Nagasaki Dialect

The Nagasaki dialect (Japanese: 長崎弁 ''Nagasaki'' ''ben'') is the name given to the dialect of Japanese spoken on the mainland part of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. It is a major dialect of the wider Hichiku group of Kyushu Japanese, with similarities to the Chikuzen (including Hakata) and Kumamoto dialects, among others. It is one of the better known Hichiku dialects within Japan, with various historical proverbs that relate to its regional flavour.

Sub-dialects

There are several regional sub-dialects of the broader Nagasaki dialect, which are commonly divided into two main groups: Central-Southern and Northern. Of these, the Central-Southern dialect is further divided as shown below.

* Central-Southern sub-dialect
** Nagasaki – Nagasaki city.
** Sonogi – Omura, Sonogi district and Saikai.
** Isahaya – Isahaya city, Yagami and Toishi.
** Shimabara – Unzen, Shimabara city and Minamishimabara.
* Northern sub-dialect – Sasebo, Matsuura, Hirado and Kitamatsuura district.

Central-Southern and Northern differ in pitch accent, with the former possessing non-accent and the latter having a southwestern Kyushu-standard accent. They also differ grammatically, with Northern having similarities with the dialects of western Saga Prefecture. Within Central-Southern, the dialect of Nagasaki city retains vocabulary of Chinese and Dutch origin, owed to the city's close ties to the Shogunate during the Edo period. The other divisions have been drawn to match the historical territories of Nagasaki Prefecture, which are thought to have led to the observable differences in the present day.

Phonology

Diphthongs

The diphthongs ''ai'' (あい), ''oi'' (おい) and ''ui'' (うい) experience merging in the Nagasaki dialect. For example, the ''dai''- (だい-) in ''daikon'' (だいこん ''radish'') becomes ''jaa-'' (じゃあ) to make ''jaakon'' (じゃあこん), ''ototoi'' (おととい ''day before yesterday'') becomes ''ototee'' (おとてぇ) and ''suika'' (すいか ''watermelon'') is said ''shiika'' (しいか). Conversely, the diphthong ''ei'' (えい) is unaffected, so that ''tokei'' (とけい ''clock'') is pronounced the same as in standard Japanese. Like other Kyushu dialects, the long ''o'' (お) sound derived from the diphthongs ''oo'' (おお), ''ou'' (おう) or ''eu'' (えう) is pronounced ''uu'' (うう). Examples of diphthong merging in the Nagasaki dialect are shown below.

* Long ''o'' becoming a long ''u'':
** ''Kyou'' (きょう''today'') becomes ''kyuu'' (きゅう), ''kefu'' (けふ) or ''keu'' (けう).
** ''Youjin'' (ようじん ''precaution'') becomes ''yuujin'' (ゆうじん).
** ''Isshou'' (いっしょう) becomes ''isshuu'' (いっしゅう).
** Shiyou (しよう''let’s ~'') becomes ''seu'' (せう) or ''shuu'' (しゅう).
* Long ''o'' derived from ''au'':
** ''Amaku'' (あまく''sweet(ly)'') becomes ''amau'' (あまう) or ''amou'' (あもう).
** ''Isshou'' (いっしょう ''whole life'') becomes ''isshau'' (いっしゃう).

Consonants

Unlike other Kyushu dialects, the Nagasaki dialect does not distinguish between the ''yotsugana'' (''ji'' (じ) and ''zi'' (ぢ), and ''zu'' (ず) and ''dzu'' (づ). The consonants ''ga'' (が), ''gi'' (ぎ), ''gu'' (ぐ), ''ge'' (げ) and ''go'' (ご) lose their vowel sounds to become simply ''g'' / There remain some sounds in the Nagasaki dialect spoken predominantly by older speakers which are not found in standard Japanese. These include ''she'' (しぇ) and ''je'' (じぇ), which are now commonly pronounced as ''se'' (せ) and ''ze'' (ぜ) by younger speakers, as well as the labialized velar consonants ''kwa'' (くゎ) and ''gwa'' (ぐゎ). The ''r''-starting consonants (''ra'' (ら), ''ri'' (り), ''ru'' (る), ''re'' (れ) and ''ro'' (ろ)) can also experience elision when found within a word, leading to the omission of the consonant sound (''r''-). For example, ''are'' (あれ ''that'') becomes ''ai'' (あい).

