OKINAWAN LANGUAGE

'Okinawan' (Okinawan: 'ucināguci') is a Ryukyuan language spoken in Japan on the southern island of Okinawa, as well as the surrounding islands of Kerama, Kume-jima, Tonaki, Aguni, and a number of smaller islands located to the east of the main island of Okinawa.
It is divided into two main groups: Central (Standard, Shuri-Naha) and Southern. The Shuri dialect was standardized during the era of the Ryukyuan Kingdom, during the reign of King Sho Shin (1477-1526). It was the official language used by royalty and aristocracy. All of the songs and poems in the language from that era are written in the Shuri dialect.
The speech of Northern Okinawa is usually considered a separate language; see Kunigami language.

Contents

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

Syllabary

Correspondences with Japanese

Grammar

See also

Bibliography

Japanese

External links

English

Japanese

Phonology

Vowels

Okinawan has three short vowels, , and five long vowels, . Note that is rounded, unlike in Japanese.

Consonants

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Plosive
Nasal
Tap or flap
Fricative
Approximant
Laryngeal approximant

Syllabary

(Technically, these are morae, not syllables.)

ʔi	ʔe	ʔa	ʔo	ʔu	ʔja	ʔjo	ʔju		ʔwa	ʔɴ
i	e	a	o	u	ja	jo	ju	we	wa	ɴ
hi	he	ha	ho	hu	hja	hjo	hju	―	hwa
								―
gi	ge	ga	go	gu	gja	―	―	gwe	gwa
						―	―
ki	ke	ka	ko	ku	kja	―	―	kwe	kwa
						―	―
ci	ce	ca	co	cu	―	―	―	―	―
					―	―	―	―	―
zi	ze	za	zo	zu	―	―	―	―	―
					―	―	―	―	―
si	se	sa	so	su	sja	―	sju	―	―
						―		―	―
di	de	da	do	du	―	―	―	―	―
ri	re	ra	ro	ru
					―	―	―	―	―
ti	te	ta	to	tu	―	―	―	―	―
					―	―	―	―	―
mi	me	ma	mo	mu	mja	mjo	―	―	―
							―	―	―
bi	be	ba	bo	bu	bja	bjo	bju	―	―
								―	―
pi	pe	pa	po	pu	pja	―	pju	―	―
						―		―	―
										q
										e

Correspondences with Japanese

Japanese	Okinawan	Notes
		not
		not , not
		also occurs
		also occurs
		, also occurs
		, also occurs
		; formerly distinguished as [si] /hi/ [çi] also occurs
		; formerly distinguished as
		and have merged
		Moraic also occurs
		also occurs, but rarely
	~
		Moraic also occurs
		unaffected
		Tends to become medially

Grammar

Okinawan dialects retain a number of old grammatical features, such as a distinction between the terminal form (終止形) and the attributive form (連体形), the genitive function of が ''ga'' (lost in the Shuri dialect), the nominative function of ぬ ''nu'' (Japanese: の ''no''), as well as honorific/plain distribution of ''ga'' and ''nu'' in nominative use.

書く ''kaku'' ''to write''
		Classical		Shuri
Irrealis	未然形	書か	kaka-	kaka-
Continuative	連用形	書き	kaki-	kaci-
Terminal	終止形	書く	kaku	kacun
Attributive	連体形	書く	kaku	kacuru
Realis	已然形	書け	kake-	kaki-
Imperative	命令形	書け	kake	kaki

One etymology given for the ''-un'' and ''-uru'' endings is the continuative form suffixed with ''uri'' (Classical Japanese: 居り ''wori'', ''to be; to exist''): ''-un'' developed from the terminal form ''uri''; ''-uru'' developed from the attributive form ''uru'', i.e:

★ ''kacuru'' derives from ''kaci-uru'';

★ ''kacun'' derives from ''kaci-uri''; and

★ ''yumun'' (Japanese: 読む ''yomu'', ''to read) derives from ''yumi'' + ''uri''.
A similar etymology is given for the terminal ''-san'' and attributive ''-saru'' endings for adjectives: the stem suffixed with さ ''sa'' (nominalises adjectives, i.e. high → height, hot → heat), suffixed with ''ari'' (Classical Japanese: 有り ''ari'', ''to exist; to have''), i.e:

★ ''takasan'' (Japanese: 高い ''takai'', ''high; tall'') derives from ''taka-sa-ari'';

★ ''atsusan'' (Japanese: 暑い ''atsui'', ''hot; warm'') derives from ''atsu-sa-ari''; and

★ ''yutasaru'' (''good; pleasant'') derives from ''yuta-sa-aru''.

See also

★ Okinawan writing system

Bibliography

Japanese

★ 平山輝男編著　『全国方言辞典〔１〕: 県別方言の特色』　角川書店、1983年（昭和58年）

External links

English

★ Ethnologue report on Kunigami

★ Ethnologue report on Central Okinawan

★ Arakaki, Tomoko: Aspect and Modality in Luchuan (PostScript file)

★ Okinawan Language - English Dictionary

Japanese

★ Basic Ryukyuan language

★ Ryukyuan dictionary, with spoken examples.

★ Nakasone Seizen manuscripts (mostly on the Nakijin dialect)

★ A Shuri-Naha orthography and phonology