Okinawan, spoken in Okinawa Island, was once the official language of the Ryukyu Kingdom. At the time, documents were written in kanji and hiragana, derived from Japan.
Although generally agreed among linguists to be a distinct language, most Japanese, as well as some Okinawans, tend to think of Okinawan as merely a regional dialect of Japanese, even though it is not intelligible to monolingual Japanese speakers.[1] Modern Okinawan is not written frequently. When it is, the Japanese writing system is generally used in an ad hoc manner. There is no standard orthography for the modern language. Nonetheless, there are a few systems used by scholars and laypeople alike. None of them are widely used by native speakers, but represent the language with less ambiguity than the ad hoc conventions. The Roman alphabet in some form or another is used in some publications, especially those of an academic nature.
The modern conventional ad hoc spellings found in Okinawa.
The system devised by the Council for the Dissemination of Okinawan Dialect (沖縄方言普及協議会). https://web.archive.org/web/20011031162127/http://www.okinawatimes.co.jp/spe/kotoba20010829.html
This system was devised by Okinawa Center of Language Study, a section of University of the Ryukyus. Unlike others, this method is intended purely as a phonetic guidance, and basically only uses katakana. For the sake of an easier comparison, corresponding hiragana are used in this article.
新沖縄文字 (Shin Okinawa-moji), devised by, in his textbook Utsukushii Okinawa no Hōgen (美しい沖縄の方言; "The beautiful Okinawan Dialect";). The rule applies to hiragana only. Katakana is used as in Japanese; just like in the conventional usage of Okinawan.
| i | u | e | o | ya | yu | yo | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Initial) 1 | pronounced as /[i]/ pronounced as /[ji]/ | pronounced as /[u]/ pronounced as /[wu]/ | pronounced as /[e]/ pronounced as /[je]/ | pronounced as /[o]/ pronounced as /[wo]/ | pronounced as /[ja]/ | pronounced as /[ju]/ | pronounced as /[jo]/ | |
| (Elsewhere) | (Not used) 2 | |||||||
| Conventional | い いぃ | う うぅ をぅ | え いぇ | お を うぉ | や | ゆ | よ | |
| Council | ゆぃ | をぅ | ゆぇ | を | ||||
| Ryukyu Univ. | ゐ | え | ||||||
| New Okinawan | い゙ | え゙ | ||||||
| ' | 'a a | 'i i | 'u u | 'e e | 'o o | 'ya | 'yu | 'yo |
| (Initial) 1 | pronounced as /[ʔa]/ | pronounced as /[ʔi]/ | pronounced as /[ʔu]/ | pronounced as /[ʔe]/ | pronounced as /[ʔo]/ | pronounced as /[ʔja]/ | pronounced as /[ʔju]/ | pronounced as /[ʔjo]/ |
| (Elsewhere) | pronounced as /[a]/ | pronounced as /[i]/ pronounced as /[ji]/ | pronounced as /[u]/ pronounced as /[wu]/ | pronounced as /[e]/ pronounced as /[je]/ | pronounced as /[o]/ pronounced as /[wo]/ | |||
| Conventional | あ | い | う | え いぇ | お うぉ | や | ゆ | よ |
