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Glite Dictionary
🏝️ From Okinawa 🧑 A person from Okinawa 🗣️ A language of Okinawa
Okinawan

Okinawan

1 9.9
A language spoken on the island of Okinawa
  • noun
: idioma okinawense
  • The Okinawan language is unique and differs significantly from standard Japanese.

Examples

  • Many elders in Okinawa still speak the Okinawan dialect fluently.

  • During the festival, we enjoyed traditional Okinawan music and dance performances.

  • The purpose of the present study is to examine how Okinawan-Jejuan pork food culture enabled the islanders to live in an ecologically sustainable way.

    Academic text (2018)

Synonyms

Ryukyuan language
vsOkinawan
  • Specialized
9.9

Languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands, like Okinawan and Amami

is the traditional speech of one island rather than the wider language group

Surface Forms

Okinawan singular
Okinawans plural

Morphology

Okinawan = Okinawa (transparent) = Okinawa + an

Formation from the place-name plus '-an' used to name a language or dialect is a common and transparent derivation.

Etymology

Okinawan for the language also comes from the island name Okinawa, and the island's own tongue is often called Uchina by local people. So Okinawan can mean the local language spoken on the island.