| Tarama | |
| States: | Japan |
| Region: | Tarama, Okinawa |
| Speakers: | mostly over age 60? |
| Date: | no date |
| Familycolor: | Altaic |
| Fam1: | Japonic |
| Fam2: | Ryukyuan |
| Fam3: | Southern Ryukyuan |
| Fam4: | Miyakoan |
| Dia1: | Tarama Island |
| Iso3: | none |
| Glotto: | tara1319 |
| Glottorefname: | Tarama-Minna |
| Script: | Japanese |
The Tarama language is a Japonic language spoken on the islands of Tarama and nearly depopulated Minna, two of the Miyako Islands of Japan. It is closely related to Miyakoan, but intelligibility is low. Currently, is only spoken natively by elderly people.
Tarama has four main vowels, and three marginal vowels pronounced as //e, ə, o// found in a restricted set of words.
| Central | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | (pronounced as /ink/) | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |
| Mid | (pronounced as /ink/) | (pronounced as /ink/) | (pronounced as /ink/) | |
| Open | pronounced as /ink/ |
pronounced as //ɨ// is pronounced as /[s̩]/ between voiceless consonants, otherwise pronounced as /[ˢɨ]/ after plosives, and pronounced as /[ɨ]/ elsewhere:
pronounced as /[ps̩tu]/ 'person', pronounced as /[kˢɨːlu]/ 'yellow', pronounced as /[mɨːɡɨ]/ 'right'
See also Miyakoan language#Vowels, for information on the close central vowel.
The sequences pronounced as //*tɨ//, pronounced as //*dɨ//, pronounced as //*nɨ//, pronounced as //*lɨ// do not occur. They have changed to pronounced as //tsɨ//, pronounced as //zɨ//, pronounced as //n̩// and pronounced as //l// (pronounced as /[ɭ̆]/).
Tarama does have voiced stops:
| Nasal | pronounced as /m/ | pronounced as /n/ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | pronounced as /p b/ | pronounced as /t d/ | pronounced as /k ɡ/ | |
| Affricate | pronounced as /ts / | |||
| Fricative | pronounced as /f v/ | pronounced as /s z/ | ||
| Rhotic | pronounced as /ɭ̆// (l) | |||
| Approximant | pronounced as /w~ʋ/ | pronounced as /j/ | ||
The 'l' is a retroflex lateral flap, also found in the Irabu language (Jarosz p. 43). pronounced as //m n f v s z l// occur as syllable codas, as in pail 'to grow' (Japanese haeru), psks 'to pull' (Japanese hiku).
The two nasals may be syllabic, as in mm 'potato' and nna 'rope'. 'Onsets' include geminate consonants, as in ssam 'loose' and ffa 'child'. Otherwise, the only consonant clusters are /Cj/, as in kjuu 'today', sjata 'sugar'. Sonorants can end syllables and words, as in kan 'crab', mim 'ear', and tul 'bird'. Vowel sequences include long vowels Vː and the 'diphthongs' Vi, and Vɨ. This structure has been analyzed as a syllable, but initial geminate consonants, long vowels and diphthongs are all bimoraic, and codas are moraic as well, so that e.g. ssam is three moras (pronounced as /[s̩sam̩]/. A phonological word must be at least two moras long.