Nasalised ''n'' (ん) and geminate consonant (っ) insertion

In the Nagasaki dialect, ''ru-''ending verbs may have their eponymous ending replaced with a geminate consonant (small ''tsu'' (っ)). For example, ''kuru'' (来る ''to come'') becomes ''ku-'' (来っ) and ''kangaeru'' (考える ''to think'') becomes ''kangayu-'' (考ゆっ). Similarly to ''ru-''ending verbs, the plain dialectal form of ''i''- and ''na-'' adjectives may also have its ending changed to a geminate consonant. E.g., ''takaka'' (高か ''tall'') becomes ''takka'' (たっか). Aside from when starting a word, ''n''-starting consonants (''na'' (な), ''ni'' (に), ''nu'' (ぬ), ''ne'' (ね), ''no'' (の)) and ''m''-starting consonants (''ma'' (ま), ''mi'' (み), ''mu'' (む), ''me'' め, ''mo'' (も)) often change to a nasalised ''n'' (ん). For example, ''inu'' (いぬ ''dog'') becomes ''in'' (いん) and ''tsumetai'' (つめたい ''cold'') becomes ''tsuntaka'' (つんたか).

Phonology of the Shimabara sub-dialect

The sub-dialect of Shimabara possesses several notable phonological differences with the rest of the Nagasaki dialect area. Certain ''s''-starting voiced consonants (''za'' (ざ), ''ze'' (ぜ), ''zo'' (ぞ)) become pronounced with a leading ''d'' / instead, resulting in pronunciations closer to ''da'' (だ), ''de'' (で) and ''do'' (ど). In addition, ''ri'' (り) and ''ryo'' (りょ) may be said as ''zi'' (ぢ) and ''dzo'' (ぢょ), respectively. ''i'' / may also be replaced by a ''u'' / sound so that ''tori'' (とり ''bird'') becomes ''toru'' (とる) and ''awabi'' (あわび ''abalone'') becomes ''awabu'' (あわぶ).

Pitch accent

The Central-Southern sub-dialect group of the Nagasaki dialect possesses a so-called ‘second-type’ (''nikei'' (二型)) pitch accent of the wider southwestern Kyushu-standard pitch accent. It shares this trait with Kagoshima Prefecture and the western part of Kumamoto Prefecture. This pitch accent has generally consistent rules which change based on the number of mora and type of word; second-type pitch accent distinguishes between two major noun types, ‘A’ and ‘B’. ‘A’-type nouns are generally pronounced with a higher pitch towards the start of the word. For example, ''kaze'' (かぜ ''wind'') or ''katachi'' (かたち ''shape''). It should be noted, however, that this higher pitch never exceeds the second mora, regardless of the length of the word. In contrast, ‘B’-type nouns are pronounced with a higher pitch only on the final mora. For example, ''haru'' (はる ''spring'') or ''kaminari'' (かみなり ''thunder''). Pitch accent can change when particles are attached to the word. For ‘A’-type nouns, an extra particle could ‘extend’ the length of a two-mora noun so that it is usually non-accented second mora is stressed. For example, ''kaze'' becomes ''kaze'' when the particle ''ga'' (が) is attached to (''kaze'' ''ga'' (かぜが). Similarly, ‘B’-type nouns can have the stress usually found on their final mora transferred to the addended particle instead. For example, ''haru'' becomes ''haru'' when ''ga'' is attached (''haru ga'' (はるが)). Among younger speakers, ‘A’-type nouns can have the stress on their first mora transferred to the second mora when a particle is attached, so that ''kaze'' ''ga'' (かぜが) becomes ''kaze ga'' (かぜが). Additionally, in regions close to Saga Prefecture and around Shimabara city, ‘A’-type nouns may not have their stress extended to the second mora when a particle is addended. E.g., ''kaze'' ''ga'' (かぜが) remains ''kaze ga'' (かぜが). The table below shows some examples of pitch accent in the Central-Southern Nagasaki sub-dialect.

