Editing Okinawan language (section)

=== Consonants ===

The Okinawan language counts some 20 distinctive segments shown in the chart below, with major allophones presented in parentheses.
{|class="wikitable"
|+ IPA chart of Okinawan consonants
|-
!
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Alveolo-palatal consonant|Alveolo-<br>palatal]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[labialized velar consonant|Labio-<br>velar]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Uvular/<br>Glottal]]
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! [[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
|align=center class=nounderline| {{IPA link|m}}
|align=center class=nounderline| {{IPA link|n}}
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|align=center class=nounderline| [[#Moraic nasal|({{IPA|ŋ|cat=no}})]]
|align=center class=nounderline| [[#Moraic nasal|({{IPA|ɴ|cat=no}})]]
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! [[Plosive]]
|align=center class=nounderline| {{IPA link|p}} &nbsp; {{IPA link|b}}
|align=center class=nounderline| {{IPA link|t}} &nbsp; {{IPA link|d}}
|align=center class=nounderline| {{IPA link|t͡ɕ}} &nbsp; {{IPA link|d͡ʑ}}
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|align=center class=nounderline| {{IPA link|kʷ}} &nbsp; {{IPA link|ɡʷ}}
|align=center class=nounderline| {{IPA link|k}} &nbsp; {{IPA link|ɡ}}
|align=center class=nounderline| {{IPA link|ʔ}}
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! [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|align=center class=nounderline| {{IPA link|ɸ}}
|align=center class=nounderline| {{IPA link|s}} &nbsp;({{IPA link|z}})
|align=center class=nounderline| ({{IPA link|ɕ}})
|align=center class=nounderline| ({{IPA link|ç}})
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|align=center class=nounderline| {{IPA link|h}}
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! [[Flap consonant|Flap]]
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|align=center class=nounderline| {{IPA link|ɾ}}
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! [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
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|align=center class=nounderline| {{IPA link|j}}
|align=center class=nounderline| {{IPA link|w}}
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The only consonant that can occur as a syllable coda is the [[wikt:archiphoneme|archiphoneme]] {{IPA|{{!}}n{{!}}}}. Many analyses treat it as an additional phoneme {{IPA|/N/}}, the [[#Moraic nasal|moraic nasal]], though it never contrasts with {{IPA|/n/}} or {{IPA|/m/}}.

The consonant system of the Okinawan language is fairly similar to that of standard Japanese, but it does present a few differences on the [[phoneme|phonemic]] and [[allophone|allophonic]] level.  Namely, Okinawan retains the labialized consonants {{IPA|/kʷ/}} and {{IPA|/ɡʷ/}} which were lost in [[Late Middle Japanese]] (though they are retained in a handful of Modern [[Japanese dialects]]), possesses a glottal stop {{IPA|/ʔ/}}, features a voiceless bilabial fricative {{IPA|/ɸ/}} distinct from the aspirate {{IPA|/h/}}, and has two distinctive [[affricate consonant|affricates]] which arose from a number of different [[sound change|sound processes]].  Additionally, Okinawan lacks the major allophones {{IPA|[t͡s]}} and {{IPA|[d͡z]}} found in Japanese, having historically fronted the vowel {{IPA|/u/}} to {{IPA|/i/}} after the alveolars {{IPA|/t d s z/}}, consequently merging {{IPA|[t͡su]}} ''tsu'' into {{IPA|[t͡ɕi]}} ''chi'', {{IPA|[su]}} ''su'' into {{IPA|[ɕi]}} ''shi'', and both {{IPA|[d͡zu]}} ''dzu'' and {{IPA|[zu]}} ''zu'' into {{IPA|[d͡ʑi]}} ''ji''. It also lacks {{IPA|/z/}} as a distinctive phoneme, having merged it into {{IPA|/d͡ʑ/}}.

====Bilabial and glottal fricatives====
The bilabial fricative {{IPA|/ɸ/}} has sometimes been transcribed as the cluster {{IPA|/hw/}}, since, like Japanese, {{IPA|/h/}} allophonically labializes into {{IPA|[ɸ]}} before the high vowel {{IPA|/u/}}, and {{IPA|/ɸ/}} does not occur before the rounded vowel {{IPA|/o/}}. This suggests that an overlap between {{IPA|/ɸ/}} and {{IPA|/h/}} exists, and so the contrast in front of other vowels can be denoted through labialization. However, this analysis fails to take account of the fact that Okinawan has not fully undergone the diachronic change {{IPA|*/p/}} → {{IPA|/ɸ/}} → {{IPA|*/h/}} as in Japanese, and that the suggested clusterization and labialization into {{IPA|*/hw/}} is unmotivated.{{sfn|Miyara|2009|p=179}}  Consequently, the existence of {{IPA|/ɸ/}} must be regarded as independent of {{IPA|/h/}}, even though the two overlap. Barring a few words that resulted from the former change, the aspirate {{IPA|/h/}} also arose from the odd lenition of {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/s/}}, as well as words loaned from other dialects. Before the glide {{IPA|/j/}} and the high vowel {{IPA|/i/}}, it is pronounced closer to {{IPA|[ç]}}, as in Japanese.

