Editing Okinawan language (section)

==History==

===Pre-Ryukyu Kingdom===
Okinawan is a [[Japonic languages|Japonic language]], derived from [[Proto-Japonic]] and is therefore related to [[Japanese language|Japanese]]. The split between Old Japanese and the Ryukyuan languages has been estimated to have occurred as early as the 1st century AD to as late as the 12th century AD. Chinese and Japanese characters were first introduced by a Japanese missionary in 1265.<ref>Hung, Eva and Judy Wakabayashi. ''Asian Translation Traditions''. 2014. Routledge. Pg 18.</ref>

===Ryukyu Kingdom era===
====Pre-Satsuma====
{{transliteration|ja|[[Hiragana]]}} was a much more popular writing system than [[kanji]]; thus, Okinawan poems were commonly written solely in {{transliteration|ja|hiragana}} or with little kanji. Okinawan became the official language under King [[Shō Shin]]. The [[Omoro Sōshi]], a compilation of ancient Ryukyuan poems, was written in an early form of Okinawan, known as Old Okinawan.

====Post-Satsuma to annexation====
After Ryukyu became a vassal of [[Satsuma Domain]], kanji gained more prominence in poetry; however, official Ryukyuan documents were written in [[Classical Chinese]]. During this time, the language gradually evolved into Modern Okinawan.

In 1609, the Ryukyu Kingdom [[Invasion of Ryukyu|was colonized]] by the Satsuma Domain in the south of Japan. However, Satsuma did not fully invade the Ryukyu in fear of colliding with China, which had a stronger trading relationship with the Ryukyu at the time.<ref name=":0" />

===Japanese annexation to end of World War II===
When Ryukyu was annexed by Japan in 1879, the majority of people on Okinawa Island spoke Okinawan. Within 10 years, the Japanese government began an assimilation policy of [[Japanization]], where Ryukyuan languages were gradually suppressed. The education system was the heart of Japanization, where Okinawan children were taught Japanese and punished for speaking their native language, being told that their language was just a "dialect".

Language shift to Japanese in Ryukyu/Okinawa began in 1879 when the Japanese government annexed Ryukyu and established Okinawa Prefecture. The prefectural office mainly consisted of people from [[Kagoshima Prefecture]] where the [[Satsuma Domain]] used to be. This caused the modernization of Okinawa as well as language shift to Japanese. As a result, Japanese became the standard language for administration, education, media, and literature.<ref name=":0" />

In 1902, the {{nihongo|National Language Research Council|国語調査委員会}} began the linguistic unification of Japan to Standard Japanese. This caused the linguistic stigmatization of many local varieties in Japan including Okinawan. As the discrimination accelerated, Okinawans themselves started to abandon their languages and shifted to Standard Japanese.<ref name=":0" />

[[Dialect card|Okinawan dialect card]]s, similar to [[Welsh Not]] in Wales, were adopted in Okinawa, Japan.

By 1945, many Okinawans spoke Japanese, and many were bilingual. During the [[Battle of Okinawa]], some Okinawans were killed by Japanese soldiers for speaking Okinawan.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

==== American occupation ====
Under American administration, there was an attempt to revive and standardize Okinawan, but this proved difficult and was shelved in favor of Japanese. General [[Douglas MacArthur]] attempted to promote Okinawan languages and culture through education.<ref>Heinrich, P. (2004). "Language Planning and Language Ideology in the Ryūkyū Islands". ''Language Policy'', 3(2)</ref> Multiple English words were introduced.

===Return to Japan to present day===
After Okinawa's reversion to Japanese sovereignty, Japanese continued to be the dominant language used, and the majority of the youngest generations only speak [[Okinawan Japanese]]. There have been attempts to revive Okinawan by notable people such as [[Byron Fija]] and [[Seijin Noborikawa]], but few native Okinawans know the language.<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2012/05/19/national/okinawans-push-to-preserve-unique-language/#.VNrermK9KK0 | title=Okinawans push to preserve unique language| newspaper=The Japan Times Online| date=19 May 2012| last1=Mie| first1=Ayako}}</ref>

===Outside of Japan===
[[File:Colonia Okinawa.jpg|thumb|Sign in [[Okinawa Uno]] (a ''colonia'' in [[Bolivia]]), in Spanish and Okinawan: the text reads {{lang|ryu|めんそ〜れ オキナワへ}}, ''Menso~re Okinawa-e''.]]

The Okinawan language is still spoken by communities of Okinawan immigrants in [[Brazil]]. The first immigrants from the island of Okinawa to Brazil landed in the [[Port of Santos]] in 1908 drawn by the hint of work and farmable land. Once in a new country and far from their homeland, they found themselves in a place where there was no prohibition of their language, allowing them to willingly speak, celebrate and preserve their speech and culture, up to the present day. Currently the Okinawan-Japanese centers and communities in the [[State of São Paulo]] are a world reference to this language helping it to stay alive.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42859249 | title=A little corner of Brazil that is forever Okinawa| work=BBC News| date=4 February 2018}}</ref>  Courses in Okinawan language and literature are offered at the [[University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa]] and books in Uchinaaguchi have been published in [[Hawaii]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Okinawan Princess: Da Legend of Hajichi Tattoos |url=https://besspress.com/products/okinawan-princess-da-legend-of-hajichi-tattoos |access-date=2025-02-26 |website=Bess Press |language=en}}</ref>