| Kagoshima Japanese | |
|---|---|
| Satsugū, Satsuma | |
| Pronunciation | [kaɡoʔma] or[kaɡomma] |
| Native to | Japan |
| Region | Kagoshima Prefecture andMiyazaki Prefecture |
| Dialects |
|
| Japanese,Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | sats1241 |
| Linguasphere | 45-CAA-ah[1] |
 Satsugū dialect area (orange) | |
TheSatsugū dialect (薩隅方言,Satsugū Hōgen), often referred to as theKagoshima dialect (鹿児島弁,Kagoshima-ben, Kagomma-ben, Kago'ma-ben, Kagoima-ben), is a group ofdialects ordialect continuum of theJapanese language spoken mainly within the area of the formerŌsumi andSatsumaprovinces now incorporated into the southwesternprefecture ofKagoshima. It may also be collectively referred to as theSatsuma dialect (薩摩方言Satsuma Hōgen or薩摩弁Satsuma-ben), owing to both the prominence of theSatsuma Province and the region of theSatsuma Domain which spanned the former Japanese provinces of Satsuma, Ōsumi and the southwestern part ofHyūga. The Satsugū dialect is commonly cited for itsmutual unintelligibility to even its neighboringKyūshū variants,[2][3][4] prompting theMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology to classify it as a distinct language in the Japanesic branch in itsGlottolog database.[5] It shares over three-quarters of the Standard Japanese vocabulary corpus[6][7][8] and some areal features ofKyūshū.
The boundaries of the Satsugū dialect are traditionally defined as the former region controlled by theSatsuma Domain, which primarily encompassed the main portion of theKagoshima Prefecture, located in the southern part of Japan'sKyushu Island, and a small part of theMiyazaki Prefecture to the East. For precision, this area could be further separated into three distinct branches of the Satsugū dialect: theSatsuma dialect spoken in western Kagoshima, theŌsumi dialect spoken in eastern Kagoshima, and theMorokata dialect spoken in the southwesternmost part of the Miyazaki Prefecture.[9]
However, the dialectal differences are much more localized making this three-way distinction superficial. Variations in pronunciation, words, expressions and grammatical constructions may occur between neighboring cities, towns and villages, with peripheral islands exhibiting greater divergence due to isolation. As such, Satsugū may be considered a dialect continuum, differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close, and gradually decreasing in mutual intelligibility as the distances become greater. By this token, all major areas of the mainland—including Satsuma, Ōsumi, Morokata, and possibly also a small fraction of southernKumamoto—may form a single, closely related dialect branch with no precise boundaries due to continuous contact between the regions. Conversely, the peripheral islands are easier to distinguish and seemingly form three distinct, but related clades associated with the proximity of the islands. These would be: theKoshikijima Islands to the West, theŌsumi Islands directly to the South (such asTanegashima,Yakushima, andKuchinoerabu), and theTokara Islands in the very far South. The variants spoken on theAmami Islands are not considered part of the Satsugū dialect, but are rather part of the NorthernRyukyuan language branch.[10]
Further subdivisions are possible for all areas, and a classification tree of the general Satsugū sub-dialects might look something like the following (areas in parentheses indicate approximate regions):
Historically, Satsuma had maintained an influential control over the trading routes that bounded theKyūshū island to theRyukyu Islands,Mainland Japan and by extension, the rest of the world. Its commercial importance to the rest of Japan was reflected in the adoption of such terms asSatsuma imo (sweet potato),Satsuma yaki (Satsuma styled pottery), andSatsuma jisho (Japanese-English dictionary).[11] Similar terms such assatsuma ware[12] andsatsuma (orange)[13] were also, along with several words from the dialect itself such assoy (Satsugū: そい~しょい[soj~ɕoj]),[14][15][16] later incorporated into theEnglish language.
During theEdo period, theSakoku Edict of 1635 led to the strict seclusion of Japan from the outside world.[17] However, theSatsuma Domain, which spanned the provinces of Satsuma, Ōsumi, and the southwestern part ofHyūga,[18] maintained trade relations with neighboring countries by using theRyukyu Islands as a conduit, and by advocating that the islands distinctively formed an independent kingdom, even though in reality the Satsuma Domain had conquered theRyūkyū Kingdom in 1609.[11][19][20] Theinvasion of Ryukyu had assured Satsuma's place as one of the most powerful feudal domains inTokugawa Japan,[21] and would also set a precedent for Satsuma as a vital role in later overthrowing theTokugawa shogunate and initiating theMeiji Restoration.
In the Fall of 1729, a ship from Satsuma bound for the province ofOsaka drifted off course and ended up landing atCape Lopatka, inRussia.[22] Upon arrival, the crew were attacked by a group ofcossacks led by Andreï Chtinnikov.[23] Out of seventeen members, only two survived: a trader named Soza, and the pilot's son and apprentice,Gonza.[22] The two were sent across the country to the capital ofSaint Petersburg, where they were received in audience by EmpressAnna Ivanovna, and later baptized in theRussian Orthodox Church.[22] They went on afterwards to teach Japanese, and helped establish the first Japanese-language school in Russia.[24] Gonza, who was also fluent in Russian, wrote and edited a number of books about the Japanese language, using theCyrillic alphabet to transliterate words.[24] These transliterations provide not only the oldest record of the Satsugū dialect, but have also been cited for their comprehensive evidence of the history, phonology and variability of the Japanese language.
