Chikuzen dialect
The Chikuzen dialect is a dialect, or dialect group of Japanese spoken in western Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu. It includes the Hakata, Fukuoka and Munakata dialects.
Classification
The Chikuzen dialect is a Kyushu dialect. It is officially part of the Hichiku subgroup, which is spoken across western Kyushu. However, speakers in some areas confusingly share more spoken similarities with neighbouring dialects. For example, the Chikuzen dialect spoken in the east of the dialect area is more similar to the Buzen dialect. Likewise, speakers in the south have a stronger spoken resemblance to speakers of the Chikugo dialect.Phonology
The perfective aspect, commonly -yoru in West Japanese and Kyushu dialects, is often said as -you in the Chikuzen dialect. For example, ikiyoru becomes ikiyou. Similarly, the progressive aspect, -toru, becomes -tou. E.g. ittoru becomes ittoo. The sounds se and ze are pronounced as she and je, whilst among western dialect speakers, the sounds da, de and do change to ra, re and ro, respectively. For example, tetsudou becomes tetsurou and sudare becomes surare. In the southwest of the dialect area, ri is sometimes pronounced as dzi.Pitch accent
The Chikuzen dialect possesses a variation of the Tokyo-standard pitch accent. There are notable changes to the pitch accent of two-mora nouns across Chikuzen, with the specific changes depending on region. Across most of the Chikuzen dialect area, two-mora nouns with a wide vowel, e, o ) as their first mora and a narrow vowel, u ) as their second mora become front-mora stressed. In certain areas, including Hakata Ward in Fukuoka City and the district of Kasuya, two-mora nouns may be front-mora stressed when only a narrow vowel is present at the second mora. Two-mora nouns without these particular attributes are stressed on their final mora. There is also a tendency, particularly among the younger generation, to stress words differently when they appear within a sentence as opposed to in isolation. Most notably, the question-marking particle to causes the entire preceding sentence to become flat and possess a higher intonation. In contrast, in the southern parts of the dialect area, where there is greater proximity to the Chikugo region, differentiating between words’ different pitch accents becomes murkier, with traits of non-accent being found. The table below shows some differences and similarities in pitch accent between Fukuoka City, Oita Prefecture, the Buzen region and Tokyo for two-mora nouns with the nominative case-making particle ga attached.Grammar
Conjugation of verbs and ''i''-adjectives
The dialect retains Nidan conjugation for certain verbs as well as irregular conjugation of n-ending verbs. For example, the plain form of the n-ending verb shinu becomes shinuru. Ichidan and Nidan verbs are often conjugated in a fashion identical to that of r-ending Godan verbs. This is especially true for the imperative form, which changes from the typical -ro ending to -re. E.g., okiro becomes okire. A softer imperative form that derives from the -masu stem, e.g., kakii and taberii, is also used. Like other Kyushu dialects, the -masu stem of certain Godan verbs experiences euphony. Namely, those ending in -su - which become i- as opposed to shi- - and those ending in -u, -mu and -bu – all of which become u- as opposed to i-, mi- and bi-, respectively.There are several notable differences in i-adjective conjugation between the Chikuzen dialect and standard Japanese. The plain and attributive form ending, usually -i, becomes -ka in the western and southern parts of the dialect area. For example, hayai is said as hayaka. In the eastern part of the Chikuzen region, the standard i-ending is used, save for in yoi, which is said yoka. The conjunctive form loses its ku- to simply become u-, like in younaka and ureshuunaru . The continuative form can be either -ute or -ushite. For example, youte and youshite . In the western and southern parts of the dialect area, -sa is attached to the adjective stem to express exclamation.
Bound auxiliaries
Copula and negative form
Variations of ja and ya are used as copulas in the Chikuzen dialect. Historically, ja was used exclusively, whilst ya later proliferated due to usage by younger speakers. The various copulas include jan, yan, yaga, bai and tai is jarou or yarou, whilst the past tense is jatta or yatta. For the negative form of verbs, the formula is used. Among older speakers, the past tense negative formula is used, like in ikanjatta, whereas younger speakers prefer, e.g., ikanyatta, ikankatta.Progressive and perfect aspects
Like Western Japanese and other Kyushu dialects and unlike Eastern Japanese dialects, there is a distinction between the progressive aspect and perfect aspect in the Chikuzen dialect. -Yoru or -you is used for the progressive aspect, whilst -toru or -tou is used for the perfective aspect. In the Chikuhou region, -choru or -chou may also be used for the perfective aspect.Potential form and hearsay
The Chikuzen dialect makes a distinction between situational potential and the potential of someone or something to do something. For the former, -ruru or -raruru are attached to the -masu stem of a verb, whilst for the latter -kiru is attached instead. The bound auxiliaries gotoaru and gotaru are used with the same meaning as you, and gena is used to express hearsay.Polite speech
There are several bound auxiliary words used to express politeness in the Chikuzen dialect. -sharu and -rassharu are used after the -nai stem of verbs to add politeness, a trait also found in the Chikugo dialect. A word unique to the Chikuzen dialect, -nsharu, attaches to the -masu stem of verbs and contains a nuance of familiarity or closeness with the listener. Below are some examples of polite speech in the Chikuzen dialect.Ikassharu.Taberassharu.Ikinshatta.The highly polite nasaru and less polite naru are both used, with nsaru being found in the Munakata District. Aside from the standard polite conjugation of nasaru, there are a variety of forms derived from the attaching of -masu, including: nasasu, nasu and nazasu. For the progressive and perfect aspects, -tearu is used. -Tearu can also be contracted to a less polite variation, -charu. Below is an example sentence using -tearu.Shenshee, nanba ''shitearu to desu ka? ) compared to sensei, nani wo nasatteiru no desu ka? in standard Japanese.
Gozaru is used as a highly polite form of iru and kuru and as a bound auxiliary, whilst -tsukaasai is used as an equivalent to -te kudasai. Gozasu is used alongside desu and -masu as a polite bound auxiliary, and all forms may have geminate consonant insertion, for example -massen as opposed to -masen, -gozassen as opposed to -gozasen and desshou as opposed to deshou. In some areas, such as Fukuoka City and Itoshima, two additional polite bound auxiliaries, -dasu and -rasu'', are also used.
Particles
Case-marking and adverbial particles
In the western and southern parts of the dialect area, no is used as a nominative case-marking particle. Ga is also used, but with a slightly distinct meaning. No contains a nuance of respectfulness towards the person being discussed, whilst ga is used for either expressing a degree of self-abasement or humility, or for more clearly emphasising who or what is being discussed. In the eastern part of the dialect area, only ga is used.Other notable particles include:To and tsu - Used as equivalents to the question-marking particle no. Tsu is found exclusively in the western dialect area.Ba – Equivalent to the accusative case-marking particle wo. Used predominantly in western and southern areas.Sai, sae, ni and i – All used to indicate direction.Ni and ge – Both used to indicate the target of an action. For example, mi ni iku à mi ge iku.