Chūgoku Dialect

The is a group of the Japanese dialects spoken in most of the Chūgoku region and in the northwestern Kansai region. It may be separated into two groups according to the form of the copula.
* copula ''ja'' group (San'yō region)
** Aki also known as Hiroshima dialect (western Hiroshima Prefecture, formerly known as Aki Province)
** Bingo dialect (eastern Hiroshima Prefecture, formerly known as Bingo Province)
*** Fukuyama dialect ( Fukuyama)
** Okayama dialect (Okayama Prefecture)
** Yamaguchi also known as Chōshū dialect (Yamaguchi Prefecture)
* copula ''da'' group (parts of San'in region)
** Iwami dialect (western Shimane Prefecture, formerly known as Iwami Province)
*** ''ja'' is also used in western Iwami region.
** Inshū, also known as Tottori dialect (eastern Tottori Prefecture, formerly known as Inaba Province)
** Tajima dialect (northern Hyōgo Prefecture, formerly known as Tajima Province)
** Tango dialect (northernmost of Kyoto Prefecture, formerly known as Tango Province except Maizuru)

Although Kansai dialect 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, Shikoku dialect, Hōnichi dialect and Hichiku dialect. In addition, Chūgoku dialect uses -''yoru'' in progressive aspect 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 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