The Language of the Old-Okinawan Omoro Sōshi

Reference Grammar, with Textual Selections

Series: 

The Omoro Sōshi (1531–1623) is an indispensable resource for historical linguistic comparison of Old Okinawan with other Ryukyuan languages and Old Japanese. Leon A Serafim and Rumiko Shinzato offer a reference grammar, including detailed phonological analyses, of the otherwise opaque and dense poetic/religious language of the Omoro Sōshi.

Meshing Western linguistic insight with existing literary/linguistic work in Ryukyuan studies, and incorporating their own research on Modern Okinawan, the authors offer a grammar and phonology of the Omoro language, with selected (excerpts of) songs grammatically analyzed, phonologically reconstructed, translated, and annotated.
Copyright Year:
2020
E-Book (PDF)
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-41468-6
Publication:
01 Mar 2021
Hardback
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-41469-3
Publication:
04 Mar 2021
Cover The Language of the Old-Okinawan <i>Omoro Sōshi</i>

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Leon A Serafim, Ph.D. (1984), Yale, was Associate Professor of Japanese at the University of Hawai‘i. He has published articles on Japonic (Ryukyuan and Japanese) (pre)history, and helped edit the Okinawan-English Wordbook and J/K 19. His current interests are, especially, grammaticalization and historical syntax.

Rumiko Shinzato, Ph.D. (1984), University of Hawai‘i, is Professor at Georgia Institute of Technology. She has published chapters/articles on aspect, evidentiality, subjectivity, grammaticalization and language maintenance. She and Leon A Serafim co-authored a book on Okinawan kakari musubi (Brill 2013).
Preface
List of Figures and Tables
Abbreviations and Conventions

1 Introduction
 1 What is the Omoro Sōshi?
 2 Types of omoro
 3 Versions
 4 Song Structure
 5 Overview of the Omoro Language

2 Spelling System and Phonology
 1 Introduction
 2 Reconstruction Methodology
 3 Suprasegmentals
 4 Consonants
 5 Processes
 6 Meter in Omoros
 7 The Question of External Evidence and Its Relation to That Presented Here
 8 Coda

3 Lexicon
 1 PJ Origin
 2 Loans from MJ
 3 Loans from Sino-Japanese
 4 Loans from Korean
 5 Origins Unknown
 6 Mishōgo (MO, Meanings Obscure)

4 Nominals
 1 Nouns
 2 Pronouns
 3 Numerals
 4 Nominal Prefixes
 5 Nominal Suffixes

5 Adjectives
 1 What is an Adjective?
 2 Evolution of Adjectives
 3 Functional Differences between/among Types
 4 Functions as Modifiers, Predicates, or Noun Formatives

6 Verbs
 1 Conjugation Types
 2 History of Conjugational Merger: ra-gyō yodan-ka
 3 Functional Split (mz)
 4 Development of the Gerund

7 Auxiliaries
 1 Passive/Exalting/Spontaneous -ari(·r)- ~ -uyi(·r)-
 2 Causative/Exalting -as-
 3 Negative -azɨ ~ -aɴ ~ -an-
 4 Negative -adana
 5 The Optative/Counterfactual Auxiliary -(a)masyi
 6 Inference/Intention: -aɴ, -a, and -ami
 7 Negative Inferential/Intentional -umazyi
 8 Past -syi
 9 Perfect -t˚ar-, -c˚yar-, -dar-, -ʣyar-
 10 Emphatic Locative: -ʔac˚ɨr-u
 11 Progressive: -ur-
 12 Progressive/Perfective -yaaryi
 13 Copula: -yar-, -nar-
 14 The Exalting Auxiliary Verb -(u)wa·r/s-
 15 Humilific Auxiliary -abir-
 16 Humilific Auxiliary tʰat°imac°ɨr-

References
Index
Students of Japanese/Ryukyuan languages, linguistics, and literature, or interested in studying the Omoro Sōshi and Old Okinawan from the standpoint of history, religion, or culture; research libraries catering to them.
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