Cuando era niña, mis abuelos me decían: “el nisan del bazar también se apellida Tsukazan”.
Pero, ¿por qué decían “también se llama…”, si el señor se apellida Tsukazan y no Tsukayama? Mis abuelos me decían que a pesar que el apellido se pronunciaba diferente, el kanji con el que se escribía, era el mismo, y que para “asegurarnos” que realmente éramos familia, siempre preguntaban: “¿También vienen de Yonabaru?”, “Si”, “ah! Entonces somos familia lejana!”…
Es como en el español, por ejemplo, que alguien se haya equivocado al escribir el apellido y en lugar de poner una “z” para Pérez, lo haya escrito con “s”: Péres.
Pero en el caso de los apellidos japoneses, y en este caso particular, de los apellidos okinawenses, no solamente puede deberse por un error ortográfico, sino que también puede deberse a una situación más que nada histórica que data de muchos siglos atrás; es decir, tiene un origen que puede explicarse mejor a través de la morfología histórica.
Recordemos que la cultura de Okinawa, que hasta el siglo XVII se llamaba el Reino de Ryukyu, es una cultura que posee características propias que la diferencia notablemente de Japón. No solamente se habla de aspectos aislados como la existencia de bailes o comidas típicas, sino de un conjunto completo de manifestaciones culturales que hacen que Okinawa tenga una identidad propia, como la existencia de una lengua propia, de un sistema propio de gobierno (regente hasta el siglo XVII), una historia propia.
When I was a little girl, my grandparents told me: “the nisan's surname of the small store also is Tsukazan”.
But, why they told me that "his surname is also...", if the man's surname was Tsukazan and not Tsukayama? My grandparents told me that even though the surname was pronounced differently, the kanji used in its writting was the same and, to ensure that we were relatives, they always asked: "Did you come from Yonabaru also?”, “Yes, we did”, “oh! So we are extended family!”…
That is like in Spanish, for example, when someone is mistaken when writting a surmane and instead of writting a "z" for Pérez, he writes it with "s": Péres.
But in the case of the Japanese surnames, and in this specific case, of the Okinawan surnames, this mistake is due not only to mispelling, but also to the rather historical situation dating back to many centuries ago; that is, with an origin which can be better explained through the historical morphology.
We should remember that the culture of Okinawa, which until the 17th century was called the kingdom of Ryukyu, is a culture with own characteristics that distinguish it significantly from that of Japan. Not only individual aspects as the existence of typical dances or food, are mentioned, but also about a complete set of cultural manifestations, which give to Okinawa its own identity, as the existence of its own language, its own system of government (which ruled until the 17th century), and its own history.
Como ya se vio en un artículo anterior, cuando el clan de Satsuma invadió Okinawa, se implementaron una serie de medidas drásticas a favor de Japón (a través del clan de Satsuma), que tenían como propósito japonizar toda la isla y sobretodo, obtener los beneficios económicos de China, que por aquella época mantenía buenas relaciones diplomáticas y comerciales con Okinawa.
Es así que, se intentó borrar todo indicio de la cultura okinawense: se prohibió el uso de las vestimentas típicas, se castigaba el uso del uchinaguchi (lengua local) a través de los hogen fuda, etc. Es decir, se pensaba japonizar a la cultura okinawense. Pero, como Japón quería obtener beneficios de China a través de Okinawa, tenía que poner detener este proceso de aculturación comenzada en 1613. Es así que en 1624, el reino de Yamato (Japón) ordenó diferenciar los apellidos de Okinawa con los de Japón, por medio de la escritura; para así evitar sospechas entre los chinos de la dominación japonesa en Okinawa.
As has already been seen in a previous post, when the Satsuma clan invaded Okinawa, a series of drastic measures were implemented in favour of Japan (through the Satsuma clan), with the purpose of japanizing the whole island and specially, obtaining economic benefits from China, which mantained good diplomatic and trade relations with Okinawa.
Any sign of the Okinawan culture was therefore attempted to be removed: the use of typical clothing, the use of uchinaguchi was punished (local language) with the hogen fuda, etc. in other words, it was thought to japanize the Okinawan language. However, since Japan wanted to obtain benefits from China via Okinawa, it must stop this acculturation process which began in 1613. Therefore in 1624, the kingdom of Yamato (Japan) ordered the Okinawan surnames to be differentiated from those of Japan, through the writing; and thus avoiding suspicion of the Chineses about the Japanese domination in Okinawa.