Unlike the Central-Southern sub-dialects, the Northern sub-dialect does not possess any discernible pitch accent, with all words pronounced flat.

Grammar

Verbs

The inflection of verbs differs considerably between the Nagasaki dialect and standard Japanese. The table below shows the differences in conjugation between Standard Japanese and the Nagasaki dialect for the Ichidan verb ''ukeru'' (受ける ''to receive'').

Traditionally, for the volitional and persuasive form (''shiyou'' (しよう) ''let’s'' ~), Ichidan verbs with an -''iru'' (-いる) ending are conjugated with a palatalised ''-u'' (-う) sound. For example, ''okiru'' (起きる ''to wake up'') is conjugated to ''okyuu'' (起きゅう) as opposed to ''okiyou'' (起きよう) (with both meaning ''let's get up''). Likewise, some former Nidan verbs such as ''deru'' (出る ''to go out'') are palatalised (in this case to ''juu'' (じゅう) or ''zuu'' (ずう) instead of ''deyou'' (出よう) (all meaning ''let's go out'')). A more recent conjugation pattern has also emerged in which Ichidan and former Nidan verbs are conjugated as if they are Godan verbs. E.g., ''okirou'' (起きろう) and ''dero'' (出ろう).

The ''te''- (て-) and past tense form of certain verbs experience euphony in the Nagasaki dialect. These include verbs ending in -''u'' (-う), -''bu'' (-ぶ) and -''mu'' (-む), as well as those ending in -''su'' (-す). For the former three, a ''u'' sound is inserted as shown in the examples below.

* ''U''-ending verb example: ''kau'' (買う ''to buy'')
** ''Katta'' (買った ''bought'') is said ''kauta'' (買うた) or ''kouta'' (こうた).
* ''Bu''-ending verb example: ''hakobu'' (運ぶ ''to carry'')
** ''Hakonda'' (運んだ ''carried'') is said as ''hakouda'' (運うだ) or ''hakuuda'' (はくうだ).
* ''Mu''-ending verb example: ''yomu'' (読む ''to read'')
** ''Yonda'' (読んだ ''read'') is said ''youda'' (読うだ) or ''yuuda'' (ゆうだ).

For the latter, an ''i'' (い) sound is inserted as shown in the example below.

* ''Su''-ending verb example: ''dasu'' (出す ''to take out'')
** ''Dashita'' (出した ''took out'') is said as ''daita'' (出いた) or ''jaata'' (じゃあた).

A report in 1998 found that among these instances of euphony, in particular the insertion of -''u'' in -''bu'' and -''mu'' ending verbs was vanishing among younger speakers, with most conjugating in concordance with standard Japanese.

For polite speech, the Nagasaki dialect makes use of the bound auxiliary -''masu'' (-ます), albeit often with geminate consonant (small ''tsu'' (っ)) insertion. For example, ''shirimasen'' (知りません ''I don’t know'' (polite)) may be said as ''shirimassen'' (知りまっせん). Like standard Japanese, speakers of the Nagasaki dialect may contract the hypothetical form of verbs. For example, ''kakeba'' (書けば ''if I write'') may be said ''kakya'' (書きゃ) and ''sureba'' (すれば ''if I do''), ''surya'' (すりゃ).

