なま【今】 : nama | define meaning

Historically attested for Okinawan under the entry なま nama "now" in the 1711 混効験集 Konkoukenshuu Okinawan dictionary (p. 5), which also records the form いみや imiya (imya).

Northern Ryukyuan cognates include Kikai (Onotsu, Shitooke, Shiomichi, Sakamine, Wan, Nakazato, Araki) にゃま nyama [nʲama]; Amami (Ura) っなま qnama [ˀnama]; Amami (Yoroshima) [jawã]; Tokunoshima (Amagi) んなー nnaa; Tokunoshima なー naa; Yoron っにゃま qnyama [ʔnjama]; Kikai (Kamikatetsu), Amami (Katetsu, Doren, Ukejima), Okinoerabu, Yoron and Okinawan (Kudaka, Maejima, Nago, Sesoko, Shuri, Soukei) なま nama [nama]; Okinawan (Iheya: Shimajiri) っなま qnama [ʔnama]; Okinawan (Iheya: Shomi) っなんま qnanma [ʔnaNma]; Okinawan (Takazato) なんま nanma [naɴma] "now". The form nanma- (namma-) surfaces in some Okinawan varieties when followed by the focus particle どぅ du or る ru.

Southern Ryukyuan cognates include Miyako (Bora, Ikema, Irabu, Kamiji, Karimata, Kugai, Kuninaka, Kurima, Ōgami, Ōura, Shimajiri, Uruka, Yonaha) んなま nnama [nnama~n̩nama]; Miyako (Irabu) んなみ nnami [nnami]; Miyako (uncertain location) [nnaNma]; Tarama and Yaeyama (Miyara, Sïka) なま nama; Yaeyama (Taketomi) [nãã]; Yaeyama (Kohama) みなま minama; Yaeyama (Funauki) みな mina; Yaeyama (Hateruma, Shiraho) まな mana; Yaeyama (Hatoma) まなま manama; and Yonaguni ない nai "now".

Reconstructions for proto-Ryukyuan include:

• Zachary Read (2015) and Kohei Nakazawa (2022) propose a reconstruction of *ima-ma, arguing that a) *ima (cognate with Japanese ima "now") underwent prepalatalization, resulting e.g. in the Northern Ryukyuan shift *ima > *imʲa > *ʔinʲa > ʔnʲa (> nʲa > na in Shuri Okinawan); and b) that it was re-affixed with the productive temporal-locative ending -ma. For Yonaguni, Nakazawa (2022) proposes a sound change that explains the parallel between *imama > nai "now" and *imada > madi "not yet" in Yonaguni. It's worth noting that a similar parallel exists with Okinawan naada "not yet", although a vowel length difference exists.
• Alexander Vovin (2018) doesn't explicitely reconstruct *ima-ma, but notes the Old Okinawan form *imʲa 'now' and proposes the shift *imʲa > *nʲa > na 'now' + ma 'interval', resulting in the modern Okinawan form nama. This is then compared to Western Old Japanese *ima 'now' and discussed in the larger context of prepalatalization in Okinawan.
• Wayne P. Lawrence (2016) reconstructs proto-Okinawan *ʔnjaɴma from an earlier *inama.
• John R. Bentley (2008) reconstructs *_nVnama for proto-Miyako, *_menama for proto-Yaeyama, *nae for Proto-Yonaguni (questioning its relation) and finally *menama for proto-Sakishima (i.e. southern Ryukyuan).