Sin embargo, con las distintas reformas implantadas arbitrariamente por Japón a la conquistada isla de Okinawa, poco a poco los apellidos okinawenses se adaptaron al sistema fonético japonés (por ejemplo, en uchinaguchi, existe el fonema “ti”, a diferencia del japonés que lo reemplaza con el fonema “chi”. Por ejemplo: el apellido okinawense Kotsi y su adaptación en japonés como Kochi).
However, with several reforms arbitrarily implemented by Japan to the conquered island of Okinawa, the Okinawan surnames adapted gradually to the Japanese phonetic system (for example, the phoneme“ti” exists in uchinaguchi, unlike the Japanese, which replace it with the phoneme “chi”. For example: the Okinawan surname Kotsi and its adaptation in Japanese as Kochi).
Any sign of the Okinawan culture was therefore attempted to be removed: the use of typical clothing, the use of uchinaguchi was punished (local language) with the hogen fuda, etc. in other words, it was thought to japanize the Okinawan language. However, since Japan wanted to obtain benefits from China via Okinawa, it must stop this acculturation process which began in 1613. Therefore in 1624, the kingdom of Yamato (Japan) ordered the Okinawan surnames to be differentiated from those of Japan, through the writing; and thus avoiding suspicion of the Chineses about the Japanese domination in Okinawa.
Sin embargo, con las distintas reformas implantadas arbitrariamente por Japón a la conquistada isla de Okinawa, poco a poco los apellidos okinawenses se adaptaron al sistema fonético japonés (por ejemplo, en uchinaguchi, existe el fonema “ti”, a diferencia del japonés que lo reemplaza con el fonema “chi”. Por ejemplo: el apellido okinawense Kotsi y su adaptación en japonés como Kochi).
However, with several reforms arbitrarily implemented by Japan to the conquered island of Okinawa, the Okinawan surnames adapted gradually to the Japanese phonetic system (for example, the phoneme“ti” exists in uchinaguchi, unlike the Japanese, which replace it with the phoneme “chi”. For example: the Okinawan surname Kotsi and its adaptation in Japanese as Kochi).
Con el paso de los años, los apellidos okinawenses dejaron de pronunicarse según el uchinaguchi, sufriendo una variación morfológica y fonética que se acentuó aún más cuando el Reino de Ryukyu pasó a convertirse en la Prefectura de Okinawa, en 1879.
Por ejemplo, aquí vemos las variaciones que sufrieron estos apellidos okinawenses:
Throughout the years, the Okinawan surnames stopped being pronounced according to the Uchinaguchi system, thus, undergoing a morphological and phonetical variation, which intensified more when the kingdom of Ryukyu became the Prefecture of Okinawa, en 1879.
For example, the changes made in these Okinawan surnames are shown as follows:
En el caso de mi apellido, Tsukayama, anteriormente se pronunciaba "Tsukazan" (hasta el día de hoy, muchos conservan la fonética original, es decir, Tsukazan) según el uchinaguchi, pero antes que se pronunciara "Tsukazan", se pronunciaba "Chikazan", con la influencia más notoria del idioma chino. También, el apellido Uibaru, que es un apellido de origen okinawense muy conocido pero que seguro nos parecerá extraño, pero si lo pronunciamos al estilo japonés, es decir, Uehara, seguro que habremos escuchado de él, de igual manera sucede con Oshiro con Ogusuku.
Y es así que muchos inmigrantes okinawenses, tanto en Perú como en otros países latinoamericanos, adoptaron los “nuevos” apellidos, es decir, con una pronunciación diferente y en muchos casos, con distintos kanji; lo que fue facilitado con la escritura romaji.
Esta es también, una de las causas que hicieron que muchos descendientes de japoneses (en este caso, de okinawenses), conserven un apellido diferente al de sus abuelos y tengan problemas actualmente, por ejemplo, para solicitar visa como descendientes de japoneses, por la deficiente evidencia que muestran los documentos originales (por ejemplo, las partidas de nacimiento o koseki) para demostrar que son los hijos o los nietos de tal persona.
