL</td><td>Causal</td><td>NOM</td><td>Nominative</td><td>TOP</td><td>Topic</td></tr><tr><td>CVB</td><td>Converb (Absolutive)</td><td>NPST</td><td>Non-Past</td><td>VOL</td><td>Volitional</td></tr><tr><td>DAT</td><td>Dative</td><td>NZ</td><td>Nominalizer</td><td>VZ</td><td>Verbalizer</td></tr><tr><td>DIM</td><td>Diminutive</td><td>PL</td><td>Plural</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>DSC</td><td>Discourse Marker</td><td>POT</td><td>Potential</td><td></td><td></td></tr></table>
# Hateruma (Yaeyama Ryukyuan)

Reiko Aso

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

<figure><img src="image_29.png" /><figcaption>Figure 1: Yaeyama Islands</figcaption></figure>

## Introduction

Hateruma Ryukyuan has the basic characteristics of a typical Japonic language: verb-final with the modifier-head constituent order, agglutinative and suffixal morphology, and dependent-marking.

However, there are two striking features in Hateruma: strong aspiration and a neutral case system. A strong aspiration, which is not phonologically
distinctive, is observed with voiceless obstruents in word initial position. This
strong aspiration devoices the vowels following them, and even subsequent
sonorants (§2.1.2). Neutral case systems<fnref n="1" /> are rare in the Ryukyuan languages,
which typically have a nominative-accusative case system. Core arguments are
marked by the case marker =Ø in Hateruma (§4.3).

# 1 The language and its speakers

## 1.1 Geography

Hateruma island (jpn. *Hateruma-jima*, vernac. *be-sima*), which is the southern-
most in Ryukyu archipelago, has a population of about 580 and belongs to
the Yaeyama islands (figure 1). It is said that ‘Hateruma’ means ‘far coral’.
Hateruma Ryukuan (*Hateruma hōgen* in Japanese) is mainly spoken by people
living on the Hateruma island or in the Shiraho district of Ishigaki, where hun-
dreds of people from Hateruma immigrated in the 18th century.<fnref n="2" />

## 1.2 Affiliation

Hateruma Ryukyuan belongs to the Yaeyama branch of Southern Ryukyuan, which also includes Yonaguni and Miyako Ryukyuan. According to Lawrence (2000), Lawrence (2008) and Pellard (2009b), both Yaeyama and Yonaguni belong to the Macro-Yaeyama sub-branch.

## 1.3 Sociolinguistic overview

### 1.3.1 The number of speakers

It is difficult to estimate the number of speakers, but my field work observa-
tion indicates that people who are over seventy years old can speak Hateruma
Ryukyuan fluently. According to the 2005 census, the number of people over
seventy is 190 for Hateruma and about 290 for Shiraho.

People who are around forty or sixty can understand Hateruma, but have
difficulties speaking it. It seems that people under forty almost cannot under-
stand the language and are monolingual in Standard Japanese.

### 1.3.2 Dialects

There are two major dialects: Hateruma and Shiraho. It seems that people in
Shiraho used to visit their relatives or friends in Hateruma until some decades
ago.

<footnote n="1">¹See Comrie (1978)</footnote>

<footnote n="2">²See Karimata (2008)</footnote>
Hateruma island is divided into five areas, from West to East: Fuka, Naishi, Mae, Minami, Kita. Speakers report lexical differences between the different areas, but the different sub-dialects remain mutually intelligible. This work is based on the variety spoken on Hateruma.

## 1.4 Previous works

There is no reference grammar of Hateruma yet. Previous works have generally focused on individual topics in a comparative perspective with other Ryukyuan varieties, and have not given a detailed account of Hateruma Ryukyuan.

Among previous works, Shibata (1972) and Kuno (1992) focus on the phonology, while Hirayama (1988), Kajiku (1996) and Kajiku (1998) give a basic treatment of both the phonology and morphology. These previous works are criticized in detail in Aso (2009), which contains a description of the phonology and morphology of Hateruma Ryukyuan.

# 2 Phonology

## 2.1 Phoneme inventory

### 2.1.1 Vowels

Hateruma has the following seven vowels (table 1).

<table><caption>Table 1: Vowels</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th>Front</th><th>Central</th><th>Back</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><th>Closed</th><td>i</td><td>ï [ĩ ~ i̋]</td><td>u</td></tr><tr><th>Closed-mid</th><td>e</td><td></td><td>o</td></tr><tr><th>Open(-mid)</th><td>(ɛ)</td><td>a</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Only speakers over 90 distinguish the front open-mid vowel /ɛ/ from the front close-mid vowel /e/, for which only a few minimal pairs are found.

(1) /mɛ/ [mɛ:] ‘rice’
/me/ [me:] ‘front’

The central closed vowel /i/ has two allophonic variants: the advanced front closed vowel variant [ĩ] appears after the voiceless bilabial plosive /p/, while the central closed vowel [i] appears in all other environments.

(2) /pïsïmari/ [p̥išimari] ‘noon’

I consider there to be no distinction between long and short vowels. A monosyllabic CV word is always lengthened (CV: unless followed by an affix or a
clitic. For example, the vowel of *me* [me:] ‘front’ (1) is short when the locative case marker is attached: *me* = *na* [mena] ‘in front’.

However, there are some problematic cases which cannot be above, especially concerning the central open vowel /a/. Some words exhibit free variation between short and long vowels:

(3) /nari/ [nari] ~ [na:ri] ‘fruit’

However, some words consistently appear with a long vowel, like *pii* ‘coral reef’, *maagi* ‘big’ or *mii-ci* ‘three pieces’. Further research is needed to elucidate the environments where long vowels appear, and the relation with accent patterns.

