Reconstruction:Proto-Ryukyuan/ga

This Proto-Ryukyuan entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Ryukyuan

Etymology

From Proto-Japonic *-nka (“genitive marker (in pronouns)”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɡa/

Particle

*ga

nominative and genitive case marker

Usage notes

Ryukyuan languages use a hierarchy to determine which of its nominative and genitive markers, *ga and *no, to use. This hierarchy has two layers, consisting of higher and lower layers.[1]

The higher nominative and genitive marker is *ga, used primarily by pronouns referring to humans.
The lower nominative and genitive marker is *no, used by any nominals that do not use *ga.

This hierarchy is subject to much variation in the daughter languages. In Northern Amami-Ōshima, genitive *ga is only used with demonstrative pronouns, while personal pronouns, names of humans, and kinship terms do not take any genitive marker, while Yaeyama lost its reflex of *ga altogether.

Descendants

Northern Ryukyuan:
- Kikai: が (ga)
- Kunigami: が (ga)
- Northern Amami-Oshima: が (ga)
- Okinawan: が (ga)
- Oki-No-Erabu: が (ga)
- Southern Amami-Oshima: が (ga)
- Toku-No-Shima: が (ga)
- Yoron: が (ga)
Southern Ryukyuan
- Miyako: が (ga)
- Yaeyama: が (ga)
- Yonaguni: か゚ (nga)

References

Pellard, Thomas (2018), “Ryukyuan and the reconstruction of proto-Japanese-Ryukyuan”, in Handbook of Japanese historical linguistics, De Gruyter Mouton.

[1] Pellard, Thomas (2018), “Ryukyuan and the reconstruction of proto-Japanese-Ryukyuan”, in Handbook of Japanese historical linguistics, De Gruyter Mouton.