Series | Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies
Edited book | Philological and Linguistic Analysis Working Together
Chapter | The Language of Miyako Oral Traditions
The Language of Miyako Oral Traditions
Abstract
Although Ryukyuan languages with the exception of Okinawan are essentially unwritten, they are rich in oral traditions whose language displays unique characteristics compared to the spoken register. This applies also to the Miyako language, with its wealth of traditional texts transmitted orally including songs, chants, narratives, proverbs, aphorisms and riddles, and the oldest phonographic written records dating to 18th century. Research of the linguistic aspects of such texts should be of great value, both as a specialized register in its own right and in terms of a contribution to the broad historical-comparative research of Japonic languages. The present chapter provides the profile of Miyako as a modern spoken Japonic language (§1), presents theoretical essentials concerning the Miyako oral literature as well as an outline of the history of its documentation and research (§2), addresses general characteristics of the literary language (§3) and discusses some of its conservative features (§4). It introduces the basics of what can be labeled “Miyako philology” while arguing for the importance of pursuing this field.
Submitted: Sept. 18, 2023 | Published Aug. 28, 2024 | Language: EN
Keywords Miyako • Ryukyuan • Narratives • Songs • Oral literature
Copyright © 2024 Aleksandra Jarosz. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-845-3/001