When Japan started slowly opening up to the rest of the world in the mid 19th century, Satsuma was one of the first domains to embrace Western culture and methods.[25][26] However, tension quickly grew between the increasing invasiveness of Westerners in southern Japan. When theNamamugi Incident of September 14, 1862 occurred, political and ideological differences between theUnited Kingdom andSatsuma Province sparked outrage and quickly boiled into theAnglo-Satsuma War.[27] Satsuma would ultimately lose, leaving way to increasing dissatisfaction with the Tokugawan government. TheMeiji government would then take its place after the Tokugawan government was overthrown in theBoshin War. However, corruption in the Meiji government, which it originally helped establish,[18] would then give birth to theSatsuma Rebellion of 1877. Despite their numbers, the Satsuma Domain was rapidly overpowered, and its defeat eventually resulted in the end of its dominance in Japan's southern sphere.[28] The Satsugū dialect, which had a predominant role insamurai affairs and equally the police hierarchy system throughout Japan,[29] steadily declined in influence following this defeat.
In July 1871, theJapanese domain system was abolished.[30] The region of the Satsuma Domain mostly became part of theKagoshima Prefecture, while a small portion of its northeastern region was incorporated into theMiyazaki Prefecture. The abolition of the domain system also brought forth standardized education.[31] However, as Kagoshima was already an uncontested part of mainland Japan, assimilation through education was not a priority as it had been inOkinawa. Though contrary to Okinawa, theSatsuma clan sought to preserve the uniqueness of its own dialect.[32] As such, the Satsugū dialect persisted.
When theUnited States later took control of Japan's South inWorld War II, Japanese officials tactically sought to exploit Kagoshima's more northern position, its advancement in shipping technology, and most notably the Satsugū dialect's mutual unintelligibility as a method ofcryptographic communication between Japan and Germany. Dozens of international phone calls had been made using the Satsugū dialect, and despite being able to eavesdrop on the conversations being sent back and forth, the United States was unable to determine the language spoken. The use of the Satsugū dialect to further obfuscate communication during both the Second World War and possibly the period of the earlier Satsuma Domain has led to a popular belief that Satsugū was created as anartificial language and promoted for the purpose of being unintelligible in order to thwart enemy spies.[33][34][35][36]
Like other Japanese regional dialects, the traditional dialects of Kagoshima are now being displaced by standard Japanese as a consequence of standardized education and centralized media, especially among the younger generation. As a result, many of the features that so characterize the dialects are now disappearing. In terms of phonology, for example, the palatalized variant of the vowel/e/ is now being phased out, as is the retention of the labialized consonants/kʷɡʷ/. More prominently, many of the phonological processes, such asvowel coalescence andhigh vowel deletion, as well as most grammatical constructions and words that are unique to these dialects, are being completely uprooted by their standard forms.
Despite this, many popular words and expressions continue to persist today, even among younger speakers. Examples pulled from a research survey include気張いやんせkibai-yanse "please do your best",おやっとさあoyattosaa "thank you for your work",あにょanyo "older brother",げんねgenne "shy", andがっついgattsui "exactly", among numerous others.[37] The same research also revealed through interviews that, while people generally felt a positive vibe to hearing the traditional dialect spoken, those under the age of 40 expressed some difficulty understanding.[37] One woman in her sixties was quoted saying: "There are now very few people who can use the true dialect".[37]
Efforts to document the dialects or promote them through cultural means are few, though some notable dictionaries on the mainland Kagoshima dialect have been published, such as the Academic Primer on the Kagoshima Dialect (かごしま弁入門講座,Kagoshima-ben nyūmon kōza),[38] while others can be accessed online. A fewmanga written in an admixture of the dialect and standard Japanese, such asGattsui koi mo Kagoshima-ben (がっついコイも鹿児島弁)[39] and Proverbs of Satsuma (薩摩のことわざ,Satsuma no kotowaza)[40] byChihiro Ōyoshi (大吉千明) have also been published.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | [i] | [u] | |
| Mid | [e̞~ʲe̞] | [o̞] | |
| Open | [a] |
All of the Kagoshima dialects contrast the following five vowels:/i/,/e/,/a/,/o/ and/u/. In terms of pronunciation, the Kagoshima dialects pattern with other far-western Honshu and Kyushu dialects, wherein theclose back vowel/u/ is slightly more rounded than in Tokyo Japanese.[41] Additionally, themid front unrounded vowel/e/ differs from standard Japanese in that it retains theLate Middle Japanese variation between palatalized[ʲe̞] and unpalatalized[e̞]. The palatalization may spread to the previous consonant, so that the syllables/tesedeze/ might vary between[te̞se̞de̞ze̞] and[tɕe̞ɕe̞dʑe̞ʑe̞]. This is similar to the palatalization observed with the vowel/i/:[tɕiɕidʑiʑi]. In Tanegashima, themid back vowel/o/ still exhibits rounding in some words such as魚io[iʷo] "fish" or塩shio[ɕiʷo] "salt".[42]
Vowel length remains contrastive in all regional dialects, but is noticeably less prominent and sometimes ambiguous in the mainland as a result of a process ofvowel length reduction. Should historically short, high vowels be shown to devoice rather than delete following sibilant consonants, then dialects of the mainland may effectively contrast the devoiced vowels/i̥/ and/u̥/ with their non-devoiced counterparts/i/ and/u/, which arose from historically long vowels.