Adjectives

Like other Hichiku dialects, the Nagasaki dialect possesses several notable differences regarding ''i''-adjectives when compared to standard Japanese. For the plain and attributive form, the eponymous ending -''i'' (-い) is replaced with ''ka'' (か). For example, ''akai'' (赤い ''red'') becomes ''akaka'' (赤か) and ''shiroi'' (白い ''white'') becomes ''shiroka'' (白か). The connective -''ku'' (-く) is contracted to -''u'' (-う), leading to conjugations such as ''younaka'' (良うなか) (''yokunai'' (良くない ''not good'')). The continuative form, -''kute'' (-くて''and''), is changed to -''shite'' (-して), so that ''yokute'' (良くて ''good and…'') is said ''youshite'' (良うして). Unlike standard Japanese, which simply addends ''darou'' (だろう ''probably, could be'') to the end of all adjective types to express conjecture, ''i''-adjectives in the Nagasaki dialect can be conjugated. ''-rou'' (-ろう) is added to the plain form to create expressions such as ''yokarou'' (良かろう ''it’s good, right?'') or ''shirokarou'' (白かろう''I wonder if it’s white''). Alternatively, an equivalent to ''darou'', ''jarou'' (じゃろう), can be directly added to the end of the adjective like in ''yokajarou'' (良かじゃろう) or ''shirokajarou'' (白じゃろう). For the hypothetical form, ''-kereba'' (-ければ ''if its…'') is changed to -''kareba'' (-かれば), which may be contracted to -''karya'' (-かりゃ). For example: ''yokareba'' (良かれば ''if it's good'') / ''yokarya'' (良かりゃ). For expressing conjecture about the state of something (''-garu'' (-がる ''seeming to be'') in standard Japanese), ''-sshasuru'' (しゃする) is used. For example, ''ureshigaru'' (嬉しがる ''he/she seems happy'') becomes ''uresshasuru'' (嬉っしゃする). Lastly, ''-sa'' (-さ) may be added to the stem of ''i-adjectives'' to express exclamation. For example, ''umasaa!'' (美味さあ! ''it's so tasty!'').

Like ''i''-adjectives, ''na''-adjectives often have ''ka'' attached in place of a copula for their plain and attributive forms. For example, ''genki da'' (元気だ, ''I'm well'') becomes ''genki'' ''ka'' (元気か). Some ''na''-adjectives may have ''na'' inserted in addition to ''ka'', producing forms such as ''hen na ka'' (変なか, ''it’s strange'') (equivalent to ''hen da'' (変だ)).

Bound auxiliaries

Copula and negative form

The Nagasaki dialect makes use of the copulas ''ja'' (じゃ) and ''ya'' (や). In practice, however, they rarely appear in these forms, appearing instead as conjugated versions. For example, the past tense (''jatta'' (じゃった) and ''yatta'' (やった), both ''was'') or hypothetical (''jarou'' (じゃろう) and ''yarou'' (やろう) forms. There is also a marked disparity in usage of ''ja'' and ''ya'' between older and younger speakers, with older speakers preferring ''jatta'' and ''jarou'' and younger speakers tending towards ''yatta'' and ''yarou''. In place of ''ja'' and ''ya'', the sentence-ending particles ''bai'' (ばい) and ''tai'' (たい) are also commonly used as declaratives.

For the present tense negative (-''nai'' (-ない)), ''n'' (ん) is attached to the -''nai'' stem. For example, ''ikanai'' (行かない, ''don’t go'') becomes ''ikan'' (行かん). Aside from the attachment of ''n'', certain Ichidan verbs may be conjugated akin to Godan verbs, so that ''okinai'' (起きない ''do not go out'') may not be conjugated in the Nagasaki dialect as ''okin'' (起きん) but as ''okiran'' (起きらん). For the past tense negative (-''nakatta'' (-なかった)), ''-njatta'' (-んじゃった) or ''-nyatta'' (-んやった) is attached to the ''-nai'' stem. For example, ''ikanakatta'' (行かなかった, ''did not go'') becomes ''ikanjatta'' (行かんじゃった) or ''ikanyatta'' (行かんやった). In Hirado and the Kitamatsu area, ''-jatta'' (-じゃった) is added to the ''-nai'' stem instead (E.g., ''ikajatta'' (行かじゃった)).

