Adjectives in Okinawan
We are now at the point where we can introduce adjectives. What types of adjectives are there? How can we use them?
There are two types of adjectives in Okinawan — sa adjectives and na adjectives.
Sa Adjectives Take a look at the following sentence:
普請のー白さん。 ふしのーしるさん。 Fushinoo shirusan. The building is white.
Shirusan is a sa adjective. When they come at the end of the sentence, sa adjectives end in -san. The copula is NOT necessary. -san is the plain ending form (or terminal form).
To alter the sa adjective into something you can conjugate, you take away the final -n to so it ends in -sa. This is called the sa stem. For example, the sa stem of shirusan is shirusa-.
To make the polite version of a sa adjective, attach ibiin to the sa stem.
普請のー巨さいびーん。 ふしのーまぎさいびーん。 Fushinoo magisaibiin. The building is big.
To place a sa adjective in front of the noun it modifies, you need to turn it into the attributive form by adding -ru to the sa stem.
黒さる猫や巨さん。 くるさるまやーやまぎさん。 Kurusaru mayaa ya magisan. The gray cat is big.
Na Adjectives The other type of adjective is the na adjective. Na adjectives often act as nouns. For example, if you put the na adjective at the end of the sentence, you do need to add the copula.
普請のー白やん。 ふしのーしるーやん。 Fushinoo shiruu yan. The building is white. Note: As we saw in the color vocabulary list, there is a sa adjective for white (shiruusan) and a na adjective for white (shiruu)
Likewise, for the polite form, it is the same thing as making the copula polite.
普請のー白やいびーん。 ふしのーしるやいびーん。 Fushinoo shiruu yaibiin. The building is not white.
Now, why do they call them na adjectives? That’s because, when placing the adjective in front of the noun it modifies, you must follow the adjective with the na particle for this situation.
黒な猫や巨さん。 くるーなまやーやまぎさん。 Kuruu na mayaa ya magisan. The black cat is big.
If you look up adjectives in any dictionary, they are listed in their ending form. You can tell sa adjectives are sa adjectives as they will end in -san. Na adjectives can theoretically end in anything as they are similar to nouns.
In review:
There are two types of adjectives in Okinawan — sa adjectives and na adjectives.
Sa adjectives, in their “terminal” form, -san, can end sentences. To conjugate sa adjectives, use the sa stem. To be placed at the beginning of nouns, they must become their attributive form -saru. The polite ending is -ibiin.
Na adjectives end with a copula. Their attributive form requires the na particle. Politeness is done by making the copula polite.