In comparison to standard Japanese, co-occurring vowel sequences tend to fuse into a single vowel, giving rise to a complex system ofvowel coalescence in all regional dialects. In the dialect ofTakarajima exceptionally, the sequences/ai/,/ae/ and/oi/ have not merged into/eː/ as in other regions, but have instead centralized to/ë(ː)/ and/ï(ː)/.[43] The vowel/ï(ː)/ tends to result from a fusion of/ai/, while/ë(ː)/ usually stems from the fusion of/ae/ or/oi/. Neither of these two coalesced vowels trigger palatalization, consider, for example:[kjoːdïː] "siblings"[43] (not*[kjoːdʑïː]). The vowel/ë(ː)/ is also unique in this dialect in that it may trigger the labialization of the consonant/h/ to[ɸ], as in[ɸëː] "ash".[44]
The basic consonant inventory of the Satsugū dialect is the same as that of standard Japanese.
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Labio- velar | Velar | Glottal | Placeless | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | N | ||||
| Plosive | pb | td | (kʷɡʷ) | kɡ | Q | ||
| Fricative | sz | h | H | ||||
| Flap | ɽ | ||||||
| Approximant | j | w |
The plosive consonants/tdn/ arelaminal denti-alveolar and the fricatives/sz/ are laminal alveolar. Before/i/ and palatalized/e/, these sounds arealveolo-palatal ([t͡ɕd͡ʑn̠ʲɕʑ]) and before/u/ they are alveolar ([t͡sd͡znsz]). In terms of the latter, the distinction between all four of the traditionalyotsugana (四つ仮名; literally "four kana") syllablesジ/zi/,ヂ/di/,ズ/zu/ andヅ/du/ is still preserved within the Kyūshū portion of Kagoshima.[45][46][47] Here, they are contrastively realized as[ʑi],[d͡ʑi],[zu] and[d͡zu]. In respect to high vowel deletion, the pairs ヂ[d͡ʑi] and ヅ[d͡zu] act as obstruents rather than fricatives, as indicated through their underlying representations/di/ and/du/. In parts of northern Koshikijima exceptionally, the sounds[t͡ɕd͡ʑ] contrast with[tʲdʲ]:[utʲaː] "song.DAT" vs[utaː] "song.TOP" vs[ut͡ɕaː] "hit.TOP".[48]
The flap consonant/ɽ / is generally anapical postalveolar flap with undefinedlaterality. In word medial and final position,/ɽ / is frequently rendered as a glide (seesonorant gliding below). It may also be subject to fortition, merging into/d/ in initial position, while occasionally shifting to/d/ or/t/ in medial position, especially if preceded by a devoiced syllable. Examples of fortition include楽/ɽaku/ →/daQ/ "ease",来年/ɽainen/ →/denen/ "next year",面白い/omosiɽoi/ →/omosite/ "interesting; amusing", and料理/ɽjouɽi/ →/djui/ (pronounced[d͡ʑuj]) "cooking".
The fricative consonant/h/ is pronounced as avoiceless bilabial fricative[ɸ] before the vowel/u/, and may vary from avoiceless palatal fricative[ç] to avoiceless alveolo-palatal fricative[ɕ] before the vowel/i/, effectively merging with/s/ in this position. Curiously, the sibilant consonant/s/ has a tendency todebuccalize to/h/ in word medial position before the low vowel/a/, and more commonly before the high vowel/i/ in all positions. Examples of this include-han for-san (negative 'su' ending),kagohima for Kagoshima,gowahi forgowashi (copula),sahikabui forsashikabui "long time no see", etc.
The labialized velar consonants/kʷ/ and/ɡʷ/ have limited use, contrasting/k/ and/ɡ/ almost solely before the vowel/a/. For example,火事/kʷazi/ "conflagration" contrasts家事/kazi/ "housework". Nowadays, however, these sounds are in regression and younger speakers merge them with their non-labialized counterparts as in standard Japanese. So words like鍬/kʷa/ "hoe",菓子/kʷasi/ "sweets",ぐゎんたれ/ɡʷaNtaɽe/ "useless" and観音/kʷaNnoN/ "Goddess of Mercy" are now increasingly being pronounced/ka/,/kasi/,/ɡaNtaɽe/ and/kaNnoN/. Though uncommon, other sequences such as/kʷe/,/ɡʷe/,/kʷo/ and/ɡʷo/ may occur through contraction of/CuV/ to/CʷV/. For example, the imperative form of "eat", which is食え/kue/ in standard Japanese, becomes食ぇ/kʷe/ in the dialect,[49] which contrasts both崩え/kue/ "landslide" (pronounced[kuʲe̞])[49] and貝/ke/ "shellfish". They may also surface in a few onomatopoeic words, such asぐぉっぐぉっ/ɡʷoQɡʷoQ/ "woof woof".[49] In parts of Southern Satsuma and Tanegashima,/kʷ/ may allophonically be realized as[p], so that/kʷe/ "eat.imp" may be pronounced as[pe], and Tanegashima杭/kʷiː/ "thorn" becomes[piː].[50]
Thearchiphonemes/N/ and/Q/ can also be represented by theuvular nasal/ɴ/ and theglottal stop/ʔ/. Both of these phonemes derive from a single process consisting of deleting the point of articulation of a given syllable,[51] both correspond to a fullmora, and both undergo a variety ofassimilatory processes.
