Okuyoshino dialect
The Okuyoshino dialect is a Kansai dialect of Japanese spoken in several villages in the Okuyoshino region of southern Nara Prefecture. It is well-known as a language island, with various rare and unique characteristics.
The dialect is spoken in the villages of Totsukawa, Kamikitayama, Shimokitayama, Tenkawa and Oto. Nosegawa is also sometimes included, although it is classified officially under the Nara dialect area.
Overview
Despite the relatively small size of Nara Prefecture, there is a major difference between the dialects of the north-central and southern parts of the prefecture. The mountain ridges of Tentsuji, Kominami and Obamine form a natural boundary, north of which the Nara dialect is spoken and south of which the Okuyoshino dialect is spoken. The many atypical traits of the Okuyoshino dialect, such as its having a Tokyo-style pitch accent despite being in the Kansai region, have been fostered due to its history as a region isolated from its surroundings by the Kii Mountains. However, in addition to the effect of mass communication, the movement of residents due to dam construction as well as improved transport access and depopulation are causing rapid changes in the dialect.| North Nara | South Nara | |
| Pitch accent | Keihan-style | Tokyo-style |
| Diphthong merging | Rare | Present |
| Lengthening of monomoraic words | Present | Absent |
| Copula | Ya | Ja and da |
| Past conjectural form | Past tense + yaro
PhonologyThe Okuyoshino dialect possesses a nairin ; the same type as those used in the Nagoya, Tango and Okayama dialects, among others, although somewhat different from that of Tokyo. There are some differences depending on the area, however. For example, the usually flat kaze ga can be either kaze ga, kaze ga or kaze ga, and in Kamikitayama and Shimokitayama the pitch may re-occur within the same word after initially dropping off, e.g., kaze ga. Within the part of the dialect area that neighbours Keihan-style speaking areas, a stretch of land from Tenkawa to Sakamoto in Ono possesses a pitch accent intermediary to the Tokyo and Keihan-styles, with fluctuations in pitch accent between the villages of Tsubouchi, Wada, Shiono and Sakamoto, Ono.Aside from the common merging of ei to a long i, variations in diphthongs are rare in Kansai dialects. In the Okuyoshino dialect, however, the diphthongs ai and ui are also merged into long a ’s and long i ’s, respectively. For example, hayai becomes hayaa and akarui becomes akarii. The characteristic lengthening of monomoraic nouns found in Kansai dialects → mee is absent in the Okuyoshino dialect, in addition to the shortening of words like ikoka . Across all of Nara Prefecture, there is an extremely high incidence of z-starting mora being replaced with d-starting mora is said dabuton ), with this being particularly extensive in Dorogawa, Tenkawa. Additionally, there is very occasional mixing of z- and d-starting mora with r-starting mora, e.g., kedo is said kero. In addition to the distinction between the yotsugana ''ji, di, zu and dzu, the palatalised sounds kwa and gwa across Nara Prefecture and nasalisation of d''-starting mora within or at the end of words in some parts of Okuyoshino can be found. However, kwa and gwa are rapidly disappearing. In Dorogawa, another uncommon trait is the changing of t-starting mora to s-starting mora. For example, kashite is said kaise and keshitoke is said keisoke. GrammarVerbsIn addition to the insertion of a u in u-ending verbs like in kouta, there are uncommon euphonic changes found in various parts of Okuyoshino. In Totsukawa and Shimokitayama, a is inserted into the te-forms of certain verbs like kaku, to produce kaate instead of kaite. In Dorogawa, gu-ending verbs have an n inserted into their past tense form, e.g., sosoida becomes sosonda. In Tsubouchi, Tenkawa, a form thought to be intermediary between this and the standard Japanese conjugation can be found: sosoinda. In Totsukawa, Ono and Shimokitayama, bu- and mu-ending verbs have a u inserted into their te-form like in noude and nounde. In Dorogawa, su-ending verbs