On Okinawan Translation

 

Hello Everyone,

 

I hope that everyone is doing well. I apologize for the seemingly lengthy absence as I have been doing a few things:

 

1. Translating a letter written in 1932 by Miyagi Chojun Sensei to one of his students.

2. Translating the Umuru Uso-chi

3. Learning to play the Sanshin 

4. Reading Okinawan Poetry and Songs in Uchina-Guchi

5. Learning more about Uchina-Guchi (Okinawan Language)

6. Karate Training (I guess I should have put this first)

 

As I learn more Uchina-guchi, I feel the urge not to talk about it too much on the internet. The reasons are many, but here are the major reasons:

 

1. Some of what was written by "historians" seem to be a bit strange when one learns more about the Okinawan language.

 

2. Do people really want to learn or is it a novelty. The reason I am learning is to learn more stories from my teacher and my teacher speaks the language.

 

3. Some people may take some words and use them to make up their own style to make it seem more Okinawan.

 

Some people know about the phrase, Tee Chikate Mani. This phrase was made popular in a book written by Toguchi Sensei of the Shoreikan. I have seen other people use this phrase when talking about "old style" kata training. However, there are a few things that stand out when learning the Okinawan language. For starters, there is a huge absence of "e" and "o" sounds in the Okinawan Language. This does not mean that the "e" and "o" sounds do not exist in Okinawan but for the most part it is not common. 

 

Tee is perhaps phonetic for "Ti-" or"Tii", this is usually written by Ti by others but really it is an elongated "i" sound and not just a short "i" sound. Ti- in the majority of usage means hand but can sometimes also mean skill. 

 

Chikate does not seem correct as it ends in a "e" sound. This is probably the gerund form of the verb Chikain which means "to use". The gerund form of this word is "Chikati"

 

Mani is the same as the Japanese word "Mane" which basically means copy. Note the change of the "e" to "i" from Japanese to Okinawan.

 

Tee Chikate Mani (Ti- Chikati Mani) can be translated as "copy of the use of the hand/skill".

 

There are more examples of people using Okinawan language in recent times and discussions but no one seems to question their authenticity but will almost use these things as sources. To me this is very strange.

 

Some might state that this detail is not really important and has nothing to do with Karate. However, I will quote my teacher, "Imitation karate is the absence of the small details"

 

Respectfully,

 

Robert Orozco