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 standard Japanese that it is sometimes rendered with subtitles in the nationwide media and it has been treated as the typical rural accent in Japanese popular culture.

Phonetics

A notable linguistic feature of the Tōhoku dialect is its neutralization of the high vowels "i" and "u" (Standard and ), so that the words ''sushi'', ''susu'' ('soot'), and ''shishi'' ('lion') are rendered homophonous, where they would have been distinct in other dialects. In light of this, Tōhoku dialect is sometimes referred to as ''Zūzū-ben''. The vowels tend to be neutralized to in Northern Tohoku dialect and in Southern Tohoku dialect.

In addition, all unvoiced stops become voiced intervocalically, rendering the pronunciation of the word ''kato'' ('trained rabbit') as . However, unlike the high-vowel neutralization, this does not result in new homophones, as all voiced stops are prenasalized, meaning that the word ''kado'' ('corner') is pronounced . This is particularly noticeable with , which is nasalized fully to with the stop of the hard "g" almost entirely lost, so that ''ichigo'' 'strawberry' is pronounced . Standard Japanese can do this with too (see Japanese phonology), but not with the other stops.
This distribution of medial voicing and prenasalization is thought to be a conservative pronunciation reflecting the original Old Japanese state.

The consonant inventory is identical to that of Standard Japanese but with a different distribution. In Standard Japanese, the palatal series was produced with palatalisation of alveolar consonants before the front vowel /i/ and the semivowel /j/; s => ɕ, t => tɕ, d => dʑ. However, in the Tōhoku dialect they were formed by the palatalisation of /k/ and /g/ and the semivowel /j/; k => tɕ, g => dʑ (kigahatteiru => chihatteɾu; benkyou => benchou) and a shift of /ç/ which was formed by palatalisation of /h/ before /i/ and the semivowel /j/, towards /ɕ/ (hito => shito).

Grammar

In grammar, a volitional and presumptive suffix -''be'' or -''ppe'' is widely used in the region. It is a transformation of -''beki'', a conjugated form of an archaic suffix -''beshi''. Since the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, a slogan ''Ganbappe!'' ("Let's buckle down!") has often been used in the disaster area.

A directional particle ''sa'' is also widely used in the region. It is a transformation of ''sama'' ("direction") and almost equivalent to standard ''ni'' or ''e''. A Muromachi period proverb " Kyō ''e'', Tsukushi ''ni'', Bandō ''sa''" says that the particle ''sa'' was once widely used in Kanto region.

Sub-dialects

The Tōhoku dialects can be broken down geographically and by former ''han'' domains:
* Northern Tohoku
** Tsugaru dialect (western Aomori Prefecture, the former Tsugaru Domain)
** Nambu dialect (eastern Aomori Prefecture and northern Iwate Prefecture, the former Nanbu Domain)
*** Morioka dialect (centered Morioka city)
*** Shimokita dialect (Shimokita Peninsula, northeastern Aomori Prefecture)
** Akita dialect (Akita Prefecture)
** Shōnai dialect (northwestern Yamagata Prefecture, the former Shonai Domain)
** Hokuetsu dialect (northeastern Niigata Prefecture)
* Southern Tohoku
** Sendai dialect (Miyagi Prefecture especially Sendai)
** Southern Iwate dialect (southern Iwate Prefecture)
*** Kesen dialect ( Kesen district, southeastern Iwate Prefecture)
** Yamagata Nairiku dialect (Yamagata Prefecture)
*** Murayama dialect (central Yamagata Prefecture, centered Yamagata city)
*** Yonezawa dialect or Okitama dialect (southern Yamagata Prefecture, centered Yonezawa city)
*** Shinjō dialect or Mogami dialect (northeastern Yamagata Prefecture, centered Shinjō city)
** Fukushima dialect (eastern Fukushima Prefecture)
** Aizu dialect (Aizu region in western Fukushima Prefecture)

In addition, the Eastern Kantō dialects and the coastal dialects of Hokkaidō have many Tōhoku features.

See also

* Kirikirijin - a satirical novel in 1981 featuring Tohoku culture.
* Umpaku dialect - another ''Zuzu-ben'' in western Japan.

References

External links

Center for the Study of Dialectology, Tohoku University

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tohoku Dialect
Japanese dialects
Tōhoku region