In the case of my surname, Tsukayama, it was pronounced "Tsukazan" in the past according to the uchinaguchi (until nowadays, many people still continue using the original phonetics, that is, Tsukazan), but prior to its pronunciation as "Tsukazan", "Chikazan" was pronounced instead, under the most visible influence of the Chinese language. Also, the surname Uibaru is a well-known Okinawan surname, but probably it would sound strange for us, however, if we pronounce it in the Japanese style, that is, Uehara, we have heard of it for sure, and likewise it happens with the surname Oshiro and its variant Ogusuku.
Esta es también, una de las causas que hicieron que muchos descendientes de japoneses (en este caso, de okinawenses), conserven un apellido diferente al de sus abuelos y tengan problemas actualmente, por ejemplo, para solicitar visa como descendientes de japoneses, por la deficiente evidencia que muestran los documentos originales (por ejemplo, las partidas de nacimiento o koseki) para demostrar que son los hijos o los nietos de tal persona.
Como un pensamiento suelto, así como he tratado en artículos anteriores sobre las similitudes entre el pueblo israelita con el japonés, o el peruano con el japonés; he visto que hay casos de similitudes fonéticas con respecto a varios nombres geográficos en ruso con el japonés (por ejemplo: la isla Shikotan que se pronuncia igual en ruso y en japonés, así como muchos otros nombres propios), así como el chino con varios fonemas uchinaguchi (como anteriormente se explicó a través del ejemplo del apellido Kochi), que no tendría equivalencia en japonés.
A veces pienso que la no tan actual globalización en la que estamos inmersos, no ha sido tan reciente, sino que fue un proceso que ya se había dado desde antes de la creación de las ciudades, y cuya mejor evidencia, serían las costumbres y la lengua, de los cuales partimos básicamente para construir nuestro pasado.
As a loose thinking, I wrote many posts about the similarities between the Israelite people and the Japanese, or the Peruvian people with the Japanese; and I have seen many phonetic similarities regarding the several geographical names in Russian with the Japanese (for example: the Shikotan islands, whose name is pronounced the same as in Russian as in Japanese, as well as many other Russian proper names), as well as the Chinese language with many Uchinaguchi phonemes (as it was explained above with the surname Kochi as example), which do not have equivalence in Japanese.
Sometimes I think that the not-so-current globalization in which we are living, has not been so recently, but rather it has been a process that has already begun since before the creation of cities, and whose best evidence would be the customs and language, from which we start esentially to build our past.
FUENTES /SOURCES:
And so, many Okinawan immigrants, both in Peru and in other Latin American countries, adopted the "new" surnames, that is, with different pronounciation and in many cases, with different kanji; which was made easier with the Romaji writing.
That was also one of the reasons for which many Japanese descendants (in this case, from Okinawa), still have a surname different to their grandparents' and nowadays have some problems, for example, when applying for a visa as Japanese descendant due to the insufficient evidence showed by the original documents (for example, the birth certifficates or koseki) to prove that they are the children or grandchildren of that person.
That was also one of the reasons for which many Japanese descendants (in this case, from Okinawa), still have a surname different to their grandparents' and nowadays have some problems, for example, when applying for a visa as Japanese descendant due to the insufficient evidence showed by the original documents (for example, the birth certifficates or koseki) to prove that they are the children or grandchildren of that person.
As a loose thinking, I wrote many posts about the similarities between the Israelite people and the Japanese, or the Peruvian people with the Japanese; and I have seen many phonetic similarities regarding the several geographical names in Russian with the Japanese (for example: the Shikotan islands, whose name is pronounced the same as in Russian as in Japanese, as well as many other Russian proper names), as well as the Chinese language with many Uchinaguchi phonemes (as it was explained above with the surname Kochi as example), which do not have equivalence in Japanese.
Sometimes I think that the not-so-current globalization in which we are living, has not been so recently, but rather it has been a process that has already begun since before the creation of cities, and whose best evidence would be the customs and language, from which we start esentially to build our past.
FUENTES /SOURCES:
BEILLEVAIRE, Patrick. Les Noms d'Okinawa. Une Japonité Singulière. 2001. En Mots, No. 66, pág. 71-89.
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