The Kantō dialects (関東方言 ''kantō hōgen'', 関東弁 ''kantō-ben'') are a group of
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 div ...
spoken in the
Kantō region (except for the
Izu Islands
The are a group of volcanic islands stretching south and east from the Izu Peninsula of Honshū, Japan. Administratively, they form two towns and six villages; all part of Tokyo Prefecture. The largest is Izu Ōshima, usually called simply Ōsh ...
).
[In northern Izu Islands are Tokai–Tosan dialects, and in the southern islands are the ]Hachijō dialects Hachijō can refer to:
Hachijō in Tokyo, Japan
* The island Hachijōjima (八丈島)
* The town Hachijō, Tokyo, within Tokyo, Japan, which governs Hachijōjima and Hachijōkojima.
* Hachijo dialects, the dialects of the Japanese language na ...
. The Kantō dialects include the
Tokyo dialect
The Tokyo dialect () is a variety of Japanese language spoken in modern Tokyo. As a whole, it is generally considered to be Standard Japanese, though specific aspects of slang or pronunciation can vary by area and social class.
Overview
Tr ...
which is the basis of modern standard Japanese. Along with the
Tōhoku dialect
The , 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 standa ...
, Kantō dialects have been characterized by the use of a suffix -''be'' or -''ppe''; Kantō speakers were called ''Kantō bei'' by Kansai speakers in the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...
. Eastern Kantō dialects share more features with the Tōhoku dialect. After the
Pacific War, the southern Kantō regions such as Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba prefectures developed as satellite cities of Tokyo, and today traditional dialects in these areas have been almost entirely replaced by standard Japanese.
Kantō dialects
* West Kantō
**
Tokyo dialect
The Tokyo dialect () is a variety of Japanese language spoken in modern Tokyo. As a whole, it is generally considered to be Standard Japanese, though specific aspects of slang or pronunciation can vary by area and social class.
Overview
Tr ...
(central
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
)
*** Yamanote dialect (old upper-class dialect)
*** Shitamachi dialect or Edo dialect (old working-class dialect)
** Tama dialect (
Western Tokyo
Western Tokyo, also known as the , or , in the Tokyo Metropolis consists of 30 ordinary municipalities (cities (市 shi), towns (町 machi) and one village (村 mura)), unlike the eastern part which consists of 23 special wards.
Before it wa ...
)
** Saitama dialect (
Saitama Prefecture
is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km2 (1,466 sq mi). Saitama Prefecture borders Tochigi Prefectur ...
)
*** Chichibu dialect (
Chichibu)
**
Gunma dialect
The Gunma dialect (Japanese: 群馬弁 ''gunma-ben,'' also called ''jōshū-ben'' (上州弁) in Japanese) is a Japanese dialect spoken in Gunma Prefecture.
Outline
Along with the Chiba, Saitama, Tama and Kanagawa dialects it is considered a ...
or Jōshū dialect (
Gunma Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushim ...
)
**
Kanagawa dialect (
Kanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...
)
** Chiba dialect (
Chiba Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the n ...
)
[northern Chiba Prefecture is a transitional area between Western and Eastern Kanto]
*** Bōshū dialect (Southern Chiba Prefecture)
** Gun'nai dialect (Eastern
Yamanashi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 817,192 (1 January 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the n ...
)
* East Kantō
**
Ibaraki dialect (
Ibaraki Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, Tochigi Prefectur ...
)
**
Tochigi dialect (
Tochigi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,943,886 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,408 km2 (2,474 sq mi). Tochigi Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the nort ...
)
*
Northern Izu Archipelago dialects (Northern
Izu Islands
The are a group of volcanic islands stretching south and east from the Izu Peninsula of Honshū, Japan. Administratively, they form two towns and six villages; all part of Tokyo Prefecture. The largest is Izu Ōshima, usually called simply Ōsh ...
, Tokyo)
Kantō Japanese in other regions
The
Hokkaidō dialect is the closest to
Standard Japanese because colonists from various regions settled the area, so that use of the standard language was required in order to facilitate communication. In the
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yona ...
, Standard Japanese developed into a dialect known as
Okinawan Japanese, which has been influenced by the
Ryukyuan languages
The , also Lewchewan or Luchuan (), are the indigenous languages of the Ryukyu Islands, the southernmost part of the Japanese archipelago. Along with the Japanese language and the Hachijō language, they make up the Japonic language family.
...
.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanto dialect
Japanese dialects
Kantō region