Tōhoku dialect

The Tōhoku dialect (東北方言, Tōhoku hōgen), 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.

Tōhoku Japanese
Native toJapan
RegionTōhoku
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
Glottologtoho1244
Northern Tōhoku dialects (navy), Southern Tōhoku (med. blue), and the transitional Eastern Kantō dialects (azure)

Phonetics
Chart of yotsugana pronunciation. The green zone including most of Tohoku region means that the four yotsugana sounds have completely merged, as zi = di = zu = du.

A notable linguistic feature of the Tōhoku dialect is its neutralization of the high vowels "i" and "u" (Standard [i] and [ɯᵝ]), 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 [ɨ] in Northern Tohoku dialect and [ɯ̈] in Southern Tohoku dialect.

In addition, all unvoiced stops become voiced intervocalically, rendering the pronunciation of the word kato ('trained rabbit') as [kado]. 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 [kaⁿdo]. This is particularly noticeable with /ɡ/, which is nasalized fully to [ŋ] with the stop of the hard "g" [ᵑɡ] almost entirely lost, so that ichigo 'strawberry' is pronounced [ɨd͡ʑɨŋo]. Standard Japanese can do this with /ɡ/ 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.[1]

Consonants of the Tōhoku dialect
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasals m n ŋ ɴ
Stops p b t d k ɡ
Fricatives ɸ s z ɕ h
Affricates ts tɕ dʑ
Liquids ɾ
Semivowel j w

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 /ɡ/ and the semivowel /j/; k → tɕ, ɡ → 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"[2] 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:

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

    See also

    References
    1. Frellesvig, Bjarke (2010). A history of the Japanese language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-65320-6. p. 36
    2. 日本国語大辞典, デジタル大辞泉,大辞林 第三版,精選版. "京へ筑紫に坂東さ(キョウヘツクシニバンドウサ)とは". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-05-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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