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Okinawan language

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Okinawan (Okinawan: Ucinaːguci) 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

Okinawan has three short vowels, /a i u/, and five long vowels, /aː eː iː oː uː/. Note that /u/ 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
[ʔi] [ʔe] [ʔa] [ʔo] [ʔu] [ʔja] [ʔjo] [ʔju] [ʔɰa] [ʔn]
[ʔm]
i e a o u ja jo ju we wa ɴ
[i]
[ji] 		[e]
[je] 		[a] [o]
[wo] 		[u]
[wu] 		[ja] [jo] [ju] [ɰe] [ɰa] [n]
[m]
[ŋ]
[ɴ]
hi he ha ho hu hja hjo hju ― hwa
[çi] [çe] [ha] [ho] [ɸu] [ça] [ço] [çu] ― [ɸa]
gi ge ga go gu gja ― ― gwe gwa
[gi] [ge] [ga] [go] [gu] [gja] ― ― [gʷe] [gʷa]
ki ke ka ko ku kja ― ― kwe kwa
[ki] [ke] [ka] [ko] [ku] [kja] ― ― [kʷe] [kʷa]
ci ce ca co cu ― ― ― ― ―
[tʃi] [tʃe] [tʃa] [tʃo] [tʃu] ― ― ― ― ―
zi ze za zo zu ― ― ― ― ―
[dʒi] [dʒe] [dʒa] [dʒo] [dʒu] ― ― ― ― ―
si se sa so su sja ― sju ― ―
[ʃi] [ʃe] [sa] [so] [su] [ʃa] ― [ʃu] ― ―
di de da do du ― ― ― ― ―
ri re ra ro ru
[di] [de] [da] [do] [du] ― ― ― ― ―
[ɾi] [ɾe] [ɾa] [ɾo] [ɾu]
ti te ta to tu ― ― ― ― ―
[ti] [te] [ta] [to] [tu] ― ― ― ― ―
mi me ma mo mu mja mjo ― ― ―
[mi] [me] [ma] [mo] [mu] [mja] [mjo] ― ― ―
bi be ba bo bu bja bjo bju ― ―
[bi] [be] [ba] [bo] [bu] [bja] [bjo] [bju] ― ―
pi pe pa po pu pja ― pju ― ―
[pi] [pe] [pa] [po] [pu] [pja] ― [pju] ― ―
q
[h]
[j]
[s]
[t]
[p]
e

Correspondences with Japanese

Japanese Okinawan Notes
[tʃi]
[tsu], [du] not [dzu]
/eː/
/oː/
[ɸu] also occurs
[çi] also occurs
/hi/ [çi] also occurs
[tsi]
[d] and [ɾ] have merged
Moraic /ɴ/ also occurs
/pi/ ~ /hi/
Moraic /ɴ/ also occurs

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:

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:

Bibliography

Japanese

External links

English

Japanese

 

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