Okinawan Japanese: Difference between revisions
Austronesier (talk | contribs) Not a valid clade |
Haimounten (talk | contribs) Okinawan Japanese is described as descending from Standard Japanese, so I added a new clade set. |
||
| Line 17: | Line 17: | ||
| glottorefname = |
| glottorefname = |
||
| lingua = |
| lingua = |
||
| fam3 = [[Eastern Japanese]] |
|||
| fam4 = [[Kantō dialect|Kantō]] |
|||
| fam5 = Western |
|||
| fam6 = [[Tokyo dialect|Tokyo]] |
|||
}} |
}} |
||
[[File:Koohii-Shaapu.jpg|thumb|An example of Okinawan Japanese ''Koohii shaapu'', from English "coffee shop", instead of ''Koohii shoppu'' in standard Japanese.]] |
[[File:Koohii-Shaapu.jpg|thumb|An example of Okinawan Japanese ''Koohii shaapu'', from English "coffee shop", instead of ''Koohii shoppu'' in standard Japanese.]] |
||
Revision as of 17:48, 16 November 2020
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2014) |
| Okinawan Japanese | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Japan |
| Region | Okinawa Islands |
Native speakers | 1,000,000+ |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
Okinawan Japanese (ウチナーヤマトゥグチ, 沖縄大和口, Uchinaa Yamatu-guchi) is the Japanese language as spoken by the people of Okinawa Islands. Okinawan Japanese's accents and words are influenced by the traditional Okinawan and Kunigami languages. Okinawan Japanese has some loanwords from American English due to the United States administration after the Battle of Okinawa. Okinawan Japanese is a Japanese dialect (方言), unlike the Okinawan and Kunigami languages (which are, nevertheless, also officially considered as Japanese dialects in Japan).
History
The Ryukyuan languages were once widely spoken throughout the Ryukyu Islands, but saw a decline in speakers as a result of assimilation policies during much of pre-WW2 Japan. This event caused the Ryukyuan people to experience a language shift towards Japanese.[1] In the Okinawa Islands specifically, many learners of Japanese spoke it with a substrate from the Okinawan languages, causing a distinct variety of Standard Japanese to form, known as Okinawan Japanese.[2]
Differences from Standard Japanese
There are a number of aspects of Okinawan Japanese that are borrowed from Standard Japanese, but have different uses or meanings. For example, a number of verb inflections and words indicating aspect and mood are the same in Standard Japanese and Okinawan Japanese, but have different uses in both. Hazu means "due, scheduled, or supposed to occur", which indicates a high degree of probability in Standard Japanese. Yet in Okinawan Japanese it indicates a much lower degree of probability, more like "probably" or "may occur".[3] In Standard Japanese, the auxiliaries mashou, you, and ou are combined with the particle ne after a verb and used to make a suggestion. An example is ikimashou ne (Let's go). In Okinawan Japanese, this would express a speaker's will. It would mean "I will go" instead.[4]
Particles and demonstratives are another aspect of Okinawan Japanese grammar that differ from Japanese. The particle kara which means "from" or "since" in Japanese, means "as" or "because" in Okinawan Japanese. So, kara is used in Okinawan Japanese where wo or de is used in Japanese.[5]
Some words have different meanings in Standard Japanese. For example, aruku means "go around" or "work" in Okinawan Japanese, but means "walk" in Standard. Korosu means "hit" in Okinawan Japanese and "kill" in Standard.[6]
Many Okinawan youth use words borrowed from Japanese slang, such as mecchaa (very) and dasadasa (country bumpkin).[7]
English borrowings
Although not nearly as substantial as the borrowings from Japanese, Okinawan Japanese does contain some English loan words. Examples are paaraa (parlor), biichii paatii (beach party), and takoraisu (taco rice). One word combines the English word 'rich' with the Okinawan suffix -aa to create ricchaa (a rich person).[8]
See also
- Amami Japanese, the equivalent of Okinawan Japanese spoken in Amami Ōshima
- Okinawan language
References
- ^ "Assimilation Practices in Okinawa". www.uchinanchu.org. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
- ^ Anderson, Mark. "Studies of Ryukyu-substrate Japanese". Routledge Handbook of Japanese Sociolinguistics.
- ^ Ōsumi 2001, p. 83.
- ^ Ōsumi 2001, p. 84.
- ^ Ōsumi 2001, p. 86.
- ^ Ōsumi 2001, p. 87.
- ^ Ōsumi 2001, p. 90.
- ^ Ōsumi 2001, p. 89.
Notes
- Ōsumi, Midori (2001). "Language and identity in Okinawa today". In Mary Noguchi; Sandra Fotos (eds.). Studies in Japanese Bilingualism. Multilingual Matters Ltd. pp. 68–97. ISBN 978-1853594892.