| Council | え | お | っや | っゆ | っよ | |||
| Ryukyu Univ. | いぇ | いゃ | いゅ | いょ | ||||
| New Okinawan | え | |||||||
| k | ka | ki | ku | ke | ko | kya | ||
| pronounced as /[ka]/ | pronounced as /[ki]/ | pronounced as /[ku]/ | pronounced as /[ke]/ | pronounced as /[ko]/ | pronounced as /[kja]/ | |||
| か | き | く | け | こ | きゃ | |||
| g | ga | gi | gu | ge | go | gya | ||
| pronounced as /[ɡa]/ | pronounced as /[ɡi]/ | pronounced as /[ɡu]/ | pronounced as /[ɡe]/ | pronounced as /[ɡo]/ | pronounced as /[ɡja]/ | |||
| が | ぎ | ぐ | げ | ご | ぎゃ | |||
| s | sa | si(s-i) | su | (sye)se | so | sya | syu | |
| pronounced as /[sa]/ | pronounced as /[ʃi]/ | pronounced as /[su]/ | pronounced as /[ʃe]/ | pronounced as /[so]/ | pronounced as /[ʃa]/ | pronounced as /[ʃu]/ | ||
| Others | さ | し | す | しぇ | そ | しゃ | しゅ | |
| Ryukyu Univ. | し すぃ | しぇ せ | ||||||
| t | ta | ti | tu | te | to | |||
| pronounced as /[ta]/ | pronounced as /[ti]/ | pronounced as /[tu]/ | pronounced as /[te]/ | pronounced as /[to]/ | ||||
| Others | た | てぃ | とぅ | て | と | |||
| New Okinawan | ||||||||
| d | da | di | du | de | do | |||
| pronounced as /[da]/ | pronounced as /[di]/ | pronounced as /[du]/ | pronounced as /[de]/ | pronounced as /[do]/ | ||||
| Others | だ | でぃ | どぅ | で | ど | |||
| New Okinawan | ||||||||
| ts | tsi | tsu | ||||||
| pronounced as /[tsi]/ pronounced as /[tʂi]/ | pronounced as /[tsu]/ | |||||||
| Ryukyu Univ. | つぃ | つ | ||||||
| z | za | zi(dzi) | zu(dzu) | ze | zo | |||
| pronounced as /[dza]/ | pronounced as /[dzi]/ pronounced as /[dʐi]/ | pronounced as /[dzu]/ | pronounced as /[dze]/ | pronounced as /[dzo]/ | ||||
| Others | ざ | じ | ず | ぜ | ぞ | |||
| Ryukyu Univ. | づぃ | ず づ | ||||||
| ty c | tya ca | tyi ci | tyu cu | tye ce | tyo co | |||
| pronounced as /[tʃa]/ | pronounced as /[tʃi]/ | pronounced as /[tʃu]/ | pronounced as /[tʃe]/ | pronounced as /[tʃo]/ | ||||
| ちゃ | ち | ちゅ | ちぇ | ちょ | ||||
| zydy | zyadya | zyidyi | zyudyu | zyedye | zyodyo | |||
| pronounced as /[dʒa]/ | pronounced as /[dʒi]/ | pronounced as /[dʒu]/ | pronounced as /[dʒe]/ | pronounced as /[dʒo]/ | ||||
| Others | じゃ | じ | じゅ | じぇ | じょ | |||
| Ryukyu Univ. | じゃ ぢゃ | じ ぢ | じゅ ぢゅ | じぇ ぢぇ | じょ ぢょ | |||
| n | na | ni | nu | ne | no | nya | nyu | |
| pronounced as /[na]/ | pronounced as /[ɲi]/ | pronounced as /[nu]/ | pronounced as /[ne]/ | pronounced as /[no]/ | pronounced as /[ɲa]/ | pronounced as /[ɲu]/ | ||
| な | に | ぬ | ね | の | にゃ | にゅ | ||
| h | ha | hi | huhwu | he | ho | hya | hyu | hyo |
| pronounced as /[ha]/ | pronounced as /[çi]/ | pronounced as /[ɸu]/ | pronounced as /[çe]/ | pronounced as /[ho]/ | pronounced as /[ça]/ | pronounced as /[çu]/ | pronounced as /[ço]/ | |
| は | ひ | ふ | へ | ほ | ひゃ | ひゅ | ひょ | |
| b | ba | bi | bu | be | bo | bya | byu | byo |
