Shizuoka dialect


The Shizuoka dialect is a Japanese dialect spoken in Shizuoka Prefecture. In a narrow sense, this can refer purely to the Central Shizuoka dialect, whilst a broader definition encompasses all Shizuoka dialects. This article will focus on all dialects found in the prefecture.

Classification and regional variation

The dialects in Shizuoka Prefecture are classified as part of the so-called nayashi dialects, a subdivision of the wider Tōkai-Tōsan group, along with its close relatives, the Nagano and Yamanashi dialects. After the nayashi dialects, it is considered most similar to Tokyo and other West Kanto dialects, although in recent decades there has been an increasingly strong resemblance to the national standard, particularly in phonology and pitch accent. Although vocabulary and grammar also tend towards Eastern Japanese in their basic elements, there is a marked increase the further one travels west in the usage of Western Japanese words and phrases, such as oru and n, cognate with nai ). This makes Shizuoka a well-known example of a prefecture with a noticeable divide between the two main branches of Japanese.

Regional variation

  • Note: It is possible to subdivide Shizuoka dialects into groups based on the former provinces that existed there historically, which results in three dialects: the ‘Izu dialect’, ‘Suruga dialect’ and ‘Enshū dialect’. It is also possible to subdivide using the Ōi River as a boundary between west and east to form an ‘Eastern dialect’, ‘West Suruga dialect’ and ‘Tōtōmi dialect’. Generally, however, the following subdivisions are proposed:
  1. Eastern Shizuoka dialect - Includes areas east of the Fuji River; the Izu Peninsula and the eastern part of Suraga. It possesses features of both West Kanto and Nayashi dialects, including usage of the conjectural particle be, not voicing certain vowels and the use of the particles zura and ra.
  2. Central Shizuoka dialect - Includes areas west of the Fuji River and east of Kakegawa. Includes the western part of Suruga and the eastern part of Enshū. The particle be is noticeably absent, and there is a characteristic usage of the past tense form -ke.
  3. Western Shizuoka dialect - Found in areas west of Fukuroi and Mori. Includes all of Enshū save for its eastern region. In place of the invitational form zā, which is commonly found in the Central Shizuoka dialect, the phrase maika is used instead.
  4. Ikawa dialect - Includes the upper reaches of the Ōi River and settlements such as the former village of Ikawa. Due to historical isolation, it retains various archaic expressions and also lacks a pitch accent.

    Western and Eastern divide

Grammatical features are often employed as indicators to split Shizuoka dialects between Western and Eastern Japanese. Based on the usage of n over nai , the border between Eastern and Western Japanese is located around Shimada and the Ōi River. In contrast, the Western Japanese imperative form -yo is heard west of the Fuji River in the Central Shizuoka and Western Shizuoka dialects, whilst the Western Japanese present continuous form -toru is found west of Lake Hamana.

Phonology

General features

Most notably in the east of the prefecture, consecutive vowel sounds are often merged in the following manner:
  • ai → ē , yeā or yeā .
  • oi and ui also fuse in a manner similar to what is found in the Nagoya dialect.
Although not generally present in Shimada and west of the Ōi River, vowel merging is sometimes heard around Hamamatsu. For example:
  • omae → omyā
  • zaisan → zyāsan.
In the Eastern Shizuoka and Western Shizuoka dialects there is extensive unvoicing of vowel sounds, with a less pronounced trend in the Central Shizuoka dialect and the inner parts of Enshū . Also, the object-marking particle wo is not generally pronounced as o as is the case in standard Japanese, but as uo.

Pitch accent

Nouns

In concordance with the Tokyo standard pitch accent, some single-mora nouns like ko and hi are pronounced flat, whilst certain other single-mora nouns like te or e become front-mora stressed. In west Shizuoka, two-mora words such as ha-shi or ka-wa are pronounced flat. The area around Hamamatsu in the far southwest of the prefecture has the most flat-accented words, and the further one travels east, the more final-mora stressed words occur, until virtually all of these types of two-mora words become final-mora stressed as is seen east of the Ōi River. In Maisaka and Arai, depending on whether or not a particle is attached to certain words, pitch accent can change. For example, a-me becomes a-me when followed by a ga particle: a-me-ga. In comparison to somewhere like Hamamatsu, where words with three or more mora are front-mora stressed, in Maisaka and Arai such words become middle-mora stressed. In the Eastern Shizuoka dialect, three-mora nouns such as asahi are middle-mora stressed, whereas in the Central and Western Shizuoka dialects, these words are front-mora stressed. Some words that are usually pronounced flat, such as usagi or ichigo, may become front-mora stressed in western Shizuoka and central Enshū. This is dependent on the area however, with varying degrees of front-mora stress actually occurring, with some areas simply pronouncing it flat. Some three-mora words that are front-mora stressed in the Tokyo standard pitch accent, such as a-tama, were pronounced historically with middle-mora stress. This is noted to have occurred predominantly in the Sankan area of Enshū, specifically in the former city of Tenryū, as well as in Haruno, Mori, the former village of Toyooka in Iwata, and the former town of Nakakawane. This particular feature remains in the northern part of Mikawa in Aichi Prefecture and can be found as far as the southern region of the Shimoina District in Nagano Prefecture.
Time-related words
There is a strong tendency to pronounce words related to telling the time, like toki, with a flat tone. Three-mora words relating to time become front-mora stressed, whilst words with more than three mora tend to be middle-mora stressed. The table below shows some examples of this.
WordMeaningStandard JapaneseShizuoka dialect
ichigatsu One monthi-chigatsui-chi-gatsu
nigatsu Two monthsni-gatsuni-gatsu
jūichigatsu Eleven monthsju-uichigatsuju-uichi-gatsu
jūnigatsu Twelve monthsju-unigatsuju-uni-gatsu

Verbs

In standard Japanese, three-mora verbs tend to be middle-mora stressed or flat, such as ni-ge-ru or kieru, whereas front-mora stressed words like ha-iru are rare. This pattern is largely reflected in Shizuoka, save for a few exceptions. In the Central Shizuoka and Western Shizuoka dialects, there is a unique tendency to front-mora stress Ichidan verbs that are usually middle-mora stressed in standard Japanese. For Godan verbs, pitch accent is standard, with predominantly flat or middle-mora stress pronunciation.
VerbStandard Japanese / Eastern ShizuokaCentral Shizuoka / Western Shizuoka
ageru a-gerua-geru
okiru o-ki-ruo-kiru

Adjectives

In standard Japanese, adjectives with three or more mora are usually middle-mora stressed, like shi-ro-i or flat, like kurai. Within Shizuoka, the central-west part of Enshū front-mora stresses the usually middle-mora stressed adjectives. For example, shi-ro-i becomes shi-roi. Words that are pronounced in a flat tone, however, remain the same as in standard Japanese. In the Central Shizuoka dialect, areas west of Fuji City up to Higashi-Enshū, as well as in the former towns of Hosoe and Mikkabi, the connective form of adjectives become middle-mora stressed as in shi-ro-ku, as opposed to shi-roku as is found in standard Japanese shi-ro-ishi-ro-ishi-roishiroku shi-rokushi-ro-kushi-roku

Other

-''nai'' (無い) stem
In the Central Shizuoka and Western Shizuoka dialects, the 'na portion of the negative adjective nai is stressed.
WordStandard Japanese / Eastern ShizuokaCentral Shizuoka / Western Shizuoka
dekinai de-ki-naide-kina-i
denai de-naide-na-i
wakaranai wa-kara-naiwa-karana-i
shinai shinaishi-na'-i

Grammar

Unless stated otherwise, the following notes are on the grammar of traditional dialects prior to the influence of standard Japanese.

Negative form

East of the Ōi River, the standard negative form -nai is heard, along with -nē and -nyā, whilst west of the river, -n is used. In the northern Sankan region, -nō is also said. In the west of the prefecture, the intensifier negative -yashinai may have its ending portion substituted with -sen, -hen or -shin. Additionally, in all parts of Shizuoka, the negative suspended form -naide... can become -nakkō.... For example: ikanaide → ikanakkō.