The Bingo dialect (Japanese: 備後弁 ''bingo-ben'') 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 Bingo Region (formerly Bingo Province) of eastern Hiroshima Prefecture. It is part of the Chūgoku dialect group.

Classification

The dialects of Hiroshima Prefecture are broadly divided into that of the former Asano region, which included the former

Aki Province or Geishū () was a province in the Chūgoku Region of western Honshū, comprising the western part of what is today Hiroshima Prefecture. History When Emperor Shōmu ordered two official temples for each province (one for male Buddhist p ...

and northern Bingo, and the dialect of the former Fukuyama region, which controlled south-eastern Bingo. The former is commonly treated as the Hiroshima (or Aki) dialect, whilst the Bingo dialect is considered the latter. More so than to the Hiroshima dialect, the Bingo dialect is similar to the neighbouring Okayama dialect, and is sometimes included along with it in a wider San'yō dialect. Due to being under the historical influence of Fukuyama, the vernacular of some cities that are located within Okayama Prefecture in the present day, such as

Kasaoka is a city located in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on April 1, 1952. The municipal district also includes 31 outlying islands including seven inhabited islands in the Kasaoka Islands group. As of February 28, 2017, the city h ...

and

Ibara is a Cities of Japan, city located in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on March 30, 1953. , the city has an estimated population of 41,460 and a population density of 170 people per km². The total area is . Mergers On March ...

, is similar to that of the Bingo dialect.

Phonology

The Bingo dialect has a Tokyo standard (specifically ''otsushu'' (乙種 ‘second grade’)

pitch accent A pitch-accent language, when spoken, has word accents in which one syllable in a word or morpheme is more prominent than the others, but the accentuated syllable is indicated by a contrasting pitch ( linguistic tone) rather than by loudness ...

. A large section of Hiroshima Prefecture that includes the northern part of Bingo has a so-called ''chuurin'' (中輪 ‘middle-ring’) Tokyo standard pitch accent. In the former Fukuyama area, however, second-class single-mora nouns like ''hi'' (日 ''day'') become pronounced with a rising pitch (''hi ga'' (ひが)), giving it a so-called ''nairin'' (内輪 ‘inner ring’) Tokyo standard pitch accent, much like the majority of Okayama Prefecture. In Fukuyama and Onomichi, the first section of a word has a rising pitch, such as in ''yama ga'' (やまが mountain retreat).

Diphthongs A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech ...

are frequently merged, with ''ai'' (あい) becoming a lengthened intermediate sound between ''a'' and ''e'' (''aē'' (あえぇ)) (or ''ā'' (あぁ) in northern Bingo). In Fukuyama City, however, other than when starting a word, ''ai'' becomes ''yā'' (ャー), such as in ''akai'' (赤い ''red'') → ''akyā'' (あきゃあ). This differs from the Aki dialect or Yamaguchi dialect (where ''ai'' becomes ''ā'') and is a trait that extends to the Okayama dialect. Outside of Fukuyama however this merging is only found in the older generation. Other changes to diphthongs include ''oi'' (おい) becoming ''ē'' (えぇ) and ui (うい) becoming ''ii'' (いい). Like other parts of Western Japan, the vowel sound u (う) is pronounced with the lips rounded and brought together horizontally.

References

{{Japanese language Japanese dialects Hiroshima Prefecture