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🌏 Region(s): Ryukyu (Okinawa)

っくゎ・っくぁ【子・小】

kkwa

Pronunciation: [ˀkʷa~kkʷa]

Definition

Noun

  1. Child; children

Etymology

Cognate to Kikai っか kka; Okinoerabu (っ)くゎー (k)kwaa; Tokunoshima, Yoron and Kunigami (Nakijin, Motobu, Ogimi) くゎー kwaa; Kikai, Amami (Yuwan), Tokunoshima and Okinawan (Shuri, Itoman, Maejima, Kudaka) っくゎ kkwa; Okinawan (Tsuken) くゎ kwa; Tarama and Yaeyama (Taketomi) っふぁ ffa; Miyako (Ogami) and Yaeyama (Miyara) ふぁー faa. Most sources reconstruct proto-Ryukyuan *kVra or *kVwa.

Likely also cognate to Chiba, Toyama, Shizuoka and Yamanashi ころ koro; Niigata が ga; Kagawa くろ kuro; and old or middle Japanese こら【子ら・子等】 kora meaning "child, children" and also used as a diminutive.

Reconstructions for proto-Ryukyuan include:

  • Leon A. Serafim and Rumiko Shinzato (2021) reconstruct Northern Okinawan *Qkwá < Old Okinawan *Qk°wa < Pre-Old Okinawan *k°ura "child".
  • Tetsuo Nitta (2016) compares a number of different Japonic varieties and demonstrates that *kur-, *kor- and *kow- can all result in geminates.
  • Yukiko Kushibiki (2014) reconstructs *kora.
  • Zachary Read (2013) reconstructs *kora.
  • John R. Bentley (2008) reconstructs *kura.
  • Martine Irma Robbeets (2005) tentatively reconstructs *kora, from an earlier *kwo-ra.
  • Stewart A. Curry (2004) reconstructs proto-Ryukyuan *kuwa, although also notes the Japanese word kora.
  • Moriyo Shimabukuro (2003) reconstructs *kura or *kuːra.
  • Junnosuke Urakami (1989) reconstructs *kkw- for proto-Amami.
  • Maner L. Thorpe (1983) reconstructs *ko-wa, with *-wa being a diminutive.

Historical attestations:

  • おもろさうし Omoro Saushi (1531-1623) records the spelling くわ kuwa.
  • Sprachproben von Lieu-Kieu (1810), by Julius Klaproth, records "son, kuwa" and "king's son (prince), onu zunn boschinkua".
  • Vocabulary of the language spoken at the Great Loo-Choo island in the Japan Sea (1818), by Herbert John Clifford, records "Children, qua".

Discussion:

Notes

Becomes ぐゎー gwaa or んぐゎー ngwaa when used as a diminutive suffix at the end of a word.

Spelling

OrthographyForm
Kanji
Kanaっくゎ
っくぁ
っ彩
Romanizationkkwa
Pronunciation (IPA)[ˀkʷa~kkʷa]

意味:こ【子・小】、こども【子供・子ども】

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Cite this entry: Read, Zachary. (2023, July 30). っくゎ・っくぁ【子・小】 : kkwa | define meaning. JLect: Japonic Languages and Dialects Database. Retrieved 2024, November 21, from https://www.jlect.com/entry/2824/kkwa/.