Postby Pauro » 2008-10-31, 13:25
Eesaci
Greeting & courtesy phrases
MeNsooree めんそーれー is a popular welcome greeting that you can hear eg. on your arrival in Okinawa. It corresponds to Japanese irasshaimase. It's also got a politer form ʔimeNs'eebiri いめんせーびり.
There's no defined greeting to be said when meeting somebody. The reason is that in the old days, the Okinawa society lived in dispersed villages, thus there was no need for any formal greetings. There are, however, other ways to open a talk, like:
Cuu-ja feeuki sooibiiN-jaa ちゅーや ふぇーうき そーいびーんやー (literally You're early today) and
ʔUkimisoocii うきみそーちー used generally in the household (literally Are you up?), both of which, I dare say, could constitute a translation for ohayoo gozaimasu.
Ii ʔwaacici jaibiin-jaa いー うゎーちち やいびーんやー (literally The weather's nice, isn't it?)
Cuu ʔuganabira ちゅー うがなびら is a polite way to greet a bigger number of people.
Hai-sai はいさい if you're a man or Hai-tai はいたい if you're a woman are said to friends or people you're familiar with.
Hazimitijaa-sai はじみてぃやーさい or Hazimitijaa-tai はじみてぃやーたい (used by men and women respectively) correspond to hajimemashite (How do you do?)
Jutasiku ʔunigee sabira ゆたしく うにげー さびら Yoroshiku o-negai-shimasu or
MiisiQcooti kwimisooree みーしっちょーてぃ くぃみそーれー O-mishirioki kudasai (Pleased to meet you).
Niheedeebiru にへーでーびる Arigatoo
ʔIQpee niheedeebiru いっぺー にへーでーびる Arigatoo-gozaimasu
Diisai でぃーさい Doozo
WaQsaibiitaN わっさいびーたん Gomennasai
Guburiasabira ぐぶりーさびら Shitsurei-shimasu, Sayoonara
GuburiisabitaN ぐぶりーさびたん Shitsurei-shimashita
Caabira ちゃーびら Gomenkudasai (when visiting someone's place)
Koojabira こーやびら Gomenkudasai (when entering eg. a shop)
ʔUjukuimisooree, ʔUjukuimiseebiri うゆくいみそーれー Oyasumi-nasai
KwaQciisabira くゎっちーさびら Itadakimasu
KwaQciisabitaN くゎっちーさびたん Gochisoosama-deshita
ʔUgaN duusa うがんどぅーさ O-hisashiburi-desu
ʔUkutaNdee neemi soorani うくたんでー ねーみ そーらに O-tsukare-sama
ʔAtu karajaa あとぅ からやー Mata ato-de
Last edited by
Pauro on 2008-11-15, 10:54, edited 13 times in total.