The Prosodic Structures of the Ikema and Tarama Dialects of Miyako Ryukyuan

Abstract

Ikema and Tarama are dialects of Miyako, one of the sub-languages of Southern Ryukyuan. They both have so-called three-pattern accent system, in which three accentual classes are lexically contrastive. The three-way accentual contrast in the two dialects is neutralized in a wide range of contexts. Also, these dialects are characterized by more complexed realization rules of the accentual classes than those in the Japanese dialects. This study demonstrates that the prosodic structures of the two dialects can be adequately described, only if we posit the prosodic category which poly-moraic roots and clitics are mapped onto, i.e., the Prosodic Word. This study also provides a preliminary discussion as to whether it is appropriate to consider the prosodic category at issues as the Prosodic Word on the basis of the findings from theoretical investigations into prosodic categories.