Okinawan (Okinawan: ʔucināguci) 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. Okinawa Island (沖縄本島 Okinawa-hontō, the main island of Okinawa) is the largest of the Ryukyu Islands at the edge of the East China Sea, helping to define the seas boundary with the open Pacific Ocean. ... Current distribution of Human Language Families A language family is a group of related languages said to have descended from a common proto-language. ... The Japonic languages or Japanese-Ryukyuan languages constitute a language family that is agreed to have descended from a common ancestral language known as Proto-Japonic or Proto-Japanese-Ryukyuan. ... The Ryukyuan languages are spoken in the RyÅ«kyÅ« Islands and make up a subfamily of the Japonic family. ... ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages. ... ISO 639-3 is in process of development as an international standard for language codes. ... Articles with similar titles include the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone meaning sound, voice) is the study of the sounds of human speech. ... Unicode is an industry standard designed to allow text and symbols from all of the writing systems of the world to be consistently represented and manipulated by computers. ... The Ryukyuan languages are spoken in the RyÅ«kyÅ« Islands and make up a subfamily of the Japonic family. ... This article is about the prefecture. ... Kumejima (久米島町; -chou) is a town located in Shimajiri district, Okinawa, Japan. ... Tonaki (渡名喜村; -son) is a village located in Shimajiri district, Okinawa, Japan. ... Aguni (粟国村; -son) is a village located in Shimajiri district, Okinawa, Japan. ...

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. Shuri is a city in Okinawa also known as Shui or Syuri. ... Naha (那覇市; -shi) is the capital city of 沖縄県 Okinawa Prefecture (Okinawan Uchinā) in Japan. ... Brief History of the Ryukyus Before 1945 Large parts of this history come from George Feifers history of the Battle of Okinawa (references). ... List of Ryukyuan songs: Tinsagu nu Hana Asadoya Yunta Shima nu Hito Futami Jouwa Ninjoubushi Tanchamee Jin Jin Hana Categories: Japan-related stubs ...

The speech of Northern Okinawa is usually considered a separate language; see Kunigami language. The Kunigami language is a colloquial variant of the Okinawan language that is spoken largely in the Kunigami district of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. ...

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

In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. ... Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. ... Glottal consonants are consonants articulated with the glottis. ... A stop or plosive or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... A nasal consonant is produced when the velum—that fleshy part of the palate near the back—is lowered, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. ... In phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator (such as the tongue) is thrown against another. ... Fricatives (or spirants) are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. ... Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and typical consonants. ... The laryngeals were three consonant sounds that appear in most current reconstructions of the Proto-Indo-European language. ... Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and typical consonants. ...

Syllabary

(Technically, these are morae, not syllables.) Mora (plural moras or morae) is a unit of sound used in phonology that determines syllable weight (which in turn determines stress) in some languages. ... This article discusses the unit of speech. ...

Correspondences with Japanese

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.

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

This article describes the modern 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）

The Shōwa period (Japanese: 昭和時代, Shōwa-jidai, period of enlightened peace) was the time in Japanese history when Emperor Hirohito reigned over the country, from December 25, 1926 to January 7, 1989. ...

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

PostScript (PS) is a page description language and programming language used primarily in the electronic and desktop publishing areas. ...

Japanese

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

Okinawan language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator