Ryukyus

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archipelago of islands located in the western Pacific Ocean, forming a chain that stretches from the southern tip of Japan toward Taiwan; known for its distinct cultural and historical identity within the region; often referenced in geographic and political contexts
2. A group of islands in the East China Sea forming a bridge between Japan and Taiwan, notable for unique traditions and languages differing from mainland Japan; recognized for strategic military and economic importance; commonly mentioned in studies of regional geopolitics
3. A series of islands extending southwest from Japan toward Taiwan in the Pacific, notable for their indigenous culture and historical autonomy; important in ecological and environmental discussions; frequently cited in context of Japan's island territories and maritime boundaries

Etymology: The Ryukyus are a proper noun, the name of an island chain, so the story lies in where the name came from rather than in a common word's drift. The islands were a separate kingdom, the Ryukyu Kingdom, which ruled the chain from the early 15th century until it was absorbed into Japan in 1879. Its name is a Japanese reading of Chinese characters, and the Chinese script was in turn used to render an older local name. Chinese sources of the period wrote the kingdom's name with characters that are usually read "Liuqiu" in Mandarin. Japanese adopted the same characters and pronounced them "Ryūkyū," and the English form "Ryukyus" follows that Japanese reading with the plural "s" added for the island group. The characters themselves have no clear meaning as a name, which is why the origin of the older local term is hard to pin down. Scholars generally treat the Chinese characters as phonetic renderings rather than descriptive words, so the name carries no meaning that readers can recover from its spelling.

Synonyms: Ryukyu Islands, Nansei Islands, Okinawa Islands