みどぅ

Yonaguni

Alternative spelling
溝

Alternative forms

• んどぅ

Etymology

From Proto-Ryukyuan *mizo, from Proto-Japonic *minsə.

Various sources record different variations of the word:

• Miyanaga (1930:260) records ミドゥ (1930 IPA: [m’idu]).
• Hirayama (1964:51) records /_midu/[midu].
• Hirayama (1967:332) records /midu/ [midu], as a translation of Japanese 川 (kawa, “river”).
• HDOBK (1987:15) cites Ndu ンドゥ from Toshizo Takahashi's 1974 field notes. HDOBK (1987:230) also cites midu ミドゥ from Hayami Ikehara's 1982 field notes.
• Uwano (2010:28) records 'Ndu= [ǹdú].
• Uwano (2016:127) records 'Ndu= [ǹdú].
• DMJ (2021:304) records みどぅ <midu¯>.
• Pellard (2024:03) records [ndú].

Pronunciation

• (Sonai) IPA^(key): [mìdú] (tone class A)
• (Sonai) IPA^(key): [ǹdú] (tone class A)

Noun

みどぅ (midu) 

1. 溝: ditch

   うぶあみ　ふいんがしや　むたぬんがら　みどぅ　さらいうとぅぎー

   ubuami fuingashiya mutanungara midu saraiutugī

   Since (there is trouble/lit. if it rains, we cannot hold it), get up and (clean it/lit. sweep it into the ditch).

References

• Hōsei Daigaku Okinawa Bunka Kenkyūjo (法政大学沖縄文化研究所) (1987) “琉球の方言１１巻：八重山・与那国島 [Ryukyuan Dialects 11: Yonaguni-jima, Yaeyama]”, in Ryūkyū no Hōgen (琉球の方言), volume 11, →DOI, pages 01-359
• Miyanaga, Masamori (宮良当壮) (1930) 八重山語彙 [Vocabulary List of the Yaeyama languages], Tokyo (東京都): Tōyō Bunko (東洋文庫), →DOI, page 260
• Yonaguni Hōgen Jiten Henshū I'inkai (与那国方言辞典編集委員会) (2021) どぅなんむぬい辞典 [Dunanmunui Dictionary], Yonaguni (与那国町): Yonaguni-chō Kyōiku I'inkai (与那国町教育委員会), page X