Progressive and perfective aspects

Like other Kyushu dialects, the Nagasaki dialect makes a distinction between the progressive and perfective aspects. Generally, ''-yoru'' (-よる) is used to express a progressive state whilst -''toru'' (-とる) is used for completed actions. However, in some parts of the dialect area -''choru'' (-ちょる) may be used in place of -''toru'', and in the Isahaya sub-dialect -''oru'' (-おる) is sometimes used for the progressive aspect instead of -''yoru''. The table below shows how these auxiliaries attach to the Godan verb ''furu'' (降る'', to rain, to fall'').

Conjecture and hearsay

In addition to ''jarou'' and ''yarou'', verbs and ''i''-adjectives can also have their form changed to express conjecture in the Nagasaki dialect. For ''i''-adjectives, ''-rou'' (-ろう) is attached to the plain form like in ''nakarou'' (無かろう, ''there probably is none'') = ''nai darou'' (無いだろう). For verbs, ''-u'' (-う) is often attached to the ''-nai'' stem and palatalised, then ''dai'' (だい) is added to the end. For example, ''hareru darou'' (晴れるだろう, ''it will probably be sunny'') becomes ''haryuu dai'' (晴りゅうだい). Around Nagasaki city, ''dai'' is not added, so that the form above is simply ''haryuu''. When expressing conjecture regarding the state of something or its likeness (''you da'' (ようだ ''to be'' ''like'', ''to'' ''seem''), the bound auxiliaries ''goto'' (ごと), ''gotoaru'' (ごとある) and ''gotaru'' (ごたる) are used. For expressing hearsay about something (''sou'' (そう)), the bound auxiliary ''rashika'' (らしか) and the particle ''gena'' (げな) are used.

Potential

The Nagasaki dialect makes a distinction between so-called ‘ability potential’ (''nouryoku'' ''kanou'' (能力可能)) and ‘situational potential’ (''joukyou kanou'' (状況可能)). Ability potential refers to someone or something being able or unable to do something due to their internal ability. For example, a child cannot ride a bike because they are too small. In contrast, situational potential places the condition for potential to do something on an external locus. For example, a man cannot eat a fish because it has gone off. For ability potential, the bound auxiliaries -''kiru'' (-きる) and ''yuru'' (-ゆる) are attached to the -''masu'' stem of Godan verbs and some Nidan verbs, respectively. Whilst ''-yuru'' is widespread across Kyushu, -''kiru'' is found exclusively in Nagasaki and Saga Prefectures. For situational potential, the bound auxiliaries ''-ruru'' (-るる) and ''-raruru'' (-らるる) are attached to the -''nai'' stem of certain Nidan verbs. Exclusively in the dialect of Nagasaki city, ''-dasan'' (-ださん) may also be used to express inability (e.g., ''cannot'') by attaching to the -''masu'' stem of verbs. The example sentences below show uses of the potential bound auxiliaries mentioned above.

* Ability potential:
** ''Mada chiisai node jitensha ni norenai'' (まだ小さいので自転車に乗れない, ''I can’t ride bikes yet because I’m too small'')

→ ''Mada komoushite jitensha ni norikiran'' (まだこもうして自転車に乗りきらん).

* Situational potential:
** ''Kono gohan wa kusatteiru kara taberarenai yo'' (このご飯は腐っているから食べられないよ, ''I can’t eat this, it’s gone off'').

→ ''Kon mesha nemattokken kuwarenbai'' (こんめしゃ　ねまっとっけん　くわれんばい).

* Non-potential / inability (Nagasaki city only):
** ''Machi e ikou to omotteita ga, isogashikute ikenakatta'' (町へ行こうと思っていたが、忙しくて行けなかった, ''I was thinking of going into town but I was too busy so I couldn’t'').

→ ''Machi san ikouchi omoutotta batten isogashuushite ikidasanjatta'' (町さん行こうち思うとったばってん忙しゅうして行きださんじゃった).

