Okinawan language

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Okinawan
沖縄口
Spoken in	Japan
Region	Okinawa Island
Total speakers	984,285
Language family	Japonic Ryukyuan Okinawan Okinawan
Language codes
ISO 639-1	None
ISO 639-2	mis
ISO 639-3	ryu – [[]]
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Okinawan (沖縄口 [ʔutɕinaːɡuti]; Okinawan: uchinaa-guchi, Japanese: okinawa-guchi) is a Ryukyuan language spoken in Japan on the southern island of Okinawa^[1], 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 dialects: Central (Standard, Shuri-Naha) and Southern. The Shuri dialect was standardized during the era of the Ryukyu Kingdom, during the reign of King Shō 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 1 Phonology 1.1 Vowels 1.2 Consonants 1.3 Syllabary 1.4 Correspondences with Japanese 2 Grammar 3 Particles 3.1 bikee/biken 3.2 wutooti/wuti 3.3 nkai 3.4 atai 3.5 saani/saai/sshi 3.6 kuru/guru 3.7 kuree/guree 3.7.1 yatin 3.8 madi 4 Syntax and Sample Sentences 5 References 6 Links 7 外部リンク

[edit] Phonology

[edit] 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.

[edit] Consonants

	Bilabial	Alveolar		Alveolo-palatal	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	m	n					ɴ
Plosive	p b	t	d/ɾ	t͡ɕ d͡ʑ		k ɡ		ʔ
Tap or flap
Fricative	(ɸ)	s		(ɕ)	(ç)			h
Approximant					j	w
Laryngeal approximant					ʔj	ʔw

Bracketed phones are phonemic only before some vowels. See below for details.

[edit] Syllabary

(Technically, these are morae, not syllables.)

'i	'e	'a	'o	'u	'ya	'yo	'yu	―	'wa	'n
[ʔi]	[ʔe]	[ʔa]	[ʔo]	[ʔu]	[ʔja]	[ʔjo]	[ʔju]		[ʔwa]	[ʔn] [ʔm]
i	e	a	o	u	ya	yo	yu	we	wa	n
[i] [ji]	[e] [je]	[a]	[o] [wo]	[u] [wu]	[ja]	[jo]	[ju]	[we]	[wa]	[n] [m] [ŋ] [ɴ]
hi	he	ha	ho	fu	hya	hyo	hyu	―	fa
[çi]	[çe]	[ha]	[ho]	[ɸu]	[ça]	[ço]	[çu]	―	[ɸa]
gi	ge	ga	go	gu	gya	―	―	gwe	gwa
[ɡi]	[ɡe]	[ɡa]	[ɡo]	[ɡu]	[ɡja]	―	―	[ɡʷe]	[ɡʷa]
ki	ke	ka	ko	ku	kya	―	―	kwe	kwa
[ki]	[ke]	[ka]	[ko]	[ku]	[kja]	―	―	[kʷe]	[kʷa]
chi	che	cha	cho	chu	―	―	―	―	―
[t͡ɕi]	[t͡ɕe]	[t͡ɕa]	[t͡ɕo]	[t͡ɕu]	―	―	―	―	―
ji	je	ja	jo	ju	―	―	―	―	―
[d͡ʑi]	[d͡ʑe]	[d͡ʑa]	[d͡ʑo]	[d͡ʑu]	―	―	―	―	―
shi	she	sa	so	su	sha	―	shu	―	―
[ɕi]	[ɕe]	[sa]	[so]	[su]	[ɕa]	―	[ɕu]	―	―
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	mya	myo	―	―	―
[mi]	[me]	[ma]	[mo]	[mu]	[mja]	[mjo]	―	―	―
bi	be	ba	bo	bu	bya	byo	byu	―	―
[bi]	[be]	[ba]	[bo]	[bu]	[bja]	[bjo]	[bju]	―	―
pi	pe	pa	po	pu	pya	―	pyu	―	―
[pi]	[pe]	[pa]	[po]	[pu]	[pja]	―	[pju]	―	―

In accordance to the now widely popular Hepburn romanization, the preceding syllabary is a modification of the original romanization system used in the Okinawago jiten (Okinawan language Dictionary) originally published in 1963. For comparison, see the table below:

IPA	Okinawago jiten	Hepburn	Notes
[j]	j	y
[ɸu]	hu	fu
[ɸa]	hwa	fa
[ʔ]	ʔ		As Standard Japanese does not possess true glottal stops, there is no standard for romanizing them. Many authors will choose to completely omit them, while others might use an apostrophe (').
[d͡ʑ~ʑ]	z	j
[t͡ɕ]	c	ch
[ɕ]	s, sj	sh
Moraic /ɴ/	ɴ	n
[ː]	e	¯	Some authors may choose to double the vowel rather than use a macron over the vowel. Compare mii, mī, and mie.
Gemination	q	Double the consonant

