Dialects
Okamura (2007) posits two divisions of Tokunoshima: Kametsu–Amagi in the north and Isen in the south. Kametsu is the traditional politico-cultural center of the island. It has been a center of distributions of new lexical traits, some of which were not confined in Tokunoshima Town but spread to Amagi Town in the northeast and, less frequently, to Isen. The dialects of Isen are considered more conservative by the speakers.Folk terminology
According to Okamura Takahiro (b. 1936 in Asama, Amagi Town), the speakers of Tokunoshima call their tongues ''sïmagucï'', which consists of two morphemes. The first part ''sïma'' (Standard Japanese ''shima'') refers to an island both in Standard Japanese and Tokunoshima but it also means (one's own) local community in Tokunoshima and other Amami dialects. The second part ''kucï'' (Standard Japanese ''kuchi'') means a mouth, and by extension, speech. Hence, ''sïmagucï'' refers to the speech of one's own community and of the island as a whole. Note that ''sïmagucï'' is more strongly associated with the former because the speakers of Tokunoshima are fully aware that each ''shima'' has a distinct language.Phonology
The following is the phonology of the Kametsu dialect, which is based on Hirayama et al. (1986).Consonants
As with most Ryukyuan languages to the north of Central Okinawan, stops are described as "plain" C’ and "glottalized" C‘. Phonetically, the two series are lightly aspirated and tenuis , respectively.Samuel E. Martin (1970) "Shodon: A Dialect of the Northern Ryukyus", in the ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'', vol. 90, no. 1 (Jan–Mar), pp. 97–139. Notes *The zero onset /'/ may be added. It is contrasted with glottal and . * is before and , and before and . * is new and infrequent. *, and are realized as , and , respectively. * is before and , and elsewhere. *, , and are phonemically analyzed as , , and , respectively. *, , and are phonemically analyzed as , , and , respectively. *, and are phonemically analyzed as , and , respectively.Vowels
Tokunoshima has , , , , , and , long and short.Correspondences to Standard Japanese
Only major sound correspondences are listed. *Standard Japanese mostly corresponds to . *Standard Japanese is merged into . *Tokunoshima , and are of secondary origin and mostly correspond to Standard Japanese diphthongs. *Standard Japanese and corresponds to Tokunoshima and , respectively. *Standard Japanese and , and , and and are merged into , , and , respectively. *The fusion of two consecutive morae resulted in glottalized consonants in Tokunoshima.References
Sources
*''Tokunoshima hōgen jiten'' (2014) by Okamura Takahiro, Sawaki Motoei, Nakajima Yumi, Fukushima Chitsuko and Kikuchi Satoru. Based on Okamura's Asama dialect.External links