Reconstruction:Proto-Japonic/wa

This Proto-Japonic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Japonic

Etymology

Both John B. Whitman and Alexander Francis-Ratté speculate of a connection to Old Korean 又 (*wu, “We; us”), although Whitman and Francis-Ratté's belief that Korean and Japanese are genetically linked does not have consensus in the field.

Thorpe (1983) indicates that this pronoun was originally plural, although both Japanese and Ryukyuan use it as a singular.

Pronoun

*wa

I
we

Descendants

Old Japanese: 我 (wa)
- Japanese: 我 (wa)
Proto-Ryukyuan: *wa
- Northern Ryukyuan:
  - Kikai: 我 (wā)
  - Kunigami: 我 (wā)
  - Northern Amami-Oshima: 我 (wā)
  - Okinawan: 我 (wā)
  - Oki-No-Erabu: 我 (wā)
  - Southern Amami-Oshima: 我 (wā)
  - Toku-No-Shima: 我 (wā)
  - Yoron: 我 (wā)
- Southern Ryukyuan:
  - Miyako: 我 (bā)
  - Yaeyama: 我 (bā)
  - Yonaguni: 我 (bā)

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