Reconsideration of Consonantal "p" : Derivation of "p" with the Consonantal Value of [h] in Ryukyu Dialect(<Special Issue>Views of Ryukyuan, Views from Ryukyuan)

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  • p音再考 : 琉球方言ハ行子音p音の素性(すじょう)(<特集>琉球語を見る/琉球語から見る)
  • p音再考--琉球方言ハ行子音p音の素性
  • pオン サイコウ リュウキュウ ホウゲン ハギョウ シイン pオン ノ スジョウ

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Abstract

There is a consensus that phonetically notated "p" with the consonantal valuation of [h] dates back to times before any written records were kept. I intend to demonstrate through the data I gathered during my field research trips that the derivation of the phonetically notated "p" is possibly linked to the phonetic transitional process described as [Φ]>[p]. The same process seems to be also related to the vowel shift that resulted in a decrease in the number of vowels employed in the Ryukyu Archipelago from five to three, which yielded [p] and [p^?] in Northern Ryukyu and [p] and [f] in Southern Ryukyu dialects, respectively. If the five-vowel era is granted as the originating point in the consonantal phonetic shift, then, premising [Φ] as the starting phonetic value of the consonantal valuations related to /h/ seems quite reasonable as well. The same phonetic shift also seems to have entailed a process that can be described as [w]>[b]. In view of such phonetic transition and the presumed contemporaneous introduction of relevant vocabulary into the region, I also focus on the relative recentness of the occurrence of the phonetically notated "p". As further elucidation of the phonetic transitional process [Φ]>[p], which most likely took place in the region, I also bring attention to some words that evidently demonstrate the transitional process [kw]>[Φ]>[p].

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