Orthography Okinawan language

the tamaoton no hinomon (玉陵の碑文), referred tamaudun no hinomon in modern japanese, oldest known inscription of okinawan using both hiragana , kanji.

the okinawan language historically written using admixture of kanji , hiragana. hiragana syllabary believed have first been introduced mainland japan ryukyu kingdom time during reign of king shunten in thirteenth century. okinawans in contact hanzi (chinese characters) due extensive trade between ryukyu kingdom , china, japan , korea. however, hiragana gained more widespread acceptance throughout ryukyu islands, , documents , letters exclusively transcribed using script. omoro saushi (おもろさうし), sixteenth-century compilation of songs , poetry, , few preserved writs of appointments dating same century written solely in hiragana. kanji gradually adopted due growing influence of mainland japan , linguistic affinity between okinawan , japanese languages. however, limited affairs of high importance , documents sent towards mainland. oldest inscription of okinawan exemplifying use along hiragana can found on stone stele @ tamaudun mausoleum, dating 1501.

after invasion of okinawa shimazu clan of satsuma in 1609, okinawan ceased used in official affairs. replaced standard japanese writing , form of classical chinese writing known kanbun. despite change, okinawan still continued prosper in local literature until nineteenth century. following meiji restoration, japanese government abolished domain system , formally annexed ryukyu islands japan okinawa prefecture in 1879. promote national unity, government introduced standard education , opened japanese-language schools based on tokyo dialect. students discouraged , chastised speaking or writing in local dialect , notably through use of dialect cards (方言札). result, okinawan gradually ceased written entirely until american takeover in 1945.

since then, japanese , american scholars have variously transcribed regional language using number of ad hoc romanization schemes or katakana syllabary demarcate foreign nature standard japanese. proponents of okinawan tend more traditionalist , continue write language using hiragana kanji. in case, no standard or consensus concerning spelling issues has ever been formalized, discrepancies between modern literary works common.

syllabary

technically, not syllables, rather morae. each mora in okinawan consist of 1 or 2 kana characters. if two, smaller version of kana follows normal sized kana. in each cell of table below, top row kana (hiragana left, katakana right of dot), middle row in rōmaji (hepburn romanization), , bottom row in ipa.