widely have an i-sound inserted.In Okuyoshino, there is an increasing ‘Godan-isation’ of Ichidan verbs. For example, minai becomes miran instead of min. On the other hand, in Totsukawa, there are remnants of Nidan conjugation such as warawaruru and misasuru, among others. ''i''-adjectivesAcross all of Nara Prefecture, there is u-euphony like in akounaru and younai. In Dorogawa, the stem of yoi becomes an e, and so is conjugated as egatta and ekarya, etc.Main expressionsCopulaJa or da is used, with ja being predominant.Negation-n, -sen or -yasen is used. For the hypothetical form, -nyaa, -ndara or-nandara is added to the -nai stem. For example, kakanyaa, kakandara and kakanandara ; all meaning if do not write. For the past tense form, -nda or -nanda is added to the -nai stem, like in kakanda and kakananda ; both meaning did not write. Since the earlier Showa period, however, -nkatta has also been used. E.g., kakankatta.Passive・PotentialLike standard Japanese, the ending -reru is used for Godan verbs and the irregular verb suru, but for other verb types -yareru is used instead of -rareru. In Totsukawa, the Nidan endings -ruru and -raruru survive. Examples of ways to say ‘to be able to see’ in the Okuyoshino dialect include: mieru, miyareru, mireru, you miru and miraruru.CausativeThe ending -su is used for Godan verbs and for suru whilst -sasu is used for other verbs. In Totsukawa, Nidan conjugation has been retained. For example, ‘to make eat’ becomes tabesasu or tabesasuru in the Okuyoshino dialect.Negative conjecture and volitionThe ending -mai is frequently used, attaching like in the following examples:Kako mai Nakamai Semai ''Kiyashimai.Progressive and perfective aspectsThere is a distinction between the progressive and perfective aspects in the Okuyoshino dialect. The progressive aspect is expressed with variations of -oru, including furiyoru, furyoru, furyooru, furryoru and furoru ; all of which mean ‘it is raining’, and the perfective aspect is expressed with a variation of -te oru : futtoru. As another example, the sentence yuki furiyoru expresses ‘falling snow’ whilst yuki futtoru expresses the state of ‘snow having fallen’.Attitudinal expressionsWhereas bound auxiliaries and modal verbs are used for attitudinal expressions in the Nara dialect, the Okuyoshino dialect only uses sentence-ending particles for the same purpose. There are subtle regional differences in the usage of attitudinal expressions, with even the same forms sometimes having different meanings depending on area. The sentence-ending particles naa and no are frequently used across Nara Prefecture, with naa used for disdain and no used for respect in the Okuyoshino dialect, and the inverse in the Nara dialect. Even within Okuyoshino, nora is used in Totsukawa for respect and affection whilst in Shimokitayama nora is used for disdain and noe used for respect. In Shimokitayama, neya is used for affection, whilst in Ono and Tenkawa it is said niya and within Tenkawa also, nyo is used in Dorogawa. Also in Dorogawa, the expression ikanshiyo, meaning irasshai, exists.ParticlesOmission of wo rarely occurs, and wa tends to change to a or ya, such as in makura a and basu ya .Kendo is commonly used as an adversative conjunctive particle. Resultatives that express cause or reason are numerous and intricate, including yotte and sakai and their related terms, as well as node, nde, de and shi, among others. In Totsukawa and Shimokitayama, sakai is absent and yotte is used. Ko and ka are used as interrogative and rhetorical sentence-ending particles, with attitudinal usage in some areas. In Ono and Tenkawa ko is used for respect and ka is used for disdain, but in Kamikitayama and Shimokitayama ko is used without an attitudinal nuance. In Shimokitayama, e is used for respect and ka for disdain, and kae is also used in Kamikitayama for respect. Shika, dakeshika and dakeyoka are used as equivalents to the adverbial particles shika and dake. Ra and rai, which are shared with the Kishu dialect, are frequently used for invitational and persuasive expressions, as seen in iko ra and iko rai . |