: Uchinaa-yamatoguchi, wakaibiimi? En studie i den yngre generationens kunskap kring den egna dialekten på Okinawa, Japan.

Abstract

This essay investigates the relation between “usage” and “hearing” of dialectal words and expressions in the Ryukyu islands, Japan, in this case words and expressions from a mix of Ryukyuan and standard Japanese, so called uchinaa-yamatoguchi. A survey was conducted and in the questionnaires the respondents were asked to fill in the degree of usage and hearing of each word and expression, consisting of three alternatives each; use often, use seldom and never used - hear often, hear seldom and never heard.

My findings show a stable pattern in the relation between usage and hearing, where the usage is relatively low compared to hearing in almost every case. Among the most frequently used ones, one could find words and expressions connected to food, festivals, type of person, adjectives, adverb and animals etc.