う【御】 : u | define meaning

Cognate with the standard Japanese honorific prefix お【御】 o.

Historical Ryukyuan attestations

• おもろさうし Omoro Saushi (1531-1623) records "おみや", "おうね", "おきも", "おまかない", "おとの", "おとん", "およ", "うさし", and "おまへ", among other examples.
• 混効験集 Konkoukenshuu (1711), "Words of the Royal Palace", records "おうね", "おこと 御言葉なり", "「おものぶぎやう」御物奉行", "「おまつくわ」御枕", "「おさんぼん」御茶之子なと入器なり", and "「おさた」御砂糖なり", among other examples.
• Vocabulary of the language spoken at the Great Loo-Choo island in the Japan Sea (1818), by Herbert John Clifford, records "Oogánjoo".
• Essay in Aid of a Grammar and Dictionary of the Luchuan Language (1895), by Basil Hall Chamberlain, records "The prefuxes u, gu and mi, which signify literally 'honourable' or 'august,' are almost always preferred to the personal pronouns in addressing a superior or even an equal. Thus u byō-chi, 'your illness;' mi fisha, 'your leg' (...)".
• 沖縄語典 Okinawa goten (Okinawan language dictionary) (1896), by Masayo Nakamoto, records "「ういり」御入（オイリ）", "「うかぢ」御蔭（オカゲ）、庇蔭、加護", "「うじん」御膳（ゴゼン）", "「うすねー」御供（オソナへ）", "「うすば」御側（オソバ）", "「うたび」御旅（オタビ）", and "「うめー」御前（オマヘ）" , among other examples.