As with standard Japanese, the place of articulation of the moraic nasal/N/, which corresponds to a reduced nasal syllable, is determined by the following consonant. Contrary to standard Japanese, however, the moraic nasal may also surface in word-initial position, as in the expressionんだもしたんndamoshitan "wow!" or the wordんんまnnma "horse".
Similarly, the moraic obstruent/Q/ corresponds to a reduced stop syllable. Contrary to the standard language, the moraic obstruent may occur word medially before any other sound except the moraic nasal. It may also occur in word-final position, which means that its phonetic realization cannot be immediately determined within the lexical unit. Like the moraic nasal, its place of articulation is mostly determined by the following consonant. Before other stops and fricatives, it assimilates, creating an effect of gemination. Before nasal syllables, the moraic obstruent may be realized, depending on the regional dialect, as aglottal stop[ʔ], so that/kiQne/ "fox" is pronounced[kiʔne]. Other dialects exhibit gemination in this position, so that the latter is pronounced[kinne] instead. At the end of utterances and in isolation, the moraic obstruent is predictably realized as a glottal stop[ʔ], which may also suggest that a parallelism exists between the glottal stop in interjections and the moraic obstruent in standard Japanese itself.
In some regions of Kagoshima such as Uchinoura, a third archiphoneme/H/ is described.[52]/H/ is generally pronounced/ç/ and historically stems from a reduction of the syllables/su/,/si/,/zu/ and/zi/ in non-word initial position. For example, in Uchinoura,娘/musume/ became/muHme/ "daughter",串焼き/kusijaki/ became/kuHjaQ/ "grilling on a skewer", and火事/kazi/ became/kaH/ "conflagration".[52]
Vowel coalescence or vowel fusion is a phonological process by which two consecutive vowels merge into a single one. For example, in most Japanese dialects including that of Tokyo, the sequence of/a+i/ results in themonophthong/eː/:高い/takai/ →/takeː/ "tall".[53] Similarly, the Kagoshima dialects have also undergone a process of vowel coalescence. However, unlike dialects like that of Tokyo, the process is much more pervasive in Kagoshima, to the extent that nearly all vowel sequences exhibit some form of fusion.
For instance, vowel coalescence systematically occurs with the vowel/a/ followed by/i/, so that灰/hai/ "ash" and貝/kai/ "shellfish" become/heː/ and/keː/ respectively. Likewise,/o/ followed by/i/ results in the/eː/, so that来い/koi/ "come" is becomes/keː/ as well. A sentence such as貝を買いに来い/kaiokainikoi/ "Come buy shellfish" would thus become/keː(o)keːkeːkeː/, which, due tovowel length reduction, is pronounced entirely asけ(を)けけけ[ke(o)kekeke] in mainland Kagoshima.[54]
It also occurs with the vowel/a/ followed by/u/, so that赤く/aka(k)u/ "(to become) red" and買う/kau/ "buy" become/akoː/ and/koː/ respectively. Other mergers include/ui/ →/iː/,/ou/ →/uː/,/ei/ →/eː/,/eu/ →/uː/, among numerous others that can be summarized in the following table, where they-axis denotes the first vowel and thex-axis the second:
| -a | -i | -u | -e | -o | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a- | aː | eː | oː | ai,eː | aː |
| i- | ja | iː | ju | eː | jo |
| u- | aː | iː | uː | ue,eː | oː |
| e- | ea,ja | eː | uː | eː | jo |
| o- | aː | eː | oː,uː | oe | oː |
Despite the extent of this sound change, the Kagoshima dialects are not devoid of co-occurring vowels due to other, subsequent sound changes that have taken place in the dialects. As an example,こい/koi/ "this" exists and is not reduced to*keː because it historically comes from/kore/.
In Kagoshima's mainland, the high vowels/i/ and/u/ are systematically dropped in word final position after a non-fricative consonant. The remaining consonant is syllabified into coda position, where it is reduced to amoraic obstruent/Q/ iforal, or amoraic nasal/N/ ifnasal.[51] In the case of thepalatal approximant/j/, it is reduced to its corresponding high vowel/i/.
| Standard Japanese | Underlying form | Surface realization | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| /mimi/ | /miN/ | [miɴ] | ear |
| /kamu/ | /kaN/ | [kaɴ] | to bite |
| /inu/ | /iN/ | [iɴ] | dog |
| /kubi/ | /kuQ/ | [kuʔ] | neck |
| /kuɡi/ | /kuQ/ | [kuʔ] | nail |
| /kutu/ | /kuQ/ | [kuʔ] | shoes |
| /tuju/ | /tui/ | [tsuj] | dew |
| /sjoju/ | /sjoi/ | [soj~ɕoj][14] | soy sauce |
Word-medially, a syllable containing the high vowels/i/ and/u/ may also be reduced to its respective moraic equivalent if not already followed by a moraic obstruent or nasal. In this way, the town ofMatsumoto is realized as/maQmoto/, the village of Shikine as/siQne/, the noun/nebuto/skin boil as/neQto/ and the adjective/setunai/painful as/seQne/. The assimilatory processes of a given regional dialect are then applied, so that "skin boil" is pronounced[netto], and "painful" may become either[seʔne] or[senne]. With regards to the latter, the difference may be marked in writing, so that for/maQmoto/, the pronunciation[maʔmoto] is written asまっもとmaʔmoto, whereas[mammoto] is written asまんもとmanmoto.
