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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 is a Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is "sushi rice," also ...
'', ''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 Prenasalized consonants are phonetic sequences of a nasal and an obstruent (or occasionally a non-nasal sonorant such as ) that behave phonologically like single consonants. The primary reason for considering them to be single consonants, rather ...
, 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 The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minut ...
, 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 Tsukushi may refer to: Places *Tsukushi Province, old Japanese province, subsequently divided into **Chikuzen Province, old Japanese province, part of Fukuoka Prefecture without south and east Fukuoka **Chikugo Province, old Japanese province, th ...
''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 The is a Japanese dialect spoken in western Aomori Prefecture. The Tsugaru dialect is reputed to be so divergent from standard Japanese for those who are not native speakers, that even people living in the same prefecture may have trouble under ...
(western
Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the eas ...
, the former Tsugaru Domain) ** Nambu dialect (eastern Aomori Prefecture and northern Iwate Prefecture, the former
Nanbu Domain Nanbu may refer to: Places * Nanbu, Aomori, Japan * Nanbu, Tottori, Japan * Nanbu, Yamanashi, Japan * Nanbu County, Sichuan Province, China * Nanbu Domain, a feudal domain in northeastern Japan People with the surname *, Japanese samurai and '' ...
) *** Morioka dialect (centered Morioka city) *** Shimokita dialect (
Shimokita Peninsula is the remote northeastern cape of the Japanese island of Honshū, stretching out towards Hokkaidō. Overview It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, Tsugaru Strait to the north and Mutsu Bay to the west and south. Shaped like an axe ...
, northeastern Aomori Prefecture) **
Akita dialect The is a Japanese dialect spoken in Akita Prefecture. Classification The dialect is a member of the Kita-Ōu dialect within the Tōhoku dialect of Eastern Japanese. It shares this grouping with dialects spoken in Aomori, north-central Iwate, ...
(
Akita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its geographic area is 11,6 ...
) ** 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 or is a Japanese dialect spoken in Kesen County, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. Kesen has been described by . Yamaura considers Kesen an independent language, related to both Japanese and Ainu languages, but this is not accepted by other linguists. ...
( 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 Fukushima Prefecture (; ja, 福島県, Fukushima-ken, ) is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,810,286 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Pref ...
) ** Aizu dialect (
Aizu is the westernmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two regions being Nakadōri in the central area of the prefecture and Hamadōri in the east. As of October 1, 2010, it had a population of 291,838. The princi ...
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 The is a group of Japanese dialects spoken in central San'in. The name ''Unpaku'' (雲伯) is constructed by extracting a representative kanji from '' Izumo'' (出雲) and ''Hōki'' (伯耆), the names of former provinces of this region. The U ...
- another ''Zuzu-ben'' in western Japan.


References


External links


Center for the Study of Dialectology, Tohoku University


{{DEFAULTSORT:Tohoku Dialect Japanese dialects Tōhoku region