Polite speech

The Nagasaki dialect makes use of various bound auxiliaries to express politeness, with some variation across the dialect area. Across most of Nagasaki, -''naru'' (-なる) and -''nasaru'' (-なさる) are attached to the -''masu'' stem of verbs whilst -''su'' (-す) and -''ru'' (-る) are attached to the -''nai'' stem of Godan verbs and the irregular verb ''suru'' (する). Meanwhile, -''rasu'' (-らす) and -''raru'' (-らる) are used for all other verb types. The city of Oomura and its surrounding area shares usage of the polite bound auxiliary -''nasu'' (-なす) with the Kumamoto dialect, whilst two additional polite bound auxiliaries, ''-sharu'' (-しゃる) and -''nsharu'' (-んしゃる), are commonly used in the Isahaya sub-dialect.

Particles

Case-marking, adverbial, and binding particles

The Nagasaki dialect possesses a number of particles that are not found in standard Japanese, with many of them shared with other Hichiku dialects. The nominative case-marking particle (''ga'' (が) in standard Japanese) is replaced by ''no'' (の) or ''n'' (ん), whilst ''to'' (と) is used in place of the explanatory and soft interrogative particle ''no'' (の). Furthermore, the accusative case-marking particle ''wo'' (を) is replaced by ''ba'' (ば). There are numerous particles used to indicate direction (''ni'' (に)), including ''san'' (さん), ''shan'' (しゃん) and ''same'' (さめ). ''Ni'' itself is commonly abbreviated to ''i'' (い), which often merges with the preceding word. To describe the goal of an action (...するため, ''for the purpose of''), the particle ''gya(a)'' (ぎゃ(あ)) is widely used. The particle ''kara'' (から) (not to be confused with ''kara'' (から, ''because / so'')) is used to express a method or means of doing something (commonly ''de'' (で)). The adverbial particle ''wa'' (は), used to indicate a new topic, is changed to ''na'' (な) when following a nasal ''n'' (ん) sound. For example, ''hon wa'' (本は, ''the book is…'') becomes ''hon’na'' (本な)''.'' The following sentences provide examples of the particles listed above in everyday conversation.

* ''Sensei ga irasshatta'' (先生がいらっしゃった, ''the teacher was there'') → ''Sensei no korashita'' (先生のこらした)
* ''Hana no kirei na no wo katte kita yo'' (花のきれいなの買ってきたよ, ''I bought a pretty flower'') → ''Hanan kireka to ba koute kita bai'' (花んきれかとばこうてきたばい)
* ''Kore wa dare no?'' (これは誰の?, ''whose is this?'') → ''Koi dai n to?'' (こいだいんと?)
* ''Gakkou ni'' (学校に, ''to school'') → ''Gakkei'' (がっけい)
* ''Mi ni iku'' (見に行く, ''go and see'') → ''Mi gya iku'' (見ぎゃ行く)
* ''Basu de iku'' (バスで行く, ''go by bus'') → ''Basu kara iku'' (バスから行く)

Conjunctive particles and related phrases

Across most of the Nagasaki dialect area, the reason-expressing resultative conjunctive particle ''kara'' (から, ''because, so'') is replaced by ''ken'' (けん) or ''kee'' (けぇ). To express a greater degree of emphasis, the particles ''kenka'' (けんか) and ''kenga'' (けんが) may also be used. In the Northern sub-dialect, the Shimabara sub-dialect, as well as in the coastal parts of the Sonogi dialect area, ''sen'' (せん) or ''shen'' (しぇん) are also used. The phrases ''sori ken'' (そりけん) and ''soi ken'' (そいけん) are used as equivalents to ''sou da kara'' (そうだから ''because it’s like that'').

The adversative resultative conjunctive particle ''keredomo'' (けれども'', but, although'') has a variety of equivalents in the Nagasaki dialect depending on area. Most common are the particles ''batten'' (ばってん), ''batte(e)'' (ばって(え)) and their more emphatic counterparts ''battenka'' (ばってんか) and ''battenga'' (ばってんが). In the Isahaya, Sonogi and northern Shimabara sub-dialects, ''don'' (どん) and ''jon'' (じょん) are also used. The phrases ''sojjon'' (そっじょん), ''soru batten'' (そるばってん), ''soi batten'' (そいばってん) and ''sogan batten'' (そがんばってん) are all used as equivalents to the phrase ''sou da kedo'' (そうだけど ''that may be true, but''...).