====Palatalization====
The plosive consonants {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/k/}} historically palatalized and affricated into {{IPA|/t͡ɕ/}} before and occasionally following the glide {{IPA|/j/}} and the high vowel {{IPA|/i/}}: {{IPA|*/kiri/}} → {{IPA|/t͡ɕiɾi/}} ''chiri'' "fog", and  {{IPA|*/k(i)jora/}} → {{IPA|/t͡ɕuɾa/}} ''chura-'' "beautiful". This change preceded vowel raising, so that instances where {{IPA|/i/}} arose from {{IPA|*/e/}} did not trigger palatalization: {{IPA|*/ke/}} → {{IPA|/kiː/}} ''kī'' "hair".  Their voiced counterparts {{IPA|/d/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}} underwent the same effect, becoming {{IPA|/d͡ʑ/}} under such conditions: {{IPA|*/unaɡi/}} → {{IPA|/ʔɴnad͡ʑi/}} ''{{sc|q}}nnaji'' "eel", and {{IPA|*/nokoɡiri/}} → {{IPA|/nukud͡ʑiɾi/}} ''nukujiri'' "saw"; but {{IPA|*/kaɡeɴ/}} → {{IPA|/kaɡiɴ/}} ''kagin'' "seasoning".

Both {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/d/}} may or may not also allophonically affricate before the mid vowel {{IPA|/e/}}, though this pronunciation is increasingly rare. Similarly, the fricative consonant {{IPA|/s/}} palatalizes into {{IPA|[ɕ]}} before the glide {{IPA|/j/}} and the vowel {{IPA|/i/}}, including when {{IPA|/i/}} historically derives from {{IPA|/e/}}: {{IPA|*/sekai/}} → {{IPA|[ɕikeː]}} ''shikē'' "world". It may also palatalize before the vowel {{IPA|/e/}}, especially so in the context of [[Topic marker|topicalization]]: {{IPA|[duɕi]}} ''dushi'' → {{IPA|[duɕeː]}} ''dusē'' or ''dushē'' "(''topic'') friend".

In general, sequences containing the palatal consonant {{IPA|/j/}} are relatively rare and tend to exhibit depalatalization. For example, {{IPA|/mj/}} tends to merge with {{IPA|/n/}} ({{IPA|[mjaːku]}} ''myāku'' → {{IPA|[naːku]}} ''nāku'' "[[Miyako Islands|Miyako]]"); {{IPA|*/rj/}} has merged into {{IPA|/ɾ/}} and {{IPA|/d/}} ({{IPA|*/rjuː/}} → {{IPA|/ɾuː/}} ''rū'' ~ {{IPA|/duː/}} ''dū'' "dragon"); and {{IPA|/sj/}} has mostly become {{IPA|/s/}} ({{IPA|/sjui/}} ''shui'' → {{IPA|/sui/}} ''sui'' "[[Shuri, Okinawa|Shuri]]").

====Flapping and fortition====
The voiced plosive {{IPA|/d/}} and the flap {{IPA|/ɾ/}} tend to merge, with the first becoming a flap in word-medial position, and the second sometimes becoming a plosive in word-initial position. For example, {{IPA|/ɾuː/}} ''rū'' "dragon" may be strengthened into {{IPA|[duː]}} ''dū'', and {{IPA|/hasidu/}} ''hashidu'' "door" conversely flaps into {{IPA|[hasiɾu]}} ''hashiru''. The two sounds do, however, still remain distinct in a number of words and verbal constructions.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

====Glottal stop====
Okinawan also features a distinctive glottal stop {{IPA|/ʔ/}} that historically arose from a process of glottalization of word-initial vowels.{{sfn|Curry|2004|loc=§2.2.2.1.9}}  Hence, all vowels in Okinawan are predictably glottalized at the beginning of words ({{IPA|*/ame/}} → {{IPA|/ʔami/}} ''ami'' "rain"), save for a few exceptions. High vowel loss or assimilation following this process created a contrast with glottalized approximants and nasal consonants.{{sfn|Curry|2004|loc=§2.2.2.1.9}}  Compare {{IPA|*/uwa/}} → {{IPA|/ʔwa/}} ''{{sc|q}}wa'' "pig" to {{IPA|/wa/}} ''wa'' "I", or {{IPA|*/ine/}} → {{IPA|/ʔɴni/}} ''{{sc|q}}nni'' "rice plant" to {{IPA|*/mune/}} → {{IPA|/ɴni/}} ''nni'' "chest".{{sfn|Miyara|2009|p=186}}

====Moraic nasal{{anchor|Moraic nasal}}====
The [[Japanese phonology#Moraic nasal|moraic nasal]] {{IPA|/N/}} has been posited in most descriptions of Okinawan phonology. Like Japanese, {{IPA|/N/}} (transcribed using the small capital {{IPA|/ɴ/}}) occupies a full [[Mora (linguistics)|mora]] and its precise place of articulation will vary depending on the following consonant. Before other labial consonants, it will be pronounced closer to a [[syllabic consonant|syllabic]] [[bilabial nasal]] {{IPA|[m̩]}}, as in {{IPA|/ʔɴma/}} {{IPA|[ʔm̩ma]}} ''{{sc|q}}nma'' "horse".  Before velar and labiovelar consonants, it will be pronounced as a syllabic [[velar nasal]] {{IPA|[ŋ̍]}}, as in {{IPA|/biɴɡata/}} {{IPA|[biŋ̍ɡata]}} ''[[bingata]]'', a method of dying clothes.  And before alveolar and alveolo-palatal consonants, it becomes a syllabic [[alveolar nasal]] {{IPA|/n̩/}}, as in {{IPA|/kaɴda/}} {{IPA|[kan̩da]}} ''kanda'' "vine". In some varieties, it instead becomes a syllabic [[uvular nasal]] {{IPA|[ɴ̩]}}. Elsewhere, its exact realization remains unspecified, and it may vary depending on the first sound of the next word or morpheme. In isolation and at the end of utterances, it is realized as a velar nasal {{IPA|[ŋ̍]}}.