Reconstruction:Proto-Japonic/-nka

According to one theory, possibly from an otherwise-unattested emphatic particle *ka, with the nasal from compounding with the genitive forms of pronouns such as *wana ka (“my”) > *wanka, which was resegmented as *wa-nka. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

However, there is a lack of evidence for such an emphatic particle. The closest match in various modern references[1][2][3] is an emphasizing prefix か (ka-) that attaches to certain adverbs from the 800s, and to certain adjectives from the early 1000s.

*-nka

1. adnominative marker: the preceding nominal acts to quality the following nominal in some fashion

When following pronouns or other nominatives indicating persons, this may have served in a genitive or possessive capacity, in use alongside *nə. In Old Japanese, が (ga) was used after nominatives indicating persons to mark other nominatives that were relatively close to the indicated person, while の (no) was used for nominatives that were more psychologically or emotionally distant.[1]

In Ryukyuan, *-nka came to be used for humans in general.[4]

• Old Japanese: が (ga)
  • Japanese: が (ga, nominative marker), Japanese: が / ヶ (ga, obsolete possessive marker)
• Proto-Ryukyuan: *ga
  • Northern Ryukyuan:
    • Kikai: が (ga)
    • Kunigami: が (ga)
    • Northern Amami-Oshima: が (ga)
    • Okinawan: が (ga)
    • Oki-No-Erabu: が (ga)
    • Southern Amami-Oshima: が (ga)
    • Toku-No-Shima: が (ga)
    • Yoron: が (ga)
  • Southern Ryukyuan
    • Miyako: が (ga)
    • Yaeyama: が (ga)
    • Yonaguni: か゚ (nga)

• *nə