[edit] Correspondences with Japanese

Japanese	Okinawan	Notes
/e/	/i/	[ti] not [t͡ɕi]
/o/	/u/	[tu] not [tsu], [du] not [dzu]
/ai/	/eː/
/ae/
/au/	/oː/
/ao/
/aja/
/k/	/k/	/ɡ/ also occurs
/ka/	/ka/	/ha/ also occurs
/ki/	/t͡ɕi/	[t͡ɕi]
/ku/	/ku/	/hu/, [ɸu] also occurs
/si/	/si/	/hi/, [çi] also occurs
/su/	/si/	[ɕi]; formerly distinguished as [si] /hi/ [çi] also occurs
/tu/	/t͡ɕi/	[t͡ɕi]; formerly distinguished as [tsi]
/da/	/ra/	[d] and [ɾ] have merged
/de/	/ri/
/do/	/ru/
/ni/	/ni/	Moraic /ɴ/ also occurs
/nu/	/nu/
/ha/	/hwa/	/pa/ also occurs, but rarely
/hi/	/pi/ ~ /hi/
/he/
/mi/	/mi/	Moraic /ɴ/ also occurs
/mu/	/mu/
/ri/	/i/	/iri/ unaffected
/wa/	/wa/	Tends to become /a/ medially

[edit] Grammar

Okinawan dialects retain a number of grammatical features of classical Japanese, 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-	kachi-
Terminal	終止形	書く	kaku	kachun
Attributive	連体形	書く	kaku	kachuru
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:

• kachuru derives from kachi-uru;
• kachun derives from kachi-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;
• achisan (Japanese: 暑い atsui, hot; warm) derives from atsu-sa-ari; and
• yutasaru (good; pleasant) derives from yuta-sa-aru.

[edit] Particles

[edit] bikee/biken

びけーん	Translates to: "only"; limit. For verbs "uppi" is used
Follows	Example sentence	Translation
Nouns	rōmaji dake nu shumuchi ローマ字びけーんぬ書物。	a rōmaji-only book
Verbs (volitional)	Ninjibusharu uppi nindin sumabiin. 寝んじ欲しゃるうっぴ寝んでぃん済まびいん。	You can sleep as much as you want [to sleep].

[edit] wutooti/wuti

をぅてぃ・をぅとーてぃ	This particle indicates location similar to Japanese で
Follows	Example sentence	Translation
Nouns: language	Kuma wutooti yukwibushan. くまをぅとーてぃ憩ぃ欲しゃん。	I want to rest here.

[edit] nkai

んかい	Translates to: "to, in"; direction
Follows	Example sentence	Translation
Nouns: direction	Uchinaa nkai mensooree! 沖縄んかいめんそーれー!	Welcome to Okinawa!

[edit] atai

あたい	Translates to: "as much as"; upper limit
Follows	Example sentence	Translation
Nouns: For nouns yaka is used	Ari yaka nihongo nu jouuji ya aran. 彼やかぬ上手やあらん。	My Japanese isn't as good as his
Adjectives*	Hayai hodo ii. 早いほどいい。	The sooner, the better.
Verbs	Unu tatimunoo umuyuru atai takakooneeyabiran うぬ建物ー思ゆるあたい高こーねーやびらん。	That building is not as tall as you imagine it to be

[edit] saani/saai/sshi

さーに・さーい・っし	Used to indicate means by which something is achieved. Similar to Japanese で; The three are interchangeable
Follows	Example sentence	Translation
Nouns	basusshi ichabira. バスっし行ちゃびら。	Let's go by bus
Nouns: language	Uchinaaguchisaani tigami kachan. うちなあぐち手紙書ちゃん。	I wrote the letter in Okinawan.

[edit] kuru/guru

くる・ぐる (頃)	Translates to: "around, about, approximately" Kuru functions as a noun and may be followed by nu.
Follows	Example sentence	Translation
Nouns	San-ji guru nkai ichabira. 三時ぐるんかい行ち会びら。	Let's meet around 3 o'clock.

[edit] kuree/guree

くれー・ぐれー (位)	Translates to: "about, approximately" Kuree functions as a noun and may be followed by ぬ.
Follows	Example sentence	Translation
Nouns	Juppun kuree kakayun 十分くれーかかゆん。	It takes about 10 minutes.

[edit] yatin

やてぃん	Translates to: "even; or; but, however; also in"
Follows	Example sentence	Translation
Nouns, particles: "even"	Uchuu kara yatin manri-no-Choojoo nu miiyun. 宇宙からやてぃん万里ぬ長城ぬ見ーゆん。	Even from space you can see the Great Wall of China.
Nouns: "also in"	Nihon yatin inchirii-n guchi binchoosun 日本やてぃんいんちりーん口を勉強すん。	In Japan also, we study English.
Beginning of phrase: "but, however, even so". In this case, "yashiga" is commonly used	yashiga, wannee an umuran やしが、我んねーあん思らん。	But I don't think so.

[edit] madi

までぃ (迄)	Translates to: "up to, until, as far as" Indicates a time or place as a limit.
Follows	Example sentence	Translation
Nouns (specifically places or times)	Kunu densha-a, Shu-i madi ichabiin. くぬ電車あ、首里までぃ行ちゃびーん。	This train goes as far as Shuri.
Verbs	Keeru madi machooibiin. 帰るまでぃ待ちょーいびーん。	I'll wait until you come home.

[edit] Syntax and Sample Sentences

[edit] References

[edit] Links

[edit] 外部リンク

• 首里・那覇方言概説（首里・那覇方言音声データベース）
• 相手によって使い分け 首里くとぅば（沖縄タイムス）
• Free Download Learn Okinawan Textbook (Utsukushii Okinawa no Kotoba) by Yoshiaki Funazu (Japanese only)