Okinawan (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.

1 Bibliography

2 External links

Contents

1 Phonology 1.1 Vowels 1.2 Consonants 1.3 Syllabary 1.4 Correspondences with Japanese 2 Writing 3 Grammar

Phonology

This section describes the Nakijin dialect, which differs from the Shuri dialect somewhat.

Vowels

Okinawan has three short vowels, [a i u], and five long vowels, [a: 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 [h ç ɸ] separately. For a list of phonemic consonants, consult the syllabary.

	Blab.	Alv.	Palv.	Pal.	Velar	Uvular	Glot.
Plosive	p b	t d			k g		ʔ
Nasal	m	n		ɲ	ŋ	ɴ
Laryngeal nasal	ʔm	ʔn
Tap or flap		ɾ
Affricate			tʃ dʒ
Fricative	ɸ	s	ʃ	ç			h
Approximant				j	ɰ
Laryngeal approximant				ʔj	ʔɰ

Syllabary

(Technically, these are mora, 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
/e/	/i/	[ti] not [tʃi]
/o/	/u/	[tu] not [tsu], [du] not [dzu]
/ai/	/e:/
/ae/
/au/	/o:/
/ao/
/aja/
/k/	/k/	/g/ also occurs
/ka/	/ka/	/ha/ also occurs
/ki/	/ci/	[tʃi]
/ku/	/ku/	/hu/ [ɸu] also occurs
/si/	/si/	/hi/ [çi] also occurs
/su/	/si/	[ʃi]; formerly distinguished as [si] /hi/ [çi] also occurs
/tu/	/ci/	[tʃi]; 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/ 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.

書く kaku to read
		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

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

Japanese

• Basic Ryukyuan language
• Ryukyuan dictionary, with spoken examples.
• Nakasone Seizen manuscripts (mostly on the Nakijin dialect)
• A Shuri-Naha orthography and phonology