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Unusual reading (or maybe I'm stupid)

#1
Hi all,

I've come across this: http://powerofokinawa.files.wordpress.co...=450&h=443

Now, about the two big kanjis ("new" and "pop song" (rtk3)). うた makes sense, but I don't understand why the first one should be pronounced みい. The whole "みいうた" thing doesn't really seem much used either. Jisho.org doesn't list it, Google translates it accurately with "new songs", but with the しん reading.

What the heck? Tongue Is that Okinawan dialect? Am I mistaking this "みいうた" for a furigana when it's really not? *I've finished RTK1 since about a month, so I still have very limited Japanese knowledge* Not that I need to know this, just curious!

Thanks Smile
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#2
comeauch Wrote:Hi all,

I've come across this: http://powerofokinawa.files.wordpress.co...=450&h=443

Now, about the two big kanjis ("new" and "pop song" (rtk3)). うた makes sense, but I don't understand why the first one should be pronounced みい. The whole "みいうた" thing doesn't really seem much used either. Jisho.org doesn't list it, Google translates it accurately with "new songs", but with the しん reading.

What the heck? Tongue Is that Okinawan dialect? Am I mistaking this "みいうた" for a furigana when it's really not? *I've finished RTK1 since about a month, so I still have very limited Japanese knowledge* Not that I need to know this, just curious!

Thanks Smile
From poking around on the internets:

みい is Okinawan for "new"
Radio Okinawa sponsors an event, 新唄大賞 (みいうたたいしょう), every year to promote the creation and development of new folk songs.

Here's the relevant page, but it's Japanese only:
http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E6%96%B0%E...Code=OKNDH
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#3
Really? x_x
I really tried searching for like "mii okinawa" and so on... (although I can't really read Japanese yet... that's clearly not helping). What/where did you search?

Thanks hehe! Big Grin
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#4
comeauch Wrote:Really? x_x
I really tried searching for like "mii okinawa" and so on... (although I can't really read Japanese yet... that's clearly not helping). What/where did you search?

Thanks hehe! Big Grin
You were searching in romaji? I would expect to find little to no information in English/romaji about any dialect other than Kansai.

If you were searching in Japanese it probably would have been smart to write something like みい plus:
沖縄方言
or
ウチナーグチ

Both meaning Okinawan dialect.  However, this particular word seems pretty obscure. Most online Okinawan dialect dictionaries don't seem to list みい.
Edited: 2012-06-10, 10:40 pm
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#5
Yeah, it helps a lot to be able to search in Japanese. (Also I'm a librarian.)

I searched on みい 新 沖縄 and that led me eventually to the Weblio page.
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#6
Oh, yeah I searched "mii" in hiragana and romaji, but adding Okinawa would have been wise. Anyway, thanks to both of you Big Grin
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