Proto-Ryukyuan [ edit ]
Etymology 1 [ edit ]
From Proto-Japonic *yoki ( “ hail, snow ” ) .
As it does not snow in the Ryukyu Islands, most dialects, particularly Okinawan, use this word with the meaning 'hail'.
*yoki
( precipitation ) hail
snow
Descendants [ edit ]
Northern Ryukyuan: 유기 ( /ju.ki/ ) (Haytong Ceykwukki, 1501)
Kikai: 雪 ( yuchi )
Kunigami: 雪 ( yuchī )
Northern Amami-Oshima: 雪 ( yuki- , in compounds )
Okinawan: 雪 ( yuchi )
Oki-No-Erabu: 雪 ( yuki )
Southern Amami-Oshima: 雪 ( yuk )
Toku-No-Shima: 雪 ( yuki )
Southern Ryukyuan:
Miyako: 雪 ( yukɿ )
Yonaguni: 雪 ( duti )
Etymology 2 [ edit ]
Cognate with Japanese 斧 ( yoki , “ hatchet ” , obsolete or dialectal ) . Presumably from Proto-Japonic, but the word is attested too late to precisely reconstruct a vowel.
The vowel lengthening in some Northern Ryukyuan dialects and the medial -i- in the Yoron Mugiya Higashi-ku dialect suggests an earlier derivation *yo(C)Vki.
Pronunciation [ edit ]
*yoki
hatchet
Descendants [ edit ]
Northern Ryukyuan:
Amami:
Toku-No-Shima:
Asama: ユーキ ( jùː⸢kí , tone class C )
Kametsu: ユキ ( jú⸣kɪ̀ , tone class C )
Oki-No-Erabu:
China: ユーキ ( jùː⸢kʰí , tone class A )
Wadomari: ユッチ ( jùt⸢tɕí , tone class A )
Yoron:
Mugiya Higashi-ku: ユイキ ( /⸢júíkí/ , tone class C )
Okinawan:
Kunigami (Northern Okinawa):
Ie: ユチ ( /jútɕí⸣/ )
Nakijin: ユチ ( /jú⸣tʑì/ , “ hammer ” , tone class C )
Southern Okinawa:
Shuri: ユーチ ( /⸢júːtɕí/ , tone class C )
Southern Ryukyuan (Sakishima):
Miyako:
Hirara: ユキゥ ( /jukɿ/ )
Ikema: ユキゥ ( /jutsɿ/ , tone class B )
Irabu:
Tarama-Minna:
Minna: ユキ ( /juki/ , tone class A )
Tarama: ユキゥ ( /jukɿ/ , tone class A )
Yaeyama:
Nuclear-Yaeyama:
Hatoma: ユッキ ( /⸢júkkí/ , tone class BC )
Ishigaki: ユキゥ ( /jú⸣kɨ̀/ , tone class A )
Taketomi: ユキ ( /juki/ )
Yonaguni: ドゥティ ( /duti/ , tone unknown )