| /a/ | /i/ | // | /u/ | /e/ | /o/ | /ə/ | /ja/ | /ju/ | /jo/ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /Ø/ | あ /a/ [a] | い /i/ [i] | イ゚ // [<sup>z</sup>{{Color|red|ɨ}}] | う /u/ [u] | え /e/ [e] | お /o/ [o] | エ /ə/ [ə] | や /ya/ [ja] | ゆ /yu/ [ju] | よ /yo/ [jo] | |
| /k/ | か /ka/ [ka] | き /ki/ [ki] | キ゚ /k/ [k<sup>s</sup>{{Color|red|ɨ}}] | く /ku/ [ku] | け /ke/ [ke] | こ /ko/ [ko] | キ゚ェ /kə/ [kə] | きゃ /kya/ [kja] | きゅ /kyu/ [kju] | きょ /kyo/ [kjo] | |
| /g/ | が /ga/ [ga] | ぎ /gi/ [gi] | ギ /g/ [g<sup>z</sup>{{Color|red|ɨ}}] | ぐ /gu/ [gu] | げ /ge/ [ge] | ご /go/ [go] | ギェ /gə/ [gə] | ぎゃ /gya/ [gja] | ぎゅ /gyu/ [gju] | ぎょ /gyo/ [gjo] | |
| /s/ | さ /sa/ [sa] | すぃ /si/ [si] | す /s/ [s{{Color|red|ɨ}}] | すぅ /su/ [su] | せ /se/ [se] | そ /so/ [so] | すェ /sə/ [sə] | ||||
| /dz/ | ざ /dza/ [dza] | ず /dz/ [dz{{Color|red|ɨ}}] | ずぅ /dzu/ [dzu] | ぜ /dze/ [dze] | ぞ /dzo/ [dzo] | ずェ /dzə/ [dzə] | |||||
| /sh/ | しゃ /sha/ [ɕa] | し /shi/ [ɕi] | しゅ /shu/ [ɕu] | しぇ /she/ [ɕe] | しょ /sho/ [ɕo] | ||||||
| /j/ | じゃ /ja/ [dʑa] | じ /ji/ [dʑi] | じゅ /ju/ [dʑu] | じぇ /je/ [dʑe] | じょ /jo/ [dʑo] | ||||||
| /z/ | ズぁ /za/ [za] | ズぃ /zi/ [zi] | ズぅ /ju/ [zu] | ズぇ /ze/ [ze] | ズぉ /zo/ [zo] | ||||||
| /t/ | た /ta/ [ta] | てぃ /ti/ [ti] | とぅ /tu/ [tu] | て /te/ [te] | と /to/ [to] | ||||||
| /d/ | だ /da/ [da] | でぃ /di/ [di] | どぅ /du/ [du] | で /de/ [de] | ど /do/ [do] | ||||||
| /ch/ | ちゃ /cha/ [tɕa] | ち /chi/ [tɕi] | つ /ch/ [tɕ{{Color|red|ɨ}}] | ちゅ /chu/ [tɕu] | ちぇ /che/ [tɕe] | ちょ /cho/ [tɕo] | つェ /chə/ [tsə] | ||||
| /n/ | な /na/ [na] | に /ni/ [ni] | ぬ /nu/ [nu] | ね /ne/ [ne] | の /no/ [no] | にゃ /nya/ [nja] | にゅ /nyu/ [nju] | にょ /nyo/ [njo] | |||
| /h/ | は /ha/ [ha] | ひ /hi/ [hi] | ほぅ /hu/ [hu] | へ /he/ [he] | ほ /ho/ [ho] | ひゃ /hya/ [hja] | ひゅ /hyu/ [hju] | ひょ /hyo/ [hjo] | |||
| /p/ | ぱ /pa/ [pa] | ぴ /pi/ [pi] | ピ /p/ [p<sup>s</sup>{{Color|red|ɨ}}] | ぷ /pu/ [pu] | ぺ /pe/ [pe] | ぽ /po/ [po] | ピェ /pə/ [pə] | ぴゃ /pya/ [pja] | ぴゅ /pyu/ [pju] | ぴょ /pyo/ [pjo] | |
| /b/ | ば /ba/ [ba] | び /bi/ [bi] | ビ /b/ [b<sup>z</sup>{{Color|red|ɨ}}] | ぶ /bu/ [bu] | べ /be/ [be] | ぼ /bo/ [bo] | ビェ /bə/ [bə] | びゃ /bya/ [bja] | びゅ /byu/ [bju] | びょ /byo/ [bjo] | |
| /m/ | ま /ma/ [ma] | み /mi/ [mi] | ミ゚ /m/ [m{{Color|red|ɨ}}] | む /mu/ [mu] | め /me/ [me] | も /mo/ [mo] | ミ゚ェ /mə/ [mə] | みゃ /mya/ [mja] | みゅ /myu/ [mju] | みょ /myo/ [mjo] | |
| /f/ | ふぁ /fa/ [fa] | ふぃ /fi/ [fi] | ふィ゚ /f/ [f{{Color|red|ɨ}}] | ふ /fu/ [fu] | ふぇ /fe/ [fe] | ふぉ /fo/ [fo] | ふェ /fə/ [fə] | ||||
| /v/ | ヴぁ /va/ [va] | ヴぃ /vi/ [vi] | ヴィ゚ /v/ [v{{Color|red|ɨ}}] | ヴぅ /vu/ [vu] | ヴぇ /ve/ [ve] | ヴぉ /vo/ [vo] | ヴェ /və/ [və] | ||||
| /ʋ/ | わ /ʋa/ [ʋa] | を /ʋo/ [ʋo] | |||||||||
| /r/* | ら /ra/ [ɾa] | り /ri/ [ɾi] | る /ru/ [ɾu] | れ /re/ [ɾe] | ろ /ro/ [ɾo] | りゃ /rya/ [ɾja] | りゅ /ryu/ [ɾju] | りょ /ryo/ [ɾjo] | |||
| ん /N/ [n,<br>ŋ] | ム /M/ [m] | ヴ /V/ [v] | リ゚ /ɭ/ [ɭ] | ー /ː/ [ː] | っ (final) /ʔ/ [ʔ] | っ /Q/ [k, g, s, dz, ɕ, dʑ, <br> t, d, tɕ, b, p, f] | |||||