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Okinawan LanguageOkinawan (Okinawan: Ucinaaguci) 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 three main groups: Northern (Kunigami dialect of Kunigami), 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. Phonology - This section describes the Nakijin dialect, which differs from the Shuri dialect somewhat.
Vowels Okinawan has three short vowels, i u, and five long vowels, e: i: o: u:. Note that u is rounded, unlike in Japanese. Consonants This is a comprehensive listing of consonants, and lists allophonic sets such as ɸ separately. For a list of phonemic consonants, consult the syllabary. | ! Blab. ! Alv. ! Palv. ! Pal. ! Velar ! Uvular ! Glot. | | style="font-size: x-small; background: #ccf; text-align: right;" | Plosive | p b | t d | k g | ʔ | | style="font-size: x-small; background: #ccf; text-align: right;" | Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ɴ | | | style="font-size: x-small; background: #ccf; text-align: right;" | Laryngeal nasal | ʔm | ʔn | | | style="font-size: x-small; background: #ccf; text-align: right;" | Tap or flap | | ɾ | | | | | | | style="font-size: x-small; background: #ccf; text-align: right;" | Affricate | tʃ dʒ | | | | style="font-size: x-small; background: #ccf; text-align: right;" | Fricative | ɸ | s | ʃ | | h | | style="font-size: x-small; background: #ccf; text-align: right;" | Approximant | | | | j | ɰ | | | | style="font-size: x-small; background: #ccf; text-align: right;" | Laryngeal approximant | | | | ʔj | ʔɰ | | | Syllabary (Technically, these are mora, not syllables.) Correspondences with Japanese | Japanese | Okinawan | Notes | | /e/ | /i/ | ti not tʃi | | /o/ | /u/ | tu not tsu, du not dzu | | /ai/ | rowspan="2" | /e:/ | rowspan="2" | | | /ae/ | | /au/ | rowspan="3" | /o:/ | rowspan="3" | | | /ao/ | | /aja/ | | /k/ | /k/ | /g/ also occurs | | /ka/ | /ka/ | /ha/ also occurs | | /ki/ | /ci/ | tʃi | | /ku/ | /ku/ | /hu/ ɸu also occurs | | /si/ | /si/ | /hi/ i also occurs | | /su/ | /si/ | ʃi; formerly distinguished as si
/hi/ i also occurs | | /tu/ | /ci/ | tʃi; formerly distinguished as tsi | | /da/ | /ra/ | rowspan="3" | d and ɾ have merged | | /de/ | /ri/ | | /do/ | /ru/ | | /ni/ | /ni/ | rowspan="2" | Moraic /ɴ/ also occurs | | /nu/ | /nu/ | | /ha/ | /hwa/ | /pa/ also occurs, but rarely | | /hi/ | rowspan="2" | /pi/ ~ /hi/ | rowspan="2" | | | /he/ | | /mi/ | /mi/ | rowspan="2" | Moraic /ɴ/ also occurs | | /mu/ | /mu/ | | /ri/ | /i/ | /iri/ and /uri/ unaffected | | /wa/ | /wa/ | Tends to become /a/ medially | Writing Okinawan for Japanese audiences is now written entirely in katakana (phonetically) or like normal Japanese - a mixture of hiragana, katakana and Kanji (sometimes chosen for meaning only, for instance, 太陽 for tiida, sun; usually chosen because of cognacy) with ruby. 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. colspan="5" | 書く kaku
to read | | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | 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.
=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 Japanese
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