Reconstruction:Proto-Japonic/-nka

Etymology
According to one theory, possibly from an otherwise-unattested emphatic particle, with the nasal from compounding with the genitive forms of pronouns such as > , which was resegmented as.

However, there is a lack of evidence for such an emphatic particle. The closest match in various modern references  is an emphasizing prefix  that attaches to certain adverbs from the 800s, and to certain adjectives from the early 1000s.

Usage notes
When following pronouns or other nominatives indicating persons, this may have served in a genitive or possessive capacity, in use alongside. In Old Japanese, was used after nominatives indicating persons to mark other nominatives that were relatively close to the indicated person, while  was used for nominatives that were more psychologically or emotionally distant.

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