| pronounced as /[ba]/ | pronounced as /[bi]/ | pronounced as /[bu]/ | pronounced as /[be]/ | pronounced as /[bo]/ | pronounced as /[bja]/ | pronounced as /[bju]/ | pronounced as /[bjo]/ | |
| ば | び | ぶ | べ | ぼ | びゃ | びゅ | びょ | |
| p | pa | pi | pu | pe | po | pya | pyu | |
| pronounced as /[pa]/ | pronounced as /[pi]/ | pronounced as /[pu]/ | pronounced as /[pe]/ | pronounced as /[po]/ | pronounced as /[pja]/ | pronounced as /[pju]/ | ||
| ぱ | ぴ | ぷ | ぺ | ぽ | ぴゃ | ぴゅ | ||
| m | ma | mi | mu | me | mo | mya | myu | myo |
| pronounced as /[ma]/ | pronounced as /[mi]/ | pronounced as /[mu]/ | pronounced as /[me]/ | pronounced as /[mo]/ | pronounced as /[mja]/ | pronounced as /[mju]/ | pronounced as /[mjo]/ | |
| ま | み | む | め | も | みゃ | みゅ | みょ | |
| r | ra | ri | ru | re | ro | |||
| pronounced as /[ɾa]/ | pronounced as /[ɾi]/ | pronounced as /[ɾu]/ | pronounced as /[ɾe]/ | pronounced as /[ɾo]/ | ||||
| ら | り | る | れ | ろ | ||||
1: At the beginning of a word.
2: University of the Ryukyus system is an exception, always using ゐ, をぅ, え, を (ヰ, ヲゥ, エ, ヲ) for pronounced as /[i]/, pronounced as /[u]/, pronounced as /[e]/, pronounced as /[o]/, and い, う, いぇ, お (イ, ウ, イェ, オ) for pronounced as /[ʔi]/, pronounced as /[ʔu]/, pronounced as /[ʔe]/, pronounced as /[ʔo]/, respectively.
| wa | wi | we | |
|---|---|---|---|
| pronounced as /[ɰa]/ | pronounced as /[ɰi]/ | pronounced as /[ɰe]/ | |
| Conventional | わ | うぃ | うぇ |
| Council | |||
| Ryukyu Univ. | ゑぃ | ゑ | |
| New Okinawan | ゐ | ||
| ' | 'wa | 'wi | 'we |
| pronounced as /[ʔɰa]/ | pronounced as /[ʔɰi]/ | pronounced as /[ʔɰe]/ | |
| Conventional | わ | うぃ | うぇ |
| Council | っわ | っうぃ | っうぇ |
| Ryukyu Univ. | うゎ | うゐ | うぇ |
| New Okinawan | |||
| k | kwa qua | kwi qui | kwe que |
| pronounced as /[kʷa]/ | pronounced as /[kʷi]/ | pronounced as /[kʷe]/ | |
| Conventional | くぁ くゎ | くぃ | くぇ |
| Council | くゎ | ||
| Ryukyu Univ. | くゐ | ||
| New Okinawan | |||
| g | gwa | gwi | gwe |
| pronounced as /[ɡʷa]/ | pronounced as /[ɡʷi]/ | pronounced as /[ɡʷe]/ | |
| Conventional | ぐぁ ぐゎ | ぐぃ | ぐぇ |
| Council | ぐゎ | ||
| Ryukyu Univ. | ぐゐ | ||
| New Okinawan | |||
| h | fa hwa | fi hwi | fe hwe |
| pronounced as /[ɸa]/ | pronounced as /[ɸi]/ | pronounced as /[ɸe]/ | |
| Conventional | ふぁ | ふぃ | ふぇ |
| Council | |||
| Ryukyu Univ. | ふゎ | ||
| New Okinawan | |||
| n 3 | 4 | 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ん | っ | ー | |
| ' | 'n | ||
| Conventional | ん | ||
| Council | っん | ||
| Ryukyu Univ. | |||
| New Okinawan | |||
3: Hatsuon (moraic n)
4: Sokuon (geminated consonants)
5: Chōon (longer vowels): In conventional usages, longer vowels are sometimes spelled like in mainland Japanese as well; "ou" (おう) for ō, doubled kana for others. (e.g. うう for ū.)