There are a wide variety of particles used to express resultative hypotheticals (''if X then Y'') in the Nagasaki dialect, with usage depending on area. These particles are outlined below.

* ''Gi'' (ぎ), ''gin'' (ぎん) and ''ginta'' (ぎんた): spoken in and around Sasebo.
* ''Ginya'' (ぎんにゃ): spoken in the eastern part of the Sonogi sub-dialect area.
* ''Gitto'' (ぎっと): spoken in the Isahaya sub-dialect.
* ''Gira'' (ぎら): spoken in the northern part of the Shimabara Peninsula.
* ''Girya'' (ぎりゃ): spoken in the southern part of the Shimabara Peninsula.

In the Sonogi area, the conjunctive phrases ''aiba'' (あいば) and ''naiba'' (ないば) are commonly used as equivalents to the phrase ''sore nara'' (それなら ''if that is the case'').

For adversative hypotheticals (-''temo'' (''-''ても, ''even if'')), the particles ''ten'' (てん) and ''taccha'' (たっちゃ) are used.

Sentence-ending and interjectory particles

The particles ''bai'' and ''tai'' are used in place of the copulas ''ja'' and ''ya'', attaching directly to nouns. ''Bai'' is often used for affirming one's own subjective conclusions about something and also as a soft explanatory particle, whereas ''tai'' is used for self-evident, objectively true facts or situations. There are several variations of the standard ''bai'' and ''tai'' particles, including ''bana'' (ばな), ''ban'' (ばん) and ''baita'' (ばいた) for the former and ''taa'' (たぁ) and ''tan'' (たん) for the latter.

The particles ''i'' (い) and ''de(e)'' (で(ぇ)) are used following the volitional form of verbs to express an added element of emphasis or persuasion. E.g., ''ikou yo'' (行こうよ ''let’s go'') becomes ''ikou i'' (行こうい) and ''yameyou yo'' (やめようよ ''let's stop'') becomes ''yamyuu de'' (やみゅうで).

Like standard Japanese, the Nagasaki dialect makes frequent use of the sentence-ending particles ''na'' (な), ''no'' (の) and ''ne'' (ね), with ''ne'' used frequently by younger speakers. The interjectory particle ''sa'' (さ) is also commonly used. Among female speakers, the particles ''he'' (へ) and ''tohe'' (とへ) are also widely used.

In the eastern part of the Sonogi sub-dialect area, the sentence-ending particle ''zan'' (ざん) acts as an equivalent to all three of the sentence-ending particles ''zo'' (ぞ), ''yo'' (よ) and ''ne'' (ね). In the bay area of western Sonogi as well as in the Kitamatsu region, ''zai'' (ざい) is also used with the same meaning.

The particle ''nai'' (ない) is commonly used as an affirmative response marker in the Northern sub-dialect. Female speakers in the Nagasaki city area use ''haisaa'' (はいさぁ) with the same meaning as ''nai''.

There are several regional variations of the interrogative case-marking particle ''ka'' (か). In the Isahaya area, ''kan'' (かん) is often heard, whilst ''kanashi'' (かなし) or ''kanaashi'' (かなぁし) is used in northern Shimabara and ''kanai'' (かない) is said in southern Shimabara.

The Isahaya area features several commonly used sentence-ending particles which are used to denote a degree of politeness. These are: ''nata'' (なた) or ''nataa'' (なたぁ), and ''nomai'' (のもい). ''Nata'' and ''nataa'' are derivations of the phrase ''naa anata'' (なぁあなた ''hey, you'') and ''nomai'' is derived from the phrase ''naa omae'' (なぁお前 also ''hey, you'').

References

{{Japanese language

Japanese dialects
Culture in Nagasaki
Culture in Nagasaki Prefecture