A similar effect to high vowel deletion can be observed with sibilants. Namely, the high vowels/i/ and/u/ will be devoiced to[i̥] and[u̥] respectively following a sibilant consonant such as/s/ or/h/, and may be deleted entirely especially in word-final position. This has an effect of weakening the syllables within which they are contained, causing them to have no effect onpitch in the same way as both the moraic nasal and obstruent do not. Devoicing or deletion of high vowels can also trigger devoicing of the fricative/z/, so that火事/kʷazi/ "conflagration" is pronounced[kʷaɕ(i̥)] or[kʷas(u̥)].[55] Occasionally, such syllables may dropped entirely, leaving behind an assimilatory trace like the moraic obstruent. For example, the nameKagoshima itself may be subject to this phenomenon, resulting in[kaɡoʔma] or[kaɡomma] instead of[kaɡoɕi̥ma]. Conflictingly, however, thesibilant consonant/s/ followed by/i/ may instead merge with/h/ or be dropped entirely, leading to the added pronunciations[kaɡoçima] and[kaɡoima].
Sonorant gliding is a phonological process whereby the sonorant syllables/ɽi/,/ɽu/ and/ɽe/ are reduced to the high vowel/i/ in word medial or final position. When followed by another vowel, the/i/ may turn into a palatal glide/j/.
| Standard Japanese | Kagoshima | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| /maru/ | /mai/ | round |
| /mari/ | /mai/ | ball |
| /mare/ | /mai/ | rare |
| /oɽe/ | /oi/ | I, me |
| /koɽe,soɽe,aɽe/ | /koi,soi,ai/ | This, that, that over there |
| /kuɽuma/ | /kuima/ | Car, vehicle |
| /aɽiɡatai/ | /aiɡate/ | Grateful, thankful |
| /kakaɽi-au/ | /kakaijo/ | To be involved in |
Note that, when it comes to the syllable/ɽu/, this sound change is mostly limited to the nominal rather than verbal paradigm, where the flap becomes a moraic obstruent instead (e.g./kaɽu/ →/kaQ/).[51]
Today, the dialects of mainland Satsuma and Ōsumi can be described as lackingcompensatory vowel lengthening,[56] so that two vowels which coalesce into one will be short rather than long.
| Standard Japanese | Tokyo Japanese | Tanegashima | Satsuma-Ōsumi | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /dai.koN/ | [dee.koN] | /dee.koN/ | /de.koN/ | Radish |
| /tai.ɡai/ | [tee.ɡee] | /tee.ɡe/ | /te.ɡe/ | Usually |
However, it would be more accurate to say that the mainland dialects exhibited vowel length reduction, so that long vowels such as/eː/ later shortened to/e/. This accounts for the reason as to why certain words such as昨日/kinu/ "yesterday" or鳥居/toɽi/ "torii", which are/kinou/ and/toɽii/ in standard Japanese, are not subject to high vowel deletion or sonorant gliding, while絹/kiN/ "silk" and鳥/toi/ "bird", which are/kinu/ and/toɽi/ in standard Japanese, are. It also accounts for the discrepancy between forms when particles are attached to words, such as こい/koi/ "this", which derives from the historical form/koɽe/; versusこれ/koɽe/ "this.dat", which derives from/koɽeː/, a fusion of/koɽe/ "this" and thedative particle/i/.
Numerous other, less consistent changes have affected many of the regional dialects in Kagoshima. Some of these include:
The syllable structure of the Kagoshima dialects is more complex than that of standard Japanese and can minimally be represented by the formula (C2)(G)V2(P), where C2 represents a consonant or cluster of two consonants, G represents a glide, V2 represents a vowel or sequence of vowels and P represents any placeless consonant.
| Component | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Onset (optional) | Consonant2 | Any consonant or cluster of two consonants. Permissible clusters vary by region, but are largely limited to fricative-stop clusters such as[st] and[ɸt]. |
| Glide | Only the palatal glide/j/ falls in this category. | |
| Nucleus (obligatory) | Vowel2 | Any vowel, long vowel or sequence of vowels. |
| Coda (optional) | Placeless | Any placeless consonant, including/Q/,/N/ and/H/. |
The above formula accounts for nearly all permissible syllable structures, with only one exception which is that/N/ and/NN/ can constitute full syllables on their own, found primarily only in word-initial position.
