The Inshū dialect (Japanese: 因州弁 ''inshū-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 Inaba region (formerly

Inaba Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today the eastern part of Tottori Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Inaba bordered on Harima, Hōki, Mimasaka, and Tajima Provinces. The ancient capital, and the castle town, were at Tott ...

) of eastern

Tottori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Tottori Prefecture is the least populous prefecture of Japan at 570,569 (2016) and has a geographic area of . Tottori Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture to the west, Hirosh ...

. It may also be called the Tottori dialect (Japanese: 鳥取弁 ''tottori-ben''), though this is not to be confused with other dialects that are also spoken in the prefecture, namely the

Kurayoshi is a city located in the central part of Tottori Prefecture, Japan. As of October 1, 2016, the city has an estimated population of 48,558 and a population density of 180 persons per km², making it the third largest city in Tottori. The total a ...

and West Hōki dialects. It is considered an East San’in dialect of the wider Chūgoku dialect group. In parts of northern

Hyōgo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, an ...

that neighbour Tottori, specifically in the Tajima region (in towns like Shin'onsen), a similar dialect to the Inshu dialect is spoken. It bares many similarities to its close relative, the

dialect of central Tottori (formerly eastern

Hōki was a after '' Jingo-keiun'' and before ''Ten'ō''. This period spanned the years from October 770 through January 781. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 770 : The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events. The p ...

) but retains some notable differences.

Phonology

In the San’in area (including Tottori) the long ''o'' (お) sound derived from the ''au'' (あう)

diphthong 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 o ...

of the Heian and

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

s has morphed to a long a (あぁ). Consequently, the volitional/persuasive ''ikō'' (行こう ''let’s go'') is pronounced ''ikā'' (行かあ) and the conjecture-expressing ''~ darō'' (～だろう) becomes ''~ darā'' (～だらあ). Although usually said as ''kauta'' (買うた) in San’yō dialects, ''katta'' (買った ''bought'') becomes ''kāta'' (買あた) or simply remains the same. It's pitch accent is the ''chūrin'' (中輪 ‘middle ring’) Tokyo standard, a trait that can also be seen in the Kurayoshi dialect. Although diphthong merging is virtually absent in Tottori City, it does occur in the former districts of

Yazu is a town located in Yazu District, Tottori Prefecture, Japan. As of October 1, 2015, the town has a population of 16,985 and a density of . The total area is . Yazu was formed on March 31, 2005, by the merger of the towns of Funaoka, Hattō ...

and Iwami. In Yazu, the diphthong ''ai'' (あい) merges to an ''ē'' (えぇ) like in ''akai'' (赤い ''red'') → ''akē'' (あけえ). In Iwami, ''ai'' merges instead to ''yā'' (ゃあ) like in ''akai'' (赤い ''red'') → ''akyā'' (あきゃあ). Although almost non-existent elsewhere in Tottori, in the town of

Chizu This list of ''Usagi Yojimbo'' characters features characters from the '' Usagi Yojimbo'' comic book. Major characters * Miyamoto Usagi – Miyamoto Usagi is the titular character (inspired by Miyamoto Musashi) and an anthropomorphic rabbit (''Us ...

there is a phenomenon of merging the diphthong ''oi'' (おい) to ''ē'' (えぇ) like in ''kuroi'' (黒い ''black'') → ''kure'' (くれえ). In contrast to most other Western Japanese dialects and in kind with more distant groups such as the Kanto dialects, across Tottori there is frequent silencing of vowels. When unaccented, voiceless consonants (''shi'' (し), ''ki'' (き), etc.) become silent.

Grammar

As a San'in dialect, Inshū dialect speakers use ~ ''da'' (～だ) (as opposed to ~''ja'' (～じゃ) in the San'yō dialects) as their copula. Nevertheless, in some towns that are close to

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,906,464 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefectur ...

, such as Chizu and Wakasa, ''~ja'' (～じゃ) is used instead. Within Tottori, the conjunctive forms of ''u''-ending Godan verbs experience geminate consonant (small ''tsu'' っ) insertion, with euphonic change to ''u'' (う) only occurring in Chizu. For reason and cause, ~ ''(da) ke'' (～(だ)けー) is used as an equivalent to ~ ''(da) kara'' (～(だ)から ''because, so'' ). Like other San’in region dialects, ongoing actions and completed actions are expressed separately with ~''yoru'' (～ょーる) and ~''toru'' (～とる), respectively.

References

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inshū dialect Japanese dialects Tottori Prefecture Culture in Tottori Prefecture Chūgoku region