The Okinawan dialect or language spoken has come close to extinction. There is a few who are working diligently to bring this cultural language back into some form that will allow it to be taught so it is not lost. My experience with it is very, very limited as to karate terms.
Recently as I viewed a clip from Okinawa on karate culture and history two new terms came to my attention worth mentioning.
First, Uchinadee: Uchina means Okinawa in Uchina-guchi, the Okinawan language. Naturally, before karate was Chinese hand (Tang’s hand) or the empty hand, it was Uchina-dee (also written Uchina-di/Uchina-te/Uchina-ti), the hand of Okinawa. We tried to stay closed to the local pronunciation in using this spelling.
Second, Kancho: While sensei means the one who lives/ was born (sei) before (sen), kancho means the head (cho) of the hall (kan).
This reminds me of the trouble naming the tuifa or what some call the tonfaa. The first is Oki and the second Japanese, I think :-} I look forward to learning more of the terms and language of karate that is truly Okinawan.
Bibliography:
Okinawa Traditional Karate. "The Land of Karate, episode one." http://okkb.org/?page_id=1159
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