The following table illustrates some of the different types of syllables that are allowed in the Kagoshima dialects.
| Syllable structure | Example word |
|---|---|
| V | /u/ 大 "large, great" |
| VV | /ai/ 蟻 "ant" |
| CVV | /soi/ そい "that" |
| CCV | /hto/ ([ɸto]) 人 "person" |
| CGV | /kju/ 今日 "today" |
| CVP | /kaH/ 火事 "conflagration" |
| CGVP | /sjaN/ 軍鶏 "game fowl" |
| NN (+ CV) | /NN.ma/ 馬 "horse" |
One of the most oft-studied aspects of the Kagoshima dialect is its prosodic system. With the exception of a few areas such as Tanegashima, the system is described as a two-pattern pitch accent in which phrasal units may be either accented or unaccented. In accented units (also called "Type A" tone-bearing units[58]), all syllables bear a low tonal pitch ("L") except for the penultimate syllable, which bears a high pitch ("H"). In unaccented units (also called "Type B" tone-bearing units[58]), all syllables bear a low pitch until the final syllable, at which point the pitch rises to a high pitch.
| Accented | Unaccented | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 syllable | (H)L[A] 気ki orkii "spirit" | H 木ki "tree" |
| 2 syllables | HL 鼻hana "nose" | LH 花hana "flower" |
| 3 syllables | LHL 長めnagame "longish" | LLH 眺めnagame "scene" |
Although the type of pitch accent is lexically determined, it is more specifically determined by the first element in a syntactic phrase and will apply to that entire phrase. This effectively means that the placement of the high tone in accented or unaccented units will shift rightwards to the penultimate or final syllable of the phrase when other morphemes, auxiliaries or grammatical particles such asがga are appended at the end.[60][61]
| Accented | Unaccented | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 → 2 syllables | HL 気がkiga "spiritNOM" | LH 木がkiga "treeNOM" |
| 2 → 3 syllables | LHL 鼻がhanaga "noseNOM" | LLH 花がhanaga "flowerNOM" |
| 3 → 4 syllables | LLHL 長めがnagamega "longishNOM" | LLLH 眺めがnagamega "sceneNOM" |
Because the accent pattern is always determined by the first element of the phrasal unit, prefixes will alter the accent type of the word to which they attach. For example,寺tera "temple" and酒sake are normally accented, but when the honorific prefixおo- is added, they shift to an unaccented pattern:お寺otera andお酒osake.[61]
Note that the high tone falls on the syllable rather than themora, so tone placement remains unaffected by moraic obstruents, moraic nasals, fricatives resulting from devoicing, long vowels and diphthongs.[60][61]
| Accented | Unaccented | |
|---|---|---|
| Moraic Nasal | 頑固gwanko "stubbornness" /ɡʷaNko/ →ɡʷaNko | お盆obon "Obon Festival" /oboN/ →oboN |
| Moraic Obstruent | 勝手katte "one's convenience" /kaQte/ →kaQte | ぼた餅botamoʔ "adzuki-bean mochi" /botamoQ/ →botamoQ |
| Devoiced fricative | ガラスgarasu "glass" /ɡaras(u)/ →garas(u) | 烏karasu "crow" /karas(u)/ →karas(u) |
| Vowel | 車kuima "car" /kuima/ →kuima | 素通いsudo-oi "passing through" /sudooi/ →sudooi |
The Makurazaki dialect, spoken in and aroundMakurazaki City, is described as a two-pattern pitch accent system very similar to that of the Kagoshima accent. In this dialect, accented units bear a high tone on all syllables except the penultimate syllable, which bears a low pitch. In unaccented units, all syllables have a high pitch except the final syllable, which bears a middle pitch ("M").[58]
| Accented[58][59] | Unaccented[58][59] | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 syllable | H 日hi "day" | M[B] 火 |
| 2 syllables | LH 鼻hana "nose" | HM 花ha |
| 3 syllables | HLH 桜sakura "cherry blossom" | HHM 男oto |
| 4 syllables | HHLH 横糸yokoito "weft" | HHHM 朝顔asaga |
Like mainland Kagoshima, the accent type is determined by the first element in the phrasal unit and the pitch will shift accordingly as other morphemes are added. For example,hana "flower" has a high-middle (HM) pitch in isolation, but when the particleがga is appended, it becomeshanaga "flowerNOM" with a high-high-middle pitch (HHM).
The prosodic system of Koshikijima, like that of mainland Kagoshima, is characterized as a two-pattern pitch accent. It differs, however, in the placement of the accent. In this system, the primary high tone falls on a mora and is always preceded by a low-pitched syllable. Any other syllables preceding the low one will automatically bear a high tone.[62]
Similar to the Kagoshima Accent, the high tone is assigned to the very last mora in an unaccented unit. In an accented unit, the high tone falls on the penultimate mora and falls back down on the last mora.[62] Tone placement will also shift accordingly when morphemes and the such are appended to the unit.
| Accented | Unaccented | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 syllables | H*L 飴ame "candy" | LH* 雨ame "rain" |
| 3 syllables | LH*L 魚sakana "fish"[58] | HLH* 命inochi "life"[58] |
| 5 syllables | HHLH*L 飴祭りamematsuri "candy festival" | HHHLH* 雨祭りamematsuri "rain festival" |
If, in an accented unit, the final low tone falls on a moraic consonant such as/N/, the second mora of a long vowel, or the second vowel of a diphthong, any syllable that follows will also bear a low tone.[63] Otherwise, if the final low tone falls on a consonant-vowel syllable, any syllable that is added will shift the entire tone placement.
