Okinoerabu dialect cluster

The Okinoerabu dialect cluster (島ムニ Shimamuni), also Oki-no-Erabu, is a dialect cluster spoken on Okinoerabu Island, Kagoshima Prefecture of southwestern Japan. It is part of the Amami–Okinawan languages, which are part of the Japonic languages.

Dialects
Okinoerabu dialects are classified into two groups: The linguistic boundary between Eastern and Western Okinoerabu roughly corresponds to the administrative boundary between Wadomari (east) and China (west). In addition, the eastern community of Kunigami (part of Eastern Okinoerabu and not to be confused with Northern Okinawa) is known for sporadically retaining a centralized vowel, which is a characteristic of Northern Amami. For example, ("root", Standard Japanese /ne/) is contrasted with  ("loads", Standard Japanese /ni/). The northwestern community of Tamina (part of Western Okinoerabu) has a distinctive accentual system.
 * Eastern Okinoerabu
 * Western Okinoerabu

Uwano (1998:131-133) gives the following list of Okinoerabu dialects:


 * Kunigami
 * Kunigami
 * Nishibaru
 * Wadomari
 * Degi
 * Kibiru
 * Uetedechina
 * Wadomari
 * Azefu
 * Wa
 * Ōjiro
 * Tamajiro
 * Ōjiro
 * Furusato
 * Neori
 * Sena
 * Uchijiro
 * Uchijiro
 * Goran
 * Nagamine
 * Taniyama
 * Shimohirakawa
 * Amata
 * Yaja
 * Saozu
 * Gushiken
 * Kamihirakawa
 * Shimohirakawa
 * Ashikiyora
 * Kamishiro
 * Shinjō
 * Kamishiro (also part of China)
 * China
 * Kuronuki
 * Serikaku
 * China
 * Yakomo
 * Shimajiri
 * Ōtsukan
 * Tokudoki
 * Sumiyoshi
 * Masana
 * Tamina

Folk terminology
Takahashi Takayo (b. 1967), a cultural anthropologist from the island, stated that the language of each community or the island as a whole was called shimamuni. Each language variety within the island had distinctive characteristics. The language of the community of Kunigami on the island, for example, was referred to as Kunigami-bushi. It retained mutually intelligibility with the languages of the island's other communities. It is said that Okinoerabu was mutually unintelligible with neighboring Yoron and Tokunoshima.

Eastern Okinoerabu
The following is the phonology of the Wadomari dialect (part of Eastern Okinoerabu), which is based on Hirayama et al. (1986).

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.

Consonants
Notes
 * The zero onset /'/ may be added. It contrasts with glottal and . A minimal pair is   ("stomach"),   ("day") and   ("soft rush").
 * "Tense", and  are in process of merging into "plain" ,  and , respectively.
 * 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
Eastern Okinoerabu has, , , and , long and short.

Correspondences to Standard Japanese
Only major sound correspondences are listed.
 * Standard Japanese is merged into.
 * Standard Japanese is merged into.
 * Eastern Okinoerabu and  are of secondary origin and mostly correspond to Standard Japanese diphthongs.
 * Standard Japanese, and  correspond to  ,   and.
 * Standard Japanese corresponds to  by default. Japanese  and  are usually  in Eastern Okinoerabu, but some words have  for Standard Japanese . Reflexes in  is occasionally found as well.
 * Historical is dropped when it appears between any vowel and.
 * and palatalized before . Standard Japanese  and  correspond to Eastern Okinoerabu  and.
 * Standard Japanese corresponds to  in the word-initial position and to  elsewhere.
 * The fusion of consecutive morae resulted in the glottalized and 'tense' consonants in Eastern Okinoerabu.

Western Okinoerabu
The following is the phonology of the China dialect (part of Western Okinoerabu), which is based on Hirayama et al. (1986).

Consonants
Notes
 * The zero onset /'/ may be added. It contrasts 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.

Vowels
Western Okinoerabu has, , , and , long and short.

Differences between Eastern and Western Okinoerabu

 * Standard Japanese and  are merged into  in Western Okinoerabu while they correspond to  and  in Eastern Okinoerabu.
 * Similarly, Western Okinoerabu has not undergone palatalization.
 * Western Okinoerabu does not have, or.