沖縄

Compound of Old Japanese elements 沖(おき) (oki, “offshore, at sea”) + 縄(なわ) (nawa, “rope”), in reference to the string of islands. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “When it was first attested and what is the book name?”)

• (Tokyo) おきなわ [òkínáwá] (Heiban – [0])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [o̞kʲina̠β̞a̠]

沖(おき)縄(なわ) • (okinawa) ^{←おきなは (okinafa)?}

1. (rare, possibly obsolete) a rope used to catch fish

沖(おき)縄(なわ) • (Okinawa) ^{←おきなは (Okinafa)?}

1. the main island in the Okinawa Islands: Okinawa Island
   • 779, Tōdai Wajō Tōsei Den, page 905:

     [...] 十六日發、廿一日戊午、第一第二兩舟同至阿児奈波嶋在多禰島南西第三舟作夜已泊同處十二月六日南風起第一舟著石不動第二舟發向多禰去七日至益救嶋[...]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 1300, Heike Monogatari‎^[1], Nagatobon:

     さつまがたとは惣名也、きかいは十二の島なれば、くち五島は日本へ随へり、おく七しまはいまだ我朝に従はずといへり、白石、、あこしき、くろ島、いわうが島、あせ納、あ世波、やくの島とて、ゑらぶ、おきなは、きかいが島といへり

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. a group of islands known as the Okinawa Islands
3. the southern-most Japanese prefecture: Okinawa Prefecture

• うちなー (Uchinā) (Okinawa)
• (island chain): 琉(りゅう)球(きゅう) (Ryūkyū)

• Hokama, Shuzen with Nobutsuna Saigō (1972) [c. 1531-1623] Nihon Shisō Taikai 18: Omoro Sōshi (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten
• Takeuchi, Rizō (1962) Nara Ibun: Volume 3 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Tōkyōdō Shuppan, →ISBN.

Cognate with Japanese 沖(おき)縄(なわ) (Okinawa, literally “offshore + rope”).

• IPA^(key): /ɸut͡ɕinaː/

沖縄(ふちなー) (Fuchinā) 

1. Okinawa

From Proto-Ryukyuan *okinawa. Cognate with Japanese 沖(おき)縄(なわ) (Okinawa, literally “offshore + rope”).

• IPA^(key): /ukˢɨnaː/

沖縄(うきぃなー) (Uksïnā) 

1. Okinawa

From Proto-Ryukyuan *okinawa. Cognate with Japanese 沖(おき)縄(なわ) (Okinawa, literally “offshore + rope”).

• IPA^(key): /ʔut͡ɕinaː/

沖(うち)縄(なー) (Uchinā) 

1. Okinawa
   • 1531-1623, Omoro Sōshi, page 96:

     あがまぶるたたみきよせひやくたてわやりあまみやからおきなわたけててはおもはな しねりやからみしまもりててはおもはな

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• → English: Uchina, Uchinā
• → Japanese: うちなー (Uchinā)

• “うちなー【沖縄】” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.
• “ウチナー” in Okinawa Center of Language Study, Shuri-Naha Dialect Dictionary (archived; reopens 2024).^{(permanent dead link)}

From Proto-Ryukyuan *okinawa. Cognate with Japanese 沖(おき)縄(なわ) (Okinawa, literally “offshore + rope”).

• IPA^(key): /ʔukɨnaː/

沖縄(うきぃなー) (Ukïnā) 

1. Okinawa

Assibilation of the above term.

• (Hateruma) IPA^(key): /ʔusɨnaː/

沖縄(うしぃなー) (Usïnā) 

1. (Hateruma) Okinawa

Variant with initial bilabial fricative.

• (Kuroshima) IPA^(key): /ɸukinaː/

沖縄(ふきなー) (Fukinā) 

1. (Kuroshima) Okinawa

Assibilation of the above term.

• (Taketomi) IPA^(key): /ʔuɕinaː/

沖縄(うしなー) (Ushinā) 

1. (Taketomi) Okinawa

From Proto-Ryukyuan *okinawa. Cognate with Japanese 沖(おき)縄(なわ) (Okinawa, literally “offshore + rope”).

• IPA^(key): /unna/

沖縄(うんな) (Unna) 

1. Okinawa