| Colloquial | 獣kedamon "wild animal" | 獣がkedamonga |
|---|---|---|
| Non-colloquial | 獣kedamono "wild animal" | 獣がkedamonoga |
When multiple phrasal units are combined together, the second peak containing the primary high tone will become low in all units except the last one. Thus, for example, when the verbal phrase見えたmieta "was seen" is combined with the nominalized phrase獣がkedamonoga "wild animal", the accent pattern becomes:獣が見えたkedamonogamieta "a wild animal was seen".[63] Likewise, when it is combined with the colloquial formkedamonga, the pattern becomes:kedamongamieta.[63]
The standard Japanese plain copulaだda is replaced by the Satsugū dialectal variationじゃja, which has further developed into やya in some parts of theSatsuma Peninsula, most notably the capital city,Kagoshima. Historically, these forms arose from a contraction of the classical constructionであるde aru.[64][65] Accordingly, the copula borrows its conjugational pattern from the existential verbあるaru, which is dialectally pronounced asあっaʔ orあいai, as seen below:
| Satsugū | Tokyo Japanese | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| jaddoじゃっど | desu, da, sō da | Copula (to be) |
| jaddon じゃっどん | dakedo, dakedomo, shikashi | However, though |
| jaddo kai じゃっどかい | sō darō ka, sō na no | Is that so? |
| jan じゃん | janai | Negative copula |
| jaddo ne じゃっどね | da yo ne | Copula + emphasis |
| jaʔ, ja ga, jaddo | desu yo | Copula + assertion |
| jaddo じゃっど | nandesu | Copula (explanation) with noun |
| jaddo ya じゃっどや | nan desu ka | Copula (question) |
| njaddo んじゃっど | ndesu | Copula (explanation) with verb |
| jaro ne じゃろね | deshō ne | Seems, I think, I guess |
| jadde じゃっで | node, kara | Because of... the reason is... |
| jadden じゃっでん | demo | However, but |
| jatta じゃった | deshita, datta | Copula (past) |
Contrary to Western dialects, there exists no true equivalent to the standard polite copulaですdesu. In cases where standard Japanese would normally usedesu, the Satsugū dialect would tend towards employing the plain form. For example,これですよkore desu yo becomesこいじゃがkoi ja ga, "this is it".
In very formal contexts, the honorific verbごわすgowasu orござすgozasu, and their variantsごわんすgowansu andござんすgozansu, may be used instead. For the most part, their usage overlaps that of the standard formございますgozaimasu. Compare, for example, the standard formulationようございますyō gozaimasu to the Satsugū variantよかとごわすyoka to gowasu "it is alright"; or本でございますhon de gozaimasu to本ごわすhon gowasu[66] "it is a book". Note that while similar, the honorific copulagowasu orgozasu is not normally preceded by the connecting particleでde.[67] Therefore, such forms asでごわす *de gowasu may be consideredcalques on their standard counterpart.
A common feature among Western Kyūshū dialects is the difference in their adjective endings. Adjectival verbs, or true adjectives, end with the generic inflection-ka rather than-i in their attributive and predicative forms. Eastern Kyūshū dialects, however, follow the same pattern as Standard Japanese, using the inflectional ending-i. Positioned somewhat in the middle of this boundary, the Satsugū dialect makes use of both types of endings.[68] For example, the adjectives "cold" and "exhausted" may surface assanka andtesoka, orsami andtesoi (variants:sabi andtese) depending on the speaker and region. The-i ending will normally coalesce with the vowel of the preceding syllable (e.g./a/ +/i/ →/e/), so thatunmai "delicious" andgennai "shy" becomeunme andgenne respectively.
The majority ofKagoshima's surrounding island dialects, however, tend to favor the generic inflection-ka, which may occasionally bevoiced into-ga in southern parts of the Satsuma Peninsula, theKoshikijima Islands,Kuchinoerabujima and in northern Tanegashima. These peripheral dialects also tend to observe compensatory vowel lengthening when making use of the-i ending, so that the coalesced vowels will be long rather than short, thus resulting inunmee andgennee for "delicious" and "shy".
| -ka ending | -i ending | Standard Japanese | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| yoka | e, ee | yoi | good |
| itaka | ite | itai | painful |
| unmaka, nmaka | unme | umai | delicious |
| nukka | nukii | atsui | hot |
| waika, wakka | warii | warui | bad |
| futoka | fute, fuchi | futoi | big |
| eshika, esuka, ejika | eji, eshii | zurui | sly |
| okka | obi | omoi | heavy |
| kaika | kari, kai | karui | light |
| tsuyoka | tsue | tsuyoi | strong |
| mojoka, mozoka, mujoka, muzoka | muze, muji | kawaii | cute |
| chintaka | chinte | tsumetai | cold |
| uzerashika | uzerashi, yazoroshi | urusai | loud, noisy, annoying |
| gurashika, ugurashika | ugurashi | kawaisou | pitiful, pathetic |
| gennaka | genne | hazukashii | shy, embarrassed |
The-ka ending historically derives from a contraction of the adverbial or infinitive ending-ku followed by the conjugated form of thecopular verbari, from which the rest of the adjectival paradigm derives.[64][69] As such, the-ka ending inflects mostly in the same way as the-i ending. It differs primarily in the negative form where the final-i in-kunai is also turned into a-ka, reflecting the basic inflectional form of the adjective. The-ka ending also differs in the hypothetical form, where it becomes-kare(ba) instead of-kere(ba) (comparesankareba tosankereba "if it's cold"). In relation to standard Japanese, both-ka and-i adjectives distinguish themselves in the conjunctive form. Here, the conjunctive form surfaces asっせえ-ssee for the standard くて-kute form.[68][70]
