Editing Ryukyuans (section)

==Etymology==
In English, they are also known as '''Okinawans'''<ref>{{cite book|editor-last = Danver|editor-first = Steven L.|editor-link = Steven L. Danver|title = Native Peoples of the World: An Encyclopedia of Groups, Cultures and Contemporary Issues|date = 2015|publisher = [[Routledge]]|isbn = 9780765682222|pages = 229–230}}</ref> or '''Lewchewans'''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=George |title=Lewchew and the Lewchewans: Being a narrative of a visit to Lewchew or Loo Choo, in October, 1850 |place=London |publisher=T. Hatchard |year=1853 |url=http://anglicanhistory.org/asia/gsmith_lewchew1853.html |author-link=George Smith (bishop of Victoria)}} About the [[Ryukyu Islands]].</ref>

Their usual ethnic name derives from the Chinese name for the islands, {{transliteration|zh|[[Liuqiu (medieval)|Liuqiu]]}} (also spelled as Loo Choo, Lew Chew, Luchu, and more),<ref name="Minahan"/> which in the [[Japanese language]] is pronounced {{transliteration|ja|Ryūkyū}}. In the [[Okinawan language]], it is pronounced {{transliteration|ryu|Rūchū}}. In their indigenous language they often call themselves and their identity as '''Uchinānchu'''.<ref>{{cite journal |date=2004 |title=Harvard Asia Quarterly |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vz8uAQAAIAAJ |journal=Harvard Asia Quarterly |volume=8 |pages=52 |access-date=2023-12-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://english.ryukyushimpo.jp/2015/07/17/19184/ |title=Okinawans and Hawaiians discuss how best to educate youth about traditional cultures|date=12 July 2015|publisher=[[Ryūkyū Shimpō]]|access-date=3 December 2023}}</ref> Another endonym is '''Shimanchu''' ({{Langx|ja|島人|label=none}}).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jaranilla |first=Karolyn |date=2021-09-28 |title=Floating Room lampoons colonizers and bigots in "Shimanchu" - From the Intercom |url=https://fromtheintercom.com/floating-room-shimanchu/ |access-date=2024-09-14 |language=en-US}}</ref> These terms are rarely used outside of the ethnic community, and are politicized markers of a distinct culture.{{sfn|Obermiller|2006|pp=17, 119}}{{clarify|date=April 2017}}

"Ryukyu" is an other name from the Chinese side, and "Okinawa" is a Japanese cognate of Okinawa's indigenous name "Uchinā", originating from the residents of the main island referring to the main island against the surrounding islands, Miyako and Yaeyama.<ref>{{Cite book |last=小玉 |first=正任 |title=琉球と沖縄の名称の変遷 |publisher=琉球新報社 |year=2007}}</ref> Mainland Japanese adapted Okinawa as the way to call these people.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}