ごーやー

Okinawan

Etymology

Appears to be derived from ごーいー (gōī, “crippled foot”), with the suffix *あー (*-ā, “nominalizer”) attached. The word itself, is likely an irregular change of Proto-Ryukyuan elements *niga (“bitter”) + *ori (“melon”).

Cognate with Kunigami ごーやー (gōyā, “bitter melon”, Nakijin-Yonamine dialect), Miyako ごーら (gōra, “bitter melon”, Irabu-Nakachi dialect), Yonaguni ぐや (guya, “bitter melon”).

Pronunciation

• (Shuri) IPA^(key): [ɡōːjāː] (tone class BC)

Noun

ごーやー (gōyā) 

1. bitter gourd, bitter melon

   ごーやーちゃんぷるー

   gōyāchanpurū

   bitter melon stir fry

2. a crippled foot

Descendants

• → Japanese: ゴーヤー (gōyā)

References

• National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (2001 [1963]) 沖縄語辞典 (Okinawa-go Jiten) [Dictionary of the Okinawan Language] (in Japanese), Tokyo (東京): Zaimushō Insatsu Kyoku (財務省印刷局), page 191

Further reading

• “ごーやー【苦瓜】” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.