JAPANESE DIALECTS
Japanese Dialects: As with any language,
Japanese has its share of regional dialects. The
lingua franca of Japan is called hyōjungo (標準語, lit. "standard language"),
and while it was based initially on Tokyo speech, the language of Japan's
capital has since gone in its own direction to become one of Japan's many
弁(-ben), or dialects. Eastern Japanese Dialects
Hokkaidō
The residents of Hokkaido
Prefecture are (relatively) recent arrivals from all parts of Japan, and
this combination of influences has resulted in a set of regionalisms
sometimes called Hokkaido-ben. Hokkaido-ben appears to have been influenced
most significantly by Tohoku-ben, not surprising due to
Hokkaido's geographic proximity to
north eastern Honshu. Characteristics of
Hokkaido-ben include speech that contains fewer gender-specific differences,
a rich vocabulary of regionalisms, and alternatives to "desu". There is a
tendency toward rapid, abbreviated speech patterns, as is not uncommon in
other rural areas of Japan. Overall, Hokkaido-ben is not dramatically
different from what is called standard Japanese.
Most native speakers of Hokkaido-ben can easily switch to standard
Japanese when the situation calls for it.
However, Hokkaido-ben is different enough that the prepared ear has an
advantage in understanding it.
Here are some examples of words and phrases common in Hokkaido that are less
common in standard Japanese:
-be or -bee as volitional suffix (common to Tohoku-ben)
dabe — isn't it (desho)
(tebukuro o) haku — wearing gloves, using the verb traditionally reserved
for shoes
sa - often used instead of ne (final particle soliciting confirmation or
agreement)
dabe sa -- (roughly) indeed, isn't it? (desho ne)
o-ban desu — good evening (common to Tohoku-ben)
shibareru — freezing cold weather, hard freeze
namara — very
kowai — I am tired.
(gomi o) nageru — discard (trash) literally, "to throw" trash
waya — dreadful
menkoi — cute
futtsuku - sticking to, adhering to
tekkurikaeru - stumble and fall (skiing)
bakuru - swap, trade
hankakusai — fool
zangi — fried chicken nuggets
dosanko — Hokkaido native, 3 or more generations
Tōhoku
Tōhoku-ben is spoken in Tōhoku, the northeastern region of Honshu. Toward
the northern part of Honshu, Tōhoku-ben can differ so dramatically from
standard Japanese that it is rendered with subtitles. It is considered by
some to be a slow and "clumsy" dialect with connotations of dawdling or
idleness.
A notable linguistic feature of Tōhoku-ben is its neutralization of the high
vowels /i/ and /u/, so that the words Sushi, "susu" (ash), and "shishi"
(lion) are rendered homophonous, where they would have been distinct in
other dialects. It is for this reason that Tōkoku-ben is somewhat
pejoratively referred to as "zuzu-ben".
In addition, all unvoiced stops become voiced intervocalically, rendering
the pronunciation of the word "kato" (trained rabbit) as [kado]. However,
unlike the high vowel neutralization, this does not result in new
homophones, as all voiced stops are pre-nasalized, meaning that the word "kado"
(corner) is roughly pronounced [kando].
Tsugaru
Shimokita
Nambu
Sendai
Akita
Yamagata, Yamagata-ben
Echigo
Kantō
Ibaraki
Ibaraki dialect, Ibaraki-ben, is characterized by dakuten insertion,
effecting a voiced syllable. For example, byōki, illness, becomes something
like byōgi. Also characteristic of Ibaraki-ben in many areas is a decreased
distinction between i and e sounds, so that iro enpitsu becomes ero inpitsu
among many speakers. The final particles ppe, be, and he are perhaps most
well-known. They derive from literary beshi (now beki in standard Japanese).
The pitch accent of Ibaraki dialect is also fairly different from standard
Japanese, typically rising at the end of statements and falling in
questions. Below are a few words which are rather ubiquitous among speakers
of the Ibaraki dialect:
anme — related to literary aru mai, and to nai darō in standard Japanese,
meaning "(I suppose) not". Its opposite is appe, from aru and ppe
arutte — walking (instead of aruite)
daiji — daijōbu in standard Japanese, meaning "alright", and unrelated to
the identically-pronounced standard word for "important"
dere(suke) — lazy foolish person
goja((ra)ppe) — silly foolish person
medo — hole
-me — suffix for small animals (e.g. hē-me, "fly"; kan-me, "turtle"); used
differently from the abusive -me in standard Japanese
odome — child
Tokyo
The speech of modern Tokyo is often considered to equate standard Japanese,
though in fact Tokyo dialect differs from hyōjungo in a number of areas.
