Ryukyuan

[ree-oo-kyoo-uhn, ryoo-]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Ryukyu, its people, or their languages.

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Ryukyu.

2. the group of languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands related to Japanese.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Ryukyuan¹

First recorded in 1880–85; Ryukyu ( def. ) + -an ( def. )

Example Sentences

Adding to this, both species are only active at night, and the Ryukyuan only appears in winter.

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On a recent weekend, about 30 people gathered at the school, a small, sparsely furnished two-story building, to hear accounts in the Ryukyuan language by survivors of the American invasion of Okinawa in 1945.

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Therefore when, in 1873, the crew of a wrecked Ryukyuan junk was barbarously treated by the Formosan aborigines, the Yedo Government at once sought redress from Peking.

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