About five nights ago I went out with a local friend to a traditional Okinawan
club in Naha.

We were of course drinking 泡盛{あわもり} (awamori) with water and ice.

But the girl working there had a drink with us and poured in a bit of a can of
coffee into her awamori.

Tonight I'm trying it myself in the guesthouse after asking the owner if it's
a normal thing here and not just a peculiarity of that girl in the club.

He tells me it is popular in Okinawa and called コーヒー割{わ}り (kōhī-wari). Indeed
I get Google hits and it seems the same is done with condensed milk in place
of the coffee and/or 焼酎{しょうちゅう} (shochu) in place of the awamori.

None of the hits were in English or if they were don't provide much
information. There's nothing in Wikipedia or WWWJDIC.

I don't understand why the name uses ～割り which seems to mean "split" or
"divide"? This makes it sound like the coffee is "cut" or watered down with
the spirits.

What am I missing? Could it be one of those Japanese abbreviations where half
a word is missing?
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meaning etymology suffixes food
Why is coffee with shochu or awamori called コーヒー割{わ}り "split / divided coffee"?
「[割]{わ}る」 here means "to dilute".

See meaning #II-4 in
[http://kotobank.jp/jeword/%E5%89%B2%E3%82%8B?dic=pje3&oid=SPJE04759100](http://kotobank.jp/jeword/%E5%89%B2%E3%82%8B?dic=pje3&oid=SPJE04759100)

「[泡盛]{あわもり}のコーヒー割り」 = "awamori diluted with coffee"

Other common terms containing 「割り」:

ウイスキーのソーダ割り/[水]{みず}割り

[焼酎]{しょうちゅう}のウーロン[茶]{ちゃ}割り
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I didn't know of 泡盛 until I looked it up just now in Wikipedia but I think 〜割り
is often used when you dilute a drink (probably alcoholic like 泡盛）with
something else.

The one I am most familiar with is ウイスキー水割り, which is whiskey diluted with
iced water, often ordered by salary-men in hostess/entertainment clubs/old-
fashioned Karaoke bars.

In your case it sounds like the 泡盛 is diluted with coffee.

An English equivalent might be whiskey "cut with" water.

My Apple dictionary tells me 水割りする is a verb (to dilute with water) and gives
the example:

> ウイスキーの水割りを1杯くれ｜Give me a whisky-and-water.
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> コーヒー割り “split / divided coffee”

No, it is コーヒー modifying 割り, not the other way around. Japanese is left-
branching in an almost completely consistent way. Keeping that meaning of 割る,
it would be “split / divided _by/with_ coffee”.

As others have explained, 割る here means dilute, by which you reach the
expected meaning.
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For ratios, 割{わり} is also used in other contexts to mean something like "10%",
extending from the meaning of "split". So 十割そば are noodles that are 10 x 10%
buckwheat, i.e. 100% buckwheat. 七割そば would be 70% buckwheat (the rest usually
made up of wheat).

For beverages, other kinds of 割 include:

  * [コーラ割り](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22%E3%82%B3%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A9%E5%89%B2%E3%82%8A%22), like rum and coca cola
  * [牛乳割り](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22%E7%89%9B%E4%B9%B3%E5%89%B2%E3%82%8A%22), like milk and brandy
  * [ココア割り](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22%E3%82%B3%E3%82%B3%E3%82%A2%E5%89%B2%E3%82%8A%22), such as (apparently) shochu and cocoa
  * [果実割り](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22%E6%9E%9C%E5%AE%9F%E5%89%B2%E3%82%8A%22), like a screwdriver (orange juice and vodka)

Pretty much, if it's possible to mix an alcoholic and a non-alcoholic beverage
together, you'll probably find evidence of "[ _non-alcoholic beverage_ ] +
割り".
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