The Tōkai–Tōsan dialect (東海東山方言 ''Tōkai–Tōsan hōgen'') is a group of the transitional
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 ...
spoken in the southern and eastern
Chūbu region
The , Central region, or is a region in the middle of Honshu, Honshū, Japan, Japan's main island. In a wide, classical definition, it encompasses nine prefectures (''ken''): Aichi Prefecture, Aichi, Fukui Prefecture, Fukui, Gifu Prefecture ...
. The dialects spoken in the northwest Chubu region are classified as the
Hokuriku dialect
The is a Japanese dialect group spoken in Hokuriku region, consists of northern Fukui Prefecture, Ishikawa Prefecture, Toyama Prefecture, and Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture. Mainland Niigata dialect is classified into Tōkai-Tōsan dialect an ...
of Western Japanese. The Tokai–Tosan dialect has three sub-groups: Gifu–Aichi, Echigo, and Nagano–Yamanashi–Shizuoka. These are transitional between Western and Eastern Japanese; which branch of the family they fall in depends on which
isogloss
An isogloss, also called a heterogloss (see Etymology below), is the geographic boundary of a certain linguistic feature, such as the pronunciation of a vowel, the meaning of a word, or the use of some morphological or syntactic feature. Major d ...
es are taken as definitive. (See
Eastern and Western Japanese for details.)
Nagano–Yamanashi–Shizuoka
The Nagano–Yamanashi–Shizuoka a.k.a. Na-Ya-Shi dialects are spoken in
Nagano Prefecture
is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...
,
Yamanashi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 817,192 (1 January 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the no ...
and
Shizuoka Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...
. It is characterized by a presumptive suffix ''-zura'' or ''-ra''.
* Nagano a.k.a. Shinshū dialect (Nagano Prefecture)
** Okushinano dialect (
Sakae, the northernmost village)
** Hokushin dialect (northern area)
** Tōshin dialect (eastern area)
** Chūshin dialect (central area)
** Nanshin dialect (southern area)
*
Shizuoka dialect
The Shizuoka dialect (Japanese: 静岡弁 ''Shizuoka-ben'') is a Japanese dialect spoken in Shizuoka Prefecture. In a narrow sense, this can refer purely to the Central Shizuoka dialect, whilst a broader definition encompasses all Shizuoka dial ...
(Shizuoka Prefecture especially central area)
** Izu dialect (eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, formerly known as
Izu Province
was a province of Japan in the area of Shizuoka Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Izu''" in . Izu bordered on Sagami and Suruga Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was .
The mainland portion of Izu Province, comprising the ...
)
** Ikawa dialect (the upper reaches of the
Ōi River
The is a river in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
Geography
The Ōi River flows from the Akaishi Mountains, the branch of the Japanese Southern Alps which form the border between Shizuoka, Nagano and Yamanashi prefectures. These mountains, with p ...
) - language island
** Enshū dialect (western Shizuoka Prefecture, formerly known as
Tōtōmi Province
was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tōtōmi''" in . Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa, Suruga and Shinano Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . The or ...
)
* Kōshū a.k.a. Yamanashi dialect (Yamanashi Prefecture, especially western area)
**
Narada dialect
The Narada dialect (Japanese: 奈良田方言 ''narada hogen'') was a Japanese dialect spoken in the village of Narada, Hayakawa, located in Yamanashi Prefecture. Having formerly been isolated for centuries from surrounding areas, the dialect wa ...
(Narada village in
Hayakawa) - language island
Echigo
The Echigo dialect is spoken in mainly
Niigata Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...
, formerly known as
Echigo Province
was an old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen, Iwashiro, Kōzuke, Shinano, and Etchū Provinces. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Echigo''" in . It corresponds today to Niigata ...
.
* Niigata dialect (city of
Niigata)
*
Nagaoka dialect
Nagaoka dialect is a dialect of the Japanese language spoken in Chūetsu region centered Nagaoka, Niigata, Nagaoka city in Niigata prefecture of Japan. Nagaoka dialect is similar to Niigata dialect spoken in the Shin'etsu region. It differs somew ...
(central Niigata Prefecture, centered
Nagaoka)
* Jōetsu dialect (western Niigata Prefecture, centered
Jōetsu)
* Uonuma dialect (southern Niigata Prefecture)
Gifu–Aichi
The Gifu–Aichi a.k.a. Gi–A dialects are spoken in
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 ...
and
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 ...
. They share many grammar features with Western Japanese.
*
Mino dialect
The is a Japanese dialect spoken in the southern area, made up of the former area known as Mino Province, of Gifu Prefecture, Japan. It is also referred to as the Tōnō dialect (東濃弁 ''Tōnō-ben'') by residents of the Tōnō region of t ...
(southern Gifu Prefecture, formerly 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 ...
)
*
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 ...
(northern Gifu Prefecture, formerly known as
Hida Province
was a province of Japan in the area that is today the northern portion of Gifu Prefecture in the Chūbu region of Japan. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Wakasa''" in . Hida bordered on Echizen, Mino, Shinano, Etchū, and Kaga Provinc ...
)
*
Owari dialect (western Aichi Prefecture, formerly known as
Owari Province
was a province of Japan in the area that today forms the western half of Aichi Prefecture, including the modern city of Nagoya. The province was created in 646. Owari bordered on Mikawa, Mino, and Ise Provinces. Owari and Mino provinces were ...
)
** Chita dialect (along the
Chita Peninsula
Chita Peninsula (知多半島 ''Chita Hantō'') is a peninsula to the south of Aichi Prefecture, central Honshū, Japan. It runs approximately north-south. To the west is Ise Bay, while to the east it encloses Mikawa Bay. It faces the Atsumi ...
)
**
Nagoya dialect
The is a Japanese dialect spoken in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. In a wide sense, Nagoya dialect means the dialect in the western half of the prefecture (formerly part of Owari Province), and in that case, it is also called Owari dialect (尾張 ...
(
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 ...
)
*
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 ...
(eastern Aichi Prefecture, formerly known as
Mikawa Province
was an old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mikawa''" in . Its abbreviated form name was . Mikawa bordered on Owari, Mino, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Provinces.
Mik ...
)
** West Mikawa (centered
Okazaki)
** East Mikawa (centered
Toyohashi
is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 377,453 in 160,516 households and a population density of 1,400 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . By area, Toyohashi was Aichi Prefecture's second-la ...
)
In popular culture
*At the beginning of the movie ''
Your Name
is a 2016 Japanese animated romantic fantasy film produced by CoMix Wave Films. It depicts a high school boy in Tokyo and a high school girl in the Japanese countryside who suddenly and inexplicably begin to swap bodies. The film was commissi ...
'' the teacher teaches students differences between the standard
Japanese language
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 ma ...
and the Tōkai-Tōsan dialect.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tokai-Tosan Dialect
Japanese dialects