Northern Izu Archipelago dialects


The Northern Izu Islands 'dialects' is a dialect group of Japanese spoken on the northernmost collection of islands in the Izu Archipelago, Japan. The most studied of these include the To-shima, Izu Oshima and Miyake-jima dialects. These dialects have many unique traits, and can differ considerably from island to island.

Classification

All Northern Izu Islands dialects are part of the Tokai-Tosan dialect group spoken across central Japan, and are most similar to the mainland, eastern Shizuoka dialect.

General features

The following are general phonetic and grammatical features of the Northern Izu Archipelago dialects, with exceptions and individual variations listed in the island-specific sections.

Phonology

The Northern Izu Archipelago dialects have a chūrin Tokyo standard pitch accent. The vowel sound /e/ is somewhat narrower than in traditional Tokyo dialects, and may lose its distinction with /i/ to become . For example:
  • eki → iki
  • kebyō → kibyō
  • fude fudi
  • tenki ''→ tinki
  • sensei → shinshē
In some dialects, there is a /tu/ syllable. For example:
  • tsurizao → tuizao''

    Grammar

Northern Izu Archipelago dialects are classified under Eastern Japanese, with similar grammar structures to Shizuoka and West Kantō dialects, but also with a strong influence from the traditional Yokohama dialect. As aforementioned, however, the differences from island to island can be extreme. Below are some notable grammatical traits.
  • The conclusive auxiliary verb is the characteristic Eastern Japanese -da.
  • The connective form of u-ending Godan verbs experience small tsu insertion, whilst su-ending Godan verbs experience i-euphony.
  • Bē is used for persuasion and volition. -U is also used for volition.
  • For reasons, -kara and -node are generally used, with exceptions on To-shima and Mikura-jima.

    Izu Ōshima

  • On Izu Ōshima, pitch accent is based on the chūrin Tokyo standard but is not identical, rather a slight variation.
  • The negative verb form is .
  • For conjecture, zura is used.
  • The plain form of verbs appears as -n ''kuru → kun , suru → shin , neru → nen''.

    Nii-jima

  • In the older generation of Nii-jima, /e/ is lengthened.
  • In the Nii-jima Honmura dialect, the phonemes /ti/ and /di/ are also observed.

    Mikura-jima

  • The negative verb form is .
  • For conjecture, danbē and darō are used.

    Miyake-jima

  • In Tsubota, /e/ tends to change to an , with a particularly strong tendency to do so on the syllables ke and re.
  • The negative verb form is .
  • For conjecture, zura and darō are used.
  • -nke is used as an equivalent to kara and ''node.''

    To-shima

  • The vowels in /ce/ and /co/ are pronounced close to an i and u, respectively.
  • The diphthong /ei/ is not merged and is pronounced , so that sensei is not sensē but sensei.
  • The negative verb form is used.
  • For conjecture, dan’nō and darubei are used.
  • -ni is used as an equivalent to kara and node.
  • A distinction between the attributive and plain form of verbs can be seen. The attributive form ends with -o, whilst the plain form ends with a -u when particles like bei and na are attached. For assertions, the verb ends with -o. For example:
  • * iru → iro
  • * neru → nero
  • * suru → shiro
  • * shite iru → shitero
  • * kaku → kako.
  • The Western Japanese past negative form -zatta is found.