Mr.Tankosich,
You raise a good point. As I am not a professional linguist, I cannot give you a formal answer to your question. That said, here is what I can offer as a reply.
1. I've most frequently heard H/hogen used when referring to the Okinawan tongue. I was not aware the word directly translated to "dialect". Thanks for enlightening me. With this in mind, I would assume you are correct that correct use would be
hogen as opposed to
Hogen ... as the word is not a proper noun/name.
2. I have heard folks on the mainland refer to the Okinawan tongue as Okinawa-ben, so this seems in line with your point as well.
3. The Okinawans I've met do not refer to their tongue as either Hogen or Okinawa-ben. Rather, they refer to it as "Uchinan-guchi" which means "Okinawan speaking" in their tongue. I use
hogen as a reference because it is what most folks are familiar with (and it is shorter to write than Uchinan-guchi
).
4. As an amateur linguist, I can tell you that there do seem to some shared patterns between Nihongo and Uchinan-guchi . This would make sense as I understand most, if not all, languages of the region spring from Chinese. So, I am relatively certain both Nihongo and Uchinan-guchi share a common ancestor, the question is how far removed is that ancestor? While many similar patterns exist, I also noted that some words/phrases were vastly different than their Nihongo counterparts (at least the counterparts I knew). This would seem to suggest some original source.
5. I've also witnessed younger Okinawans & Japanese using English words for (example, "challenge") as if it were native Nihongo. When the concept of "loan words" was raised, several folks got very animated (not angry) and had to refer to dictionaries for proof of origin. They always assumed the word was Japanese. This phenomena is not unheard of in the US either. For example, many don't know that "honcho" is a word of Japanese origin.
If there is a clear analog to Uchinan-guchi in the US, it might be Cajun which some might some argue is a French-laced English and others argue is English-laced French. Regardless of derivation, it is a relatively distinct language now. More to the point, if Uchinan-guchi is indeed a derivative of Nihongo, some folks may not recognize that fact for a variety of reasons, the least of which is simply not understanding the lingual history (like the loan words issue).
All of that said, I think it is important that one understands that most Okinawans (at least in my experience) consider Uchinan-guchi to be a distinct and separate language. Some older Okinawans remember being forced to learn Japanese or English after the war and seem to resent the mainland Japanese as a result (although the devastation of WWII is a larger factor I am sure).
While visiting Okinawa, I received broad smiles and looks of amazement for using the smattering of Uchinan-guchi I learned from my teacher. From friends to shopkeepers at Kokusai-dori, people (mostly 35 or older) expressed gratitude for taking the time to learn the "original" Okinawan language. I share this anecdote to illustrate that Okinawans hold their language as distinct and some (at least those I met) seem to appreciate attempts to speak and, therefore, preserve it.
This topic has been raised before in this forum. You may want to check out the following thread: <a href="http://204.95.207.136/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2571">
Linguistics and Ryukyu martial traditions</a>. Joe Svinth offers some great links there.
I hope this little bit of rambling helps.
Thanks for the education re: the meaning of
hogen. I always enjoy learning new things.
Regards,
Doug Daulton
PS: Is anyone aware of formal linguistic studies re: Uchinan-guchi (university or other)? If so, please post references.