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🌏 Region(s): Ryukyu (Okinawa)

しーじゃ

shiija

Pronunciation: [ɕiːd͡ʑa]

Definition

Noun, adjective

  1. Oldest; older; eldest; elder; senior; superior
    1. しーじゃかた
      shiijakata
      "the elderly", "seniors", "superiors"
  2. Older sibling; older brother; big brother; older sister; big sister
    1. しーじゃにぬまったん
      shiija ni numattan
      "It was drunk by my older brother"

Etymology

Cognate to Amami (Sani) せぃざ sïza; Amami (Yuwan) しだー shidaa; Kunigami (Iheya) Yaeyama しじゃ shija; Tokunoshima and Yoron しだ shida; Yoron しざ shiza; Okinawan (Tsukuen) しーざ shiiza; Okinawan (Shuri, Tsuken, Torishima) しーじゃ shiija; Miyako (Ikema) すじゃ suja; Yaeyama (Ishigaki) ひっちゃ hitcha and ひじゃ hija; and Yonaguni すだ suda and だ da ~ や ya (used in compound words) "older (brother, sibling)".

Historical attestations include:

  • 先扎 (possibly indicating [siɛn.tʃaʔ]) — 琉球館譯語 Liúqiú guăn yìyŭ (1470)* & 使琉球錄 Shĭ liúqiú lù (1534)*
  • せさ (せざ) seza (possibly pronounced [ɕeⁿd͡za] or [ɕeⁿd͡ʑa] at the time) — おもろさうし Omoro Saushi (1531-1623)
  • 신자 [sin.tsa] — 海東諸國記 (해동제국기) Haedong jeguggi (1506-1623)*
  • すさ (すざ) suza (possibly indicating *sɨza) — 混効験集 Konkoukenshuu (1711)

*Source: Lin, Chihkai. A reconstruction of Old Okinawan: A corpus-based approach (2015).

Several different origins for this term are proposed in すらからの速御船 Sura kara no haya oune (2002), by Kiyoshi Sato, but none are accepted with confidence.

意味:としうえ【年上】、ねんちょうしゃ【年長者】、せんぱい【先輩】、ちょうし【長子】、ちょうなん【長男】、あに【兄】、あにじゃ【兄者】、あね【姉】、あねじゃ【姉者】

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しーじゃ