Noticeable earmarks of Tokyo dialect include the frequent use of さ (sa,
roughly analogous to "like" as used in American English slang), じゃん (jan, a
contraction of ja nai, "Isn't that right?") and つう (tsuu) in place of 言う (iu,
"to say" or "is called"). It is also not uncommon for Tokyo dialect to
change the -る (-ru) stem of the present progressive to -ん (-n), as in
つってんのー (tsutten nō, "[someone] is saying") vs. 言っているのよ (itte iru no yo) of
standard Japanese.
Edogawa-ben, the fast-fading dialect of old families from Eastern Tokyo
around the Edogawa river, is another example of a Tokyo dialect that differs
from standard Japanese. This dialect is primarily known for the inability to
pronounce or distinguish some phonemes which are considered wholly distinct
in all other Japanese dialects. Most famous is the decreased distinction
between "hi" and "shi", so that "hidoi" (terrible) becomes "shidoi", and "shichi"
(seven) becomes "hichi". Though it also includes a few distinctive words,
today it is largely indistinguishable from the standard speech of Tokyo
other than the phonemic difference.
Tōkai-Tōsan
Nagano-Yamanashi-Shizuoka
Shizuoka
Enshū
Gifu-Aichi
Mino
Hida dialect
dashikan — bad, no good
Nagoya
Nagoya-ben is a dialect spoken in and around the city of Nagoya. It is
similar to Kansai-ben in intonation, but to Tokyo-ben in accent. Instead of
"shitte iru?" Nagoya residents will say "shittoru?" They attach unique
suffixes to the end of sentences: "-gaya" when surprised, "-te" for
emphasis, "-ni" to show off one's knowledge, and "-dekan" for
disappointment. Some Nagoya words: "ketta" for "jitensha", "tsukue o tsuru"
to 'move a desk', "dera-" or "dora-" for "sugoi" or "tottemo". A Tokyo
resident: "Sou ni kimatteru janai" Nagoya resident: "Sou ni kimattoru gaya."
"Gan" is not typical Nagoya-ben. It is rather slang used by the younger
Nagoya residents.
Mikawa
Mikawa-ben is spoken in the east half of Aichi prefecture while Nagoya-ben
is in the west half. The two dialects are very similar for people from other
areas of Japan. But Mikawa and Nagoya people claim that the dialects are
completely different. Mikawa people also claim that Mikawa-ben is the basis
of Tokyo Japanese because it was made up in Edo period by samurai from this
area.
Hachijō Island
Western Japanese
Hokuriku
Kaga
Noto
Sado Island
Toyama
Toyama-ben is spoken in Toyama prefecture. Instead of the standard, shitte
imasuka? or colloquial shitte iru? for "Do you know?" Toyama-ben speakers
will say, shittorukke? Other regional distinctions include words like
kitokito for fresh and delicious.
Other distinctions include the negative past tense being formed differently
from standard Japanese as follows:
Standard Japanese: konakatta (did not come) Toyama-ben: konda (did not come)
Standard Japanese: inakatta (was not) Toyama-ben: oranda (was not) (n.b.,Toyama-ben
uses "oru" instead or "iru" to express "existence")
Standard Japanese: tabenakatta (did not eat) Toyama-ben: tabenda (did not
eat)
Standard Japanese: shinakatta (did not do) Toyama-ben: senda (did not do)
The distinction made is that the negative past tense in Toyama-ben is formed
by adding to the stem of the verb the "nu" suffix, indicating a negative,
followed by a "da" indicating the past tense or completed action. "Nu"
becomes "n".
Fukui
Fukui-ben is the dialect of Fukui prefecture. Speakers of Fukui-ben tend to
talk in an up-and-down, sing-songy manner. It is considered a relatively
rural dialect, yet it is not without its own rough, home-spun elegance.
Examples of Fukui-ben include:
hoya hoya, meaning hai (yes) or so desu yo (that is true)
mmmmm-do, instead of ē-to (let's see, or well)
tsuru tsuru, meaning "very," or "a lot" (as in, "tsuru tsuru ippai," or this
glass is very full, almost overflowing)
jami jami describes poor reception on a TV. The usual term is suna arashi
"sandstorm."
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normally miss as a tourist. Kinki (Kansai)
Kansai-ben (関西弁) is a dialect spoken in the Kansai region of Japan. Though
sometimes erroneously referred to as Osaka-ben (in reference to Osaka, the
second-largest city in Japan and the economic force of the Kansai region),
Kansai-ben features a number of regional differences: to draw a broad
generalization, Osaka-ben can be considered "brash," Kyoto-ben "lilting" and
Kobe-ben "melodious."
Banshū
Ōmi
Ise
Shima
Osaka
Osaka-ben belongs to the kansai family of dialects. The terminology is
confusing, as people often use Kansai-ben interchangeably with Osaka-ben.
