The , commonly called , originate in relatively recent settlement from mainland Japan. The greater part of Hokkaidō was settled from a mix of areas, especially the Tōhoku and Hokuriku regions, from the Meiji period onwards, so that various Japanese dialects became mixed together on Hokkaidō. The relationship of Hokkaidō dialect to the rest of Japanese—and whether there even is a coherent Hokkaidō dialect—are the subject of debate. Shibata (2003) mentions three theories:Takeshi Shibata, in 月刊言語 ''Gekkan Gengo'', January 2003, vol. 32, no. 1, pp 26–29 #Inland varieties are part of the

Kantō dialect The Kantō dialects (関東方言 ''kantō hōgen'', 関東弁 ''kantō-ben'') are a group of Japanese dialects spoken in the Kantō region (except for the Izu Islands).In northern Izu Islands are Tokai–Tosan dialects, and in the southern isla ...

, while coastal varieties are part of the

Tōhoku dialect The , commonly called 東北弁 ''Tōhoku-ben'', is a group of the Japanese dialects spoken in the Tōhoku region, the northeastern region of Honshū. Toward the northern part of Honshū, the Tōhoku dialect can differ so dramatically from stand ...

#There is a single Hokkaidō dialect, which is a distinct branch of Eastern Japanese #There is a Hokkaidō dialect, but it descends from Niigata dialect (one of the

Tōkai–Tōsan dialect The Tōkai–Tōsan dialect (東海東山方言 ''Tōkai–Tōsan hōgen'') is a group of the transitional Japanese dialects spoken in the southern and eastern Chūbu region. The dialects spoken in the northwest Chubu region are classified as th ...

s), a transitional form with Western Japanese features. Tōhoku influence is strongest in coastal areas, especially on the

Oshima Peninsula The Oshima Peninsula (渡島半島 ''Oshima-hantō'') is the southernmost part of Hokkaidō, the northernmost of the Japanese islands. Where the peninsula starts is open to interpretation. A more generous interpretation is to draw a line southea ...

in the south, where the local variety is commonly called . The urban dialect of

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous cit ...

is quite close to

Standard Japanese is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been m ...

. Western features may have been brought by merchants from Kansai and Hokuriku following the

Kitamaebune The was a shipping route (and also the ships involved) in Japan from the Edo period to the Meiji era. The route went from Osaka through the Seto Inland Sea and the Kanmon Straits to ports in Hokuriku on the Sea of Japan and later to Hokkaidō. ...

("northern-bound ships") trading route. Also spoken on Hokkaidō is the Ainu language, which was in wide use there before Japanese settlement and still has a few elderly speakers.

Expressions

*The ''-re'' imperative form for ichidan verbs and s-irregular verb instead of Standard form ''-ro'' *The volitional and presumptive suffix ''-be''; from Tohoku dialect *The presumptive suffix ''-sho'' or ''-ssho''; contraction of Standard polite presumptive form ''deshō'' *''tōkibi'' for "corn" instead of Standard ''tōmorokoshi''; also used in many Japanese dialects *''shibareru'' for "to freeze, freezing cold" instead of Standard ''kogoeru''; from Tohoku dialect *''nageru'' for "to throw away" instead of Standard ''suteru''; from Tohoku dialect; ''nageru'' means "to throw" in Standard *''waya'' for "fruitless, no good" instead of Standard ''dame''; from Western Japanese *''shitakke'' for casual "good-bye" or "then" instead of Standard ''(sore) ja'' *''namara'' for "very" instead of Standard ''totemo''; since the 1970s from Niigata dialect

References

{{Japanese language Japanese dialects Culture in Hokkaido