![Provinces of Japan-Mino](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Provinces_of_Japan-Mino.svg)
The is a
Japanese dialect
The dialects of the Japanese language fall into two primary clades, Eastern (including Tokyo) and Western (including Kyoto), with the dialects of Kyushu and Hachijō Island often distinguished as additional branches, the latter perhaps the most ...
spoken in the southern area, made up of the former area known as
Mino Province
was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviat ...
, of
Gifu Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, F ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. It is also referred to as the Tōnō dialect (東濃弁 ''Tōnō-ben'') by residents of the
Tōnō
is the southeastern portion of Gifu Prefecture in the Chūbu region of Japan. The Tōnō region received its name as a combination of the ''kanji'' for "east" (東) and "Mino" (美濃). The borders of this region are not officially set, but it ge ...
region of the prefecture, which is the eastern part of the former province. It is sometimes also referred to as the Gifu dialect (岐阜弁 ''Gifu-ben''), but that can sometimes include
Hida dialect
The is a Japanese dialect spoken in the Hida region of Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Along with the Mino dialect in the south, it is one of the two main dialects of Gifu Prefecture.
The phrase「楽しんでください」(Literally "Please have ...
, which is in the northern part of Gifu Prefecture.
Generally speaking, it has many words and grammatical structures that are shared with other nearby dialects, such as the
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...
and
Mikawa dialect
The is a Japanese dialect spoken in eastern half of Aichi Prefecture, former Mikawa Province. It is subdivided into western variety centered Okazaki and eastern variety centered Toyohashi. The Mikawa dialect is classified into the Gifu-Aich ...
s in neighboring
Aichi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...
. However, it also shares features with the
Kansai dialect
The is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region (Kinki region) of Japan. In Japanese, is the common name and it is called in technical terms. The dialects of Kyoto and Osaka are known as , and were particularly referred to as suc ...
.
Grammar
Up until the
Taishō period, the Mino dialect used ''ja'' (じゃ) for
copulas and
adjectival nouns, and the Mino dialect was occasionally referred to as a "''ja''-language in Mino" (美濃のじゃ言葉 ''Mino no ja-kotoba''). However, because of the influence of the Kansai dialect, the modern Mino dialect generally uses ''ya'' (や) and is compared to the Nagoya dialect which uses ''da'' (だ) for copulas and adjectival nouns.
Standard Japanese emphasizes copulas with ''yo'', such as ''da yo'' (だよ), but the Mino dialect attaches ''te'' (て) to the ''ya'' copula, leading to emphases such as ''ya te'' (やて).
The main difference between
verb
A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...
s in the Mino dialect and in standard Japanese is seen in the negative form. The verb "to eat" (食べる ''taberu'') is written as ''tabenai'' (食べない) as a negative in standard Japanese. In the Mino dialect, ''nai'' is replaced by ''n'' (ん) or ''hen'' (へん), leading to forms such as ''taben'' (食べん) or ''tabehen'' (食べへん). The verb "to go" would similarly be written in the negative form as ''ikan'' (行かん) or ''ikahen'' (行かへん).
Pronunciation
The Mino dialect
elides the intervocalic in the sequences ''an'i'' and ''en'i''; the first vowel is lengthened, becoming ''aai'' and ''eei'', respectively. For example, 満員 and 全員 are read as ''man'in'' and ''zen'in'' in standard Japanese, but can be read as ''maain'' and ''zeein'' in the Mino dialect.
The traditional accent pattern for the Mino dialect follow similar patterns to the Tokyo accent, though some of the western areas around
Tarui and
Sekigahara
The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...
also show influences from the nearby Kansai accent pattern. Because major cities like
Ōgaki
Ōgaki Castle
is a city located in Gifu, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 161,539, and a population density of 782 persons per km2 in 65,931 households. The total area of the city was . Ōgaki was the final destination for the h ...
and
Gifu
is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku ...
have many commuters from the surrounding area, modern youth have lost the traditional accent for the dialect.
Examples
Below is a list of example words for the Mino dialect:
Famous persons using Mino dialect
*
Yuriko Osada
is a common Japanese given name, used for women.
Possible writings
Yuriko can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:
*百合子, "lily, child"
*由里子, "reason, hometown, child"
*由利子, "reason, benefit, child"
*由李 ...
(
長田 百合子 ''Osada Yuriko'')
*
Yoko Kumada (speaks standard Japanese, but uses the Mino dialect on some programs)
See also
*
Japanese dialects
The dialects of the Japanese language fall into two primary clades, Eastern (including Tokyo) and Western (including Kyoto), with the dialects of Kyushu and Hachijō Island often distinguished as additional branches, the latter perhaps the most di ...
References
{{Japanese language
Japanese dialects
Culture in Gifu Prefecture