### 2.1.2 Consonants and glides

Hateruma has the following sixteen consonants (table 2).

<table><caption>Table 2: Consonants and glides</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th>Bilabial</th><th>Dental</th><th>Alveolar</th><th>Velar / Glottal</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2">Stop</td><td>voiceless</td><td>p [p ~ pʰ] t</td><td></td><td></td><td>k</td></tr><tr><td>voiced</td><td>b</td><td>d</td><td></td><td>g</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">Fricative</td><td>voiceless</td><td>f</td><td>s [s ~ c] c [ts ~ tʃ]</td><td></td><td>h [h ~ ç]</td></tr><tr><td>voiced</td><td></td><td></td><td>z [z ~ ʒ ~ dʒ ~ dʃ]</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Nasal</td><td></td><td>m</td><td>n [n ~ ŋ ~ N ~ m]</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Flap</td><td></td><td></td><td>r [r ~ r]</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Approximant</td><td></td><td>w</td><td></td><td></td><td>j</td></tr></tbody></table>

Main allophonic realizations include the following:

* [pʰ] appears only before the central closed vowel /i/ (2);

* Palatal or palato-alveolar allophones appear before the front closed vowel /i/;

* /n/ is usually a dental nasal [n] but is realized as [N] in final position, [ŋ] before velars (/k, g/) and as [m] before bilabials.

* /r/ is sometimes trilled when the preceding vowel is devoiced: /garasi/ [gʰarasi] ~ [gʰarasi].

One of the striking features of Hateruma is the strong aspiration of the word-initial consonants /p, t, d, k, g, f, s/. All voiceless obstruents except /c/ and /h/ can devoice a following vowel when they are aspirated; in addition, this devoicing can also spread to a subsequent sonorant.<fnref n="3" />

<footnote n="3">³There is only one example of aspirated /n/: /nn.cï/ [ŋʰntsi] ‘six pieces’.</footnote>
(4) /saki/ [sh^aki] ‘alcohol’
/turi/ [t^u^ri] ‘bird’

Other Yaeyama Ryukyuan dialects are reported to have a similar aspiration
process, like Kohama, Taketomi, Iriomote or Ishigaki, but it is the strongest in
Hateruma according to Uemura (1992).

## 2.2 Syllable structure and phonotactics

### 2.2.1 The syllable structure of the root word

The syllable in Hateruma contains an obligatory nucleus (N), which can be
filled by vowels or /n/ (6a), as well as optional onset (O), glide (G), and coda
(C) slots. The approximants /w, j/ can fill the G slot, and the onset and coda
positions can be occupied by other consonants. The longest monosyllabic root
word is /ssjan/ ‘wore’ (OOGNC). A sequence of different consonants cannot
occur as an onset, while geminates can fill the O slot.

(5) ((O)O)(G)N(N)(C)

A root word consists of sequences of syllable of the type described above.
There are however some restrictions: /r/ cannot appear word-initially, double
onsets (OO) are restricted to /ss, mm/ (6b).

(6) a. /n.ta/ [nta] ‘dirt’
b. /mman/ [m:an] ‘horse’

### 2.2.2 Mora

The mora is a useful unit for the description of pitch patterns (see §2.3), and it
must be recognized as a meaningful unit besides the syllable. A geminate onset,
a nucleus and a coda each carry one mora, as μ shows below.

(7) ( (O) O) (G) N (N) (C)
    μ              μ μ μ

Monosyllabic CV words are automatically lengthened when they constitute
a phonological word on their own, but not when they are followed by a clitic,
as mentioned in §2.1.1. This can be interpreted as the result of a minimal size
constraint on phonological words: a phonological word must be at least two-
mora long.

## 2.3 Prosody

There are two distinctive pitch patterns, but only two minimal pairs are found.
<table><tr><td>(8)</td><td>/pa.na/ HH</td><td>'flower'</td><td>vs.</td><td>/pa.na/ HL</td><td>'nose'</td></tr><tr><td>/ma.ju/</td><td>HL</td><td>'cat'</td><td>vs.</td><td>/ma.ju/ LH</td><td>'eye-brow'</td></tr></table>

I analyze that there are *number of mora* +2 pitch patterns for nominals (table 3).<fnref n="4" /> Underlyingly monomoraic words surface as two-mora long as the result of a minimal size constraint on phonological words, see §2.2.2.

<table><caption>**Table 3:** Pitch patterns</caption><thead><tr><th>Pattern</th><th>1μ</th><th>2μ</th><th>3μ</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Level</td><td>HH</td><td>HH</td><td>HHH</td></tr><tr><td>Falling</td><td>HL</td><td>HL</td><td>HHL<br>HLL</td></tr><tr><td>Rising</td><td>LH</td><td>LH</td><td>LLH</td></tr><tr><td>Concave</td><td></td><td>FH</td><td>HLH</td></tr></tbody></table>

There are many two or three morae words in Hateruma. Further work is needed in determining accent patterns of words containing four or more morae.

# 3 Descriptive preliminaries

## 3.1 Basic clause structure and phrase structure

### 3.1.1 Basic clause structure

A clause in Hateruma can be of the following two types: (a) containing a predicate, or (b) consisting of an interjection only. A clause of type (a) can contain:

#### i. Predicate

a) Verbal predicate

b) Nominal predicate

#### ii. Arguments

#### iii. Adjuncts

<footnote n="4">⁴F means falling from high to low within a mora.</footnote>