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🌏 Region(s): Ryukyu (Okinawa, Yamatu)

なんくるないさ

nankuru nai sa

Pronunciation: [naŋ̍kuɾunaisa]

Definition

Expression

  1. Everything will be all right; it will all work out one way or another

Etymology

From なんくる nankuru "somehow, one way or another"; the nominal form of the verb ないん【為いん】 nain "to become; to result in; to attain";  and the emphatic particle さ sa.

Notes

The expression is sometimes incorrectly given the kanji 【難来る無いさ】 and translated as "hardships will not come" in English. This spelling and translation are erroneous for the following reasons:

  • nan only appears in Sinitic compounds in Okinawan; it is not used alone.
  • 無い nai is a Japanese word; the Okinawan reflexes are ねーん neen and ねーらん neeran.
  • 来る kuru is a Japanese word; the Okinawan reflex is ちゅーん chuun.

Given these reasons and the extremely close shape of the Japanese counterpart expression, なんとかなる【何とか成る・何とか為る】 nan toka naru, these Kanji are rejected.

Spelling

OrthographyForm
Kanaなんくるないさ
Romanizationnankuru nai sa
Pronunciation (IPA)[naŋ̍kuɾunaisa]

意味:なんとかなるよ【何とかなるよ・何とか成るよ・何とか為るよ】

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なんくるないさ
Cite this entry: Read, Zachary. (2017, January 21). なんくるないさ : nankuru nai sa | define meaning. JLect: Japonic Languages and Dialects Database. Retrieved 2024, October 7, from https://www.jlect.com/entry/4233/nankurunaisa/.