Even those in the know may confuse true Osaka-ben with Kansai-ben.
Kyoto
Kyoto-ben is a soft and melodic Kansai variant. Traditional Kyoto dialect
uses -taharu or -teharu (e.g. nani shitaharu no?) in its sentence endings,
though -yasu and -dosu are also common. See Kansai-ben for more. To end a
verb in -taharu is also often considered to be more formal and is almost
exclusively used by women. Ending a verb in -taaru is said to have the same
effect but useable by men, though it is not very common.
Kobe
Kobe-ben is notable among Kansai dialects for conjugating the present
progressive with the verb ending -ton or -tō. For example, while the phrase
"What are you doing?" in standard (and casual) Japanese would be Nani shite
iru? in Kobe-ben it would be Nani shiton? or Nani shitō? Like Osaka-ben,
Kobe-ben uses the inflectional ねん (nen) to add emphasis, such that 何言っているんだよ
(Nani itteirundayo, "What (the heck) are you saying?") of standard Japanese
could become 何いうとーねん (Nani iutōnen) in Kobe-ben.
Chūgoku
Hiroshima
Okayama
Yamaguchi
Umpaku
Shikoku
Awa
Sanuki
Iyo
Kochi Prefecture
Tosa-ben is used in Kochi prefecture.
Shiga Prefecture
Gachakon (ガチャコン） is the local slang word for the Omitetsudo (ja:近江鉄道), a
local train. It is named such because it is said to go "gacha gacha gacha"
as one rides it. -taharu is also used commonly in Shiga prefecture. One must
not mistake, though, there are many differences in speaking patterns between
Kyoto and the cities of Shiga Prefecture.
Kyūshū
Hōnichi
Kitakyūshū
Ōita
Miyazaki
Miyazaki
Examples of Miyazaki dialect include;
テゲ (tege) as opposed to とても (totemo) very
サミ (sami) as opposed to さむい (samui) cold
こせん (kosen) as opposed to でしょう (deshou) -isn't it?
今日はテゲサミこせん (Kyō wa tege sami kosen): Today's really cold, isn't it?
じゃがじゃが (jagajaga) That's right
Hichiku
Munakata
Chikugo
Chikuho
Saga
Nagasaki
Kumamoto
Hakata
Hakata-ben is the dialect of Fukuoka. Throughout Japan, Hakata-ben is
famous, amongst many other idiosyncrasies, for its use of -to? as a
question, e.g., "What are you doing?", realized in Standard Japanese as nani
o shite iru no?, is nanba shiyotto? in Hakata.
Examples of Hakata-ben include:
asoban instead of asobou; "let's have fun"
batten instead of demo, kedo "but"
da ken instead of da kara "therefore"
yokarōmon instead of ii deshō "good, don't you think?"
bari instead of totemo "very"
shitōtchan instead of shiterunda "I'm doing it"
~shitōkiyo instead of shite kinasai "please do ~"; used with children
yokka yokka instead of ii yo "It's fine."
sogyan kanji instead of sonna kanji "Like that."
wakaran bai instead of wakaranai yo "I don't understand / don't get it."
umaka/samuka/atsuka instead of umai/samui/atsui "tasty/cold/hot"
Most other dialects in Kyushu share much in common with Hakata-ben, but the
dialect of Kagoshima is strikingly different from other Kyushu dialects.
Satsugū
Kagoshima
Satsuma-ben, the dialect of Kagoshima prefecture, is often called
"unintelligible" because of distinct conjugations of words and significantly
different vocabulary. As the furthest place from Kyoto, it is likely that
divergences in dialect were accumulated in Satsuma making it sound strange.
There are several different dialect regions within Kagoshima prefecture.
There is a story, told both inside and outside Kagoshima, that Kagoshima
dialect was consciously and deliberately developed as a way of protecting
against spies from other parts of Japan during the Edo period.
Ryukyu
In recent years, the majority of specialists working on the languages spoken
in Japan have come to agree that the speech of the Ryukyu Islands (the
islands of Okinawa Prefecture and some of the islands of Kagoshima
Prefecture) is not a dialect of the Japanese language; rather, it comprises
a separate branch of the Japonic family. In this view, Japonic is split into
two groups: Japanese, spoken throughout the Japanese islands, and Ryukyuan,
found in the Ryukyu Islands, south of Kyushu. Even so, there is great
diversity within Japanese, and even greater within Ryukyuan, and many native
speakers from one area of Japan can find the speech of another area
virtually unintelligible.
There has also developed in the Ryukyus a dialect which is close to Standard
Japanese, but which is influenced by Ryukyuan languages. For example, "deeji"
may be said sometimes instead of "taihen", or "haisai" instead of
"konnichiwa".
(Article
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Wikipedia article and used under the
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