| ka adjective | i adjective | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| present | ぬっか nukka | ぬき(い) nuki(i) | |
| neg. | ぬ(っ)くなか nu(k)kunaka1 | ぬきくね nukikune1 | |
| past | ぬっかった nukkatta | ぬきかった nukikatta | |
| neg. | ぬ(っ)くなかった nu(k)kunakatta1 | ぬきくなかった nukikunakatta1 | |
| imperfective | ぬっかろ nukkaro | ぬきかろ nukikaro | |
| hypothetical | ぬっかれば nukkareba2 | ぬきければ nukikereba | |
| conjunctive | ぬっかっせえ nukkassee | ぬきっせえ nukissee | |
Adjectival nouns, also called nominal adjectives orna-adjectives, comprise a set of nouns that functionally act as adjectives by combining themselves with the copula. The copula is subsequently inflected for aspect and tense, becomingna in its commonattributive form. For example,buchiho na te means "a rude person".[71]
| Mainland Kagoshima | Standard Japanese | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| yassen | dame | useless, hopeless |
| yakke | yakkai | trouble, bother, worry |
| ime | uchiki | bashful, shy, timid |
| sewa | shinpai | worry, concern, aid, help |
| buchiho | buchōhō | impolite |
With regards to adverbs, the same phonological process which reduced theLate Middle Japanese terminal and attributive endings (-shi and-ki, respectively) to-i, also reduced the adverbial (連用形,ren'yōkei) ending-ku to simply-u, yielding such forms ashayō (contraction ofhayau) forhayaku "quickly". This change was once commonplace throughout Japan, however the adverbial form-ku was reintroduced through Standard Japanese as it was still preserved in some Eastern dialects. Even so, the-u ending persists in varioushonorifics (such asarigatō andomedetō) as a result of borrowing from theKansai dialect, which was still regarded as a dialect of prestige well after it was no longer considered the standard language. Elsewhere, the-u ending remains a staple of Western Japanese and rural dialects. This includes the Satsugū dialect, where this ending still thrives today:
| Root | Coalesced form (-u) | Standard Japanese (-ku) | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Satsuma-Ōsumi | Tanegashima | |||
| /haja/ | /hajo/ | /hajoː/ | /hajaku/ | quickly |
| /oso/ | /oso/ | /osoː/ | /osoku/ | slowly |
| /kanasi/ | /kanasju/ | /kanasjuː/ | /kanasiku/ | sadly, sorrowfully |
| /usu/ | /usu/ | /usuː/ | /usuku/ | lightly, weakly |
In addition to these characteristic adjectival adverbs, there are also many non-standard nominal and onomatopoeic adverbs unique to the dialects of Kagoshima. A few examples include:
| Satsugū[68][72][73] | Standard Japanese | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| tege | daitai,kanari | generally, fairly, considerably |
| tegenashi | hotondo | mostly, almost |
| tegetege | iikagen,hodohodo,tekitou | considerably, moderately, suitably |
| wazzee,wasse,wacche,wazzeka,wazaika,wazareka,azze | totemo,hijou ni | very, really, exceedingly |
| ikki | sugu (ni) | immediately, instantly, soon |
| ittoʔ | chotto | in a short time, a little, somewhat |
| idden | itsudemo,itsunandoki | anytime, always, whenever |
| ikenden kogenden | doudemo koudemo,dounika | one way or another |
| iken shiten | doushitemo | by all means, no matter what, surely |
| makote,makochi,honnokote | makoto ni,hontou ni | really, truly |
| chinchinbobboʔ | sorosoro | gradually, slowly |
| mareken | tokidoki | sometimes, at times |
Particles (助詞joshi) used in the dialects of Kagoshima share many features common to other dialects spoken in Kyūshū, with some being unique to the Satsugū dialect, and others corresponding the Standard Japanese and Kyūshū variants. Likestandard Japanese particles, they act as suffixes, prepositions or words immediately following the noun, verb, adjective or phrase that they modify, and are used to indicate the relationship between the various elements of a sentence.[74]
Unlike central Japanese dialects, particles in the Kagoshima dialects are boundclitics, as they have the effect of resyllabifying the last word they attach to. So, for example, the standard forms本をhon o "bookACC",書きをkaki o "writingACC" andまりをmari o "ballACC" would be realized as/honno/,/kakjo/ and/majo/ ( ←/maɽjo/) in most of northern and central Kagoshima, and/hoNnu/,/kakju/~/kaku/ and/maju/ ( ←/maɽju/) in parts of Kagoshima's southern mainland.[75]
Resyllabification has also led to the reanalysis of some particles in a few dialects. For instance, the topic particle(w)a has been completely superseded by the formna inIzumi,[76] which in most mainland dialects is merely a variant of(w)a after a moraic nasal.
| Kagoshima dialect | Standard Japanese | General meaning |
|---|---|---|
| a | wa | Marks the topic |
| do | yo, zo, ze | Marks an assertion |
| don, batten | demo, keredomo | Marks an adverse or opposition statement |
| don, doma, bakkai | bakari, gurai | Marks approximation |
| ga, no | no | Marks possession |
| gii, zui | made | Marks a time or place as a limit |
| i | ni, e | Marks a location, direction, indirect object or agent of a passive sentence |
| o, oba | o | Marks the direct object |
| shiko | dake, hodo, shika | Marks an extent or limit |
| to, taa | