| Ibaraki dialect | |
| Nativename: | Japanese: 茨城弁 |
| States: | Japan |
| Region: | Ibaraki |
| Speakers: | ? |
| Familycolor: | Altaic |
| Fam1: | Japonic |
| Fam2: | Japanese |
| Fam3: | Eastern Japanese |
| Fam4: | (Debated) Kantō |
| Fam5: | (Debated) Eastern |
| Isoexception: | dialect |
| Glotto: | ibar1242 |
| Glottorefname: | Ibaraki |
| Ietf: | ja-u-sd-jp08 |
| Dia1: | Northern |
| Dia2: | Southwest |
| Dia3: | Southern |
The Ibaraki dialect (Shinjitai: Japanese: 茨城弁, Kyujitai: Japanese: 茨城辯) is a Japanese dialect spoken in Ibaraki Prefecture. It is noted for its distinctive use of the sentence-ending particles (be) and (ppe) and an atypical intonation pattern that rises in neutral statements and falls in questions. It is also noted for its merging of certain vowels, frequent consonant voicing, and a relatively fast rate of speech.
Historically, the forms of Japanese spoken in the area that constitutes modern-day Ibaraki were not treated as a unified dialect until the formation of the prefecture in 1871. Conflicting opinions have existed regarding its classification, however. Along with the Tochigi dialect, the Ibaraki dialect is considered a part of the wider North Kantō dialect, with some shared traits with traditional Tokyo dialects.[1] Despite this, several notable similarities with Tōhoku dialects have created debate over this status. Support for a Kantō dialect classification has come from Japanese language experts such as Misao Tōjō and Katsuo Ōhashi, who placed it as part of ‘East Kantō’ and ‘Northwest Kantō’ dialects, respectively.[2] Other experts, such as Tsuneo Tsuzuku and Haruhiko Kindaichi, have supported its classification as a Tōhoku dialect. When assigning Ibaraki to a regional group, Tsuzuku and Kindaichi both added it to nearly identical areas that include Tochigi, Fukushima, southern Iwate, and eastern Yamagata.
Subdivisions
Yoshio Taguchi proposed the following subdivisions in 1939, dividing it into northern, southwest, and southern.[3]
The Ibaraki dialect is phonetically distinct from standard Japanese and more closely resembles other Kantō and Tōhoku dialects. Among its most characteristic phonetic traits is the tendency for speakers to voice certain syllables that are usually unvoiced in standard Japanese. Specifically, syllables beginning with a k- or t- sound. For example, (ka) is pronounced as (ga), and (ta) becomes (da). This means words like byōki (Japanese: 病気, "illness") sound closer to byōgi, and watashi (Japanese: 私, "I/me") becomes wadashi. Other notable traits include the reduced distinction between (i) and (e) sounds and (hi) and (he) sounds;[4] silent (ji), (zu), (bi), and (bu) sounds in certain situations; vowel merging; and the absence of a pitch accent. Generally, differences in the spoken language are not reflected in the written language, where speakers will write in standard Japanese.[5] Many of these traits are less common in urban areas and parts of the prefecture that are closer to Tokyo, where speakers tend more towards standard Japanese.[6]
When occurring within or at the end of a word, syllables beginning with k- (Japanese: か ka, Japanese: き ki, Japanese: く ku, Japanese: け ke, Japanese: こ ko) and t- (Japanese: た ta, Japanese: ち chi, Japanese: つ tsu, Japanese: て te, Japanese: と to) become voiced.[7] The ka at the end of tosaka (Japanese: とさか, "cockscomb") is voiced to become ga, but the beginning to remains unvoiced to produce tosaga (Japanese: とさが). Similarly, atashi (Japanese: あたし, "I/me") becomes adashi (Japanese: あだし), dekiru (Japanese: できる, "to be able to") becomes degiru (Japanese: でぎる), and kaki (Japanese: かき, "persimmon") becomes kagi (Japanese: かぎ). K- and t-starting syllables in particles and auxiliary verbs are also subject to voicing, i.e., nai kara (Japanese: ないから, "because there is none") becomes nē gara (Japanese: ねぇがら), and zureta no dewanai ka (Japanese: ずれたのではないか, "it’s slipped out of place") becomes zureda n danē ga (Japanese: ずれだんだねぇが). Occasionally, syllables occurring at the start of a word may also be voiced. For example, kaban (Japanese: かばん, "bag") is pronounced as gaban (Japanese: がばん).
In certain situations, voicing does not occur, including:
In contrast to the frequent voicing of k- and t- starting syllables, Japanese: じ (ji), Japanese: ず (zu), Japanese: び (bi), and Japanese: ぶ (bu) sounds may become semi-voiced or unvoiced when directly proceeding a k- or i- sound. For example, the ji proceeding the ka in sanjikan (Japanese: さんじかん) is not fully voiced, leading to a pronunciation closer to sanchikan (Japanese: さんちかん). Other examples include mijikai (Japanese: みじかい, "short") becoming michikai (Japanese: みちかい), hazukashii (Japanese: はずかしい, "embarrassed") becoming hatsukashii (Japanese: はつかしい), and zabuton (Japanese: ざぶとん, "cushion") becoming zaputon (Japanese: ざぷとん).
