The is a group of the
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 most of the
Chūgoku region
The , also known as the region, is the westernmost region of Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It consists of the prefectures of Hiroshima, Okayama, Shimane, Tottori, and Yamaguchi. In 2010, it had a population of 7,563,428.
History
'' ...
and in the northwestern
Kansai region
The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolita ...
. It may be separated into two groups according to the form of the
copula.
* copula ''ja'' group (
San'yō region
The San'yō Region (山陽地方 ''San'yō-chihō'') is an area in the south of Honshū, the main island of Japan. It consists of the southern part of the Chūgoku region, facing the Seto Inland Sea
The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea ...
)
** Aki also known as Hiroshima dialect (western
Hiroshima Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Hiroshima Prefecture has a population of 2,811,410 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 8,479 km² (3,274 sq mi). Hiroshima Prefecture borders Okayama ...
, formerly known as
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 prie ...
)
**
Bingo dialect
The Bingo dialect (Japanese: 備後弁 ''bingo-ben'') is a Japanese dialect spoken in the Bingo Region (formerly Bingo Province) of eastern Hiroshima Prefecture. It is part of the Chūgoku dialect group.
Classification
The dialects of Hir ...
(eastern Hiroshima Prefecture, formerly known as
Bingo Province
was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of western Honshū, comprising what is today the eastern part of Hiroshima Prefecture. It was sometimes grouped together with Bizen and Bitchu Provinces as . The 備 ''bi'' in the names of these p ...
)
*** Fukuyama dialect (
Fukuyama)
** Okayama dialect (
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 ...
)
** Yamaguchi also known as Chōshū dialect (
Yamaguchi Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). Y ...
)
* copula ''da'' group (parts of
San'in region
The is an area in the southwest of Honshū, the main island of Japan. It consists of the northern part of the Chūgoku region, facing the Sea of Japan.
Etymology
The name San'in in the Japanese language is formed from two kanji characters. The ...
)
** Iwami dialect (western
Shimane Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geographic area of 6,708.26 km2. Shimane Prefecture borders Yamaguc ...
, formerly known as
Iwami Province
was an old province of Japan in the area that is today the western part of Shimane Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Iwami bordered Aki, Bingo, Izumo, Nagato, and Suō provinces.
In the Heian period (794–1192) the capital was at modern ...
)
*** ''ja'' is also used in western Iwami region.
**
Inshū, also known as
Tottori dialect (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 ...
, formerly known as
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 ...
)
** Tajima dialect (northern Hyōgo Prefecture, formerly known as
Tajima Province
was a province of Japan in the area of northern Hyōgo Prefecture. Tajima bordered on Tango and Tanba to the east, Harima to the south, and Inaba to the west. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō system, Tajimao was ...
)
** Tango dialect (northernmost of Kyoto Prefecture, formerly known as
Tango Province
was a province of Japan in the area of northern Kyoto Prefecture. Tango bordered on Tanba to the south, Tajima to the west, and Wakasa to the east. Its abbreviated form name was . It was also referred to as or . In terms of the Gokishichi ...
except Maizuru)
Although
Kansai dialect
The is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region (Kinki region) of Japan. In Japanese, is the common name and it is called in technical terms. The dialects of Kyoto and Osaka are known as , and were particularly referred to as suc ...
uses copula ''ya'', Chūgoku dialect mainly uses ''ja'' or ''da''. Chūgoku dialect uses ''ken'' or ''kee'' instead of ''kara'' meaning "because". ''ken'' is also used in
Umpaku dialect
The is a group of Japanese dialects spoken in central San'in region, San'in. The name ''Unpaku'' (雲伯) is constructed by extracting a representative kanji from ''Izumo Province, Izumo'' (出雲) and ''Hōki Province, Hōki'' (伯耆), the nam ...
,
Shikoku dialect
The are a group of the Japanese dialects spoken on Shikoku.
The Shikoku dialects are:
* Awa dialect (Tokushima Prefecture, formerly known as Awa Province)
* Sanuki dialect (Kagawa Prefecture formerly known as Sanuki Province)
* Iyo dialect ...
,
Hōnichi dialect and
Hichiku dialect
The Hichiku dialect is a group of the Japanese dialects spoken in western Kyushu. The name ''Hichiku'' (肥筑) is constructed by extracting a representative kanji from ''Hizen'' (肥前), '' Higo'' (肥後), '' Chikuzen'' (筑前) and '' Chikug ...
. In addition, Chūgoku dialect uses -''yoru'' in
progressive aspect
The continuous and progressive aspects (abbreviated and ) are grammatical aspects that express incomplete action ("to do") or state ("to be") in progress at a specific time: they are non-habitual, imperfective aspects.
In the grammars of many l ...
and -''toru'' or -''choru'' in
perfect. For example, ''Tarō wa benkyō shiyoru'' (太郎は勉強しよる) means "Taro is studying", and ''Tarō wa benkyō shitoru'' (太郎は勉強しとる) means "Taro has studied" while standard Japanese speakers say ''Tarō wa benkyō shiteiru'' (太郎は勉強している) in both situations. -''Choru'' is used mostly in Yamaguchi dialect.
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 ( ...
of Chūgoku dialect is similar to the Tokyo accent and is a contrast to Kansai dialect and Shikoku dialect.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chugoku Dialect
Japanese dialects
Chūgoku region