Other than ji, zu, bi, and bu, syllables in certain words may be unvoiced. In a striking reversal of the dialects voicing tendency, the limit-indicating particle dake (Japanese: だけ, "only") is unvoiced in the Ibaraki dialect, becoming take (Japanese: たけ).[8]
A renowned characteristic of the dialect is the reduced distinction between Japanese: い (i) and Japanese: え (e) sounds. Instead of a clear i or e, a sound somewhere in the middle is pronounced.[9] The word Ibaraki (Japanese: いばらき) has a clear i sound in standard Japanese but, in the Ibaraki dialect, the beginning i approaches an e sound, sounding closer to ebaraki to non-dialect speakers. Similarly, the i in shokuin (Japanese: しょくいん, "staff member") changes to sound like shokuen (Japanese: しょくえん), the standard Japanese pronunciation for "table salt". In contrast, the e in enpitsu (Japanese: えんぴつ, "pencil") is pronounced closer to an i, and sounds more like inpitsu (Japanese: いんぴつ). Pairs like eki (Japanese: えき, "train station") and iki (Japanese: いき, "breath") lose most of their distinction. This trait is pronounced enough to occasionally cause speakers to misspell words.[10] This i – e merging is also seen in other Kantō and Tōhoku dialects, and, although widespread across Ibaraki, the trait is experiencing a decline due to decreasing usage among the younger generation.
When occurring in succession, certain vowels have their sounds blended and lengthened. These include:
Except for a small area surrounding Kamisu in the southeast tip of the prefecture, the Ibaraki dialect does not have a distinct pitch accent.[12] This differs from standard Japanese and other western Kantō dialects, but is a trait shared with Fukushima, Miyagi and Tochigi dialects. Homophones that are usually distinguished by different pitch accents, such as hashi (Japanese: 橋, "bridge") and hashi (Japanese: 箸, "chopsticks"), are pronounced in a flat, identical tone.[13]
Several particles rarely used in standard Japanese can be found in the Ibaraki dialect.
Sentence-ending particles used to express volition, persuasion, or conjecture. Morphological variants of kantō bei and remnants of the literary beshi (Japanese: べし).[14] Sometimes spoken as long sounds, i.e., bē (Japanese: べー) and ppē (Japanese: っぺー).
Although be usually attaches to the end of verbs without triggering inflection, the irregular verb kuru (Japanese: 来る, "to come") can become either kibē (Japanese: きべー) or kube (Japanese: くべ) when combined with be. Similarly, the irregular verb suru (Japanese: 為る, "to do") conjugates to shibe (Japanese: しべ) or sube (Japanese: すべ) when be is added. For a stronger expression of emotion than be, -ppe can be added to the stem form.[15] For example, kiru be (Japanese: 切るべ, "I will cut it") is less emotive than kippe (Japanese: 切っぺ, "I will cut it"), which implies a stronger sense of volition.
Case-marking particle used to denote direction. Equivalent to Japanese: へ (he) or Japanese: に (ni) in standard Japanese. Used in other parts of Kantō and Tōhoku.[16]
Sentence-ending particle used to express recollection or reminiscence. Usually attaches to the end of past-tense verbs, i.e., those ending in Japanese: た (ta), but may replace the final part altogether.
Sentence-ending particle used to indicate a question. Roughly equivalent to Japanese: か (ka) in standard Japanese. Usually pronounced as Japanese: げ (ge) due to syllable voicing. Compared to ka, ke tends to show more intimacy with the listener as well as being politer.[17]
Speakers also tend to omit some particles in conversation.
The past-tense standard form of the auxiliary verb shimau (Japanese: しまう), shimatta (Japanese: -しまった), becomes chitta (Japanese: -ちった) in the Ibaraki dialect.[18] For example, yonde shimatta (Japanese: よんでしまった, "I read it" (expressing regret)) becomes yonchitta (Japanese: よんちった). Words with the prefix bu- (Japanese: ぶっ), usually used to indicate forceful emphasis (e.g., bukkowasu Japanese: ぶっこわす, "to completely destroy"), are sometimes merged with the verb to which they are attached (i.e., bukkowasu Japanese: ぶっこわす → bukkasu Japanese: '''ぶっかす'''), and then lose their original meaning.
| Verb form | Standard Japanese | Ibaraki dialect | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Negative | konai (Japanese: こない, "don’t come") | kinai (Japanese: きない) | Spoken as kunē (Japanese: くねー) in some parts of northern Ibaraki. | |
| Stem | ki- (Japanese: き-) | ki- (Japanese: き-) | Same as standard Japanese. | |
| Plain | kuru (Japanese: くる, "come") | kiru (Japanese: きる) | Spoken as kuru in some areas. | |
| Attributive | kuru (Japanese: くる, "coming") | kiru (Japanese: きる) | Spoken as kuru in some areas. | |
| Hypothetical | kureba (Japanese: くれば, "if [I] come") | kireba (Japanese: きれば) | Spoken as kureba in some areas. | |
| Imperative | koi (Japanese: こい, "come" (command)) | kiro / ko / kō (Japanese: きろ・こ・こう) | Both ko and kō are more common than kiro. |
Polite speech is not generally used, especially towards third parties. Passive-form auxiliary verbs used to show politeness such as reru (Japanese: れる), rareru (Japanese: られる), serareru (Japanese: せられる), and saserareru (Japanese: させられる) are rarely used, i.e., sensei ga korareru (Japanese: 先生が来られる, "teacher comes" (polite)) is simply said as sensei ga kuru (Japanese: 先生が来る, "teacher comes"). Polite verbs such as nasaru (Japanese: なさる, "to do"), ni naru (Japanese: になる, "to become, to be"), and kudasaru (Japanese: くださる, used for polite requests) are used, but often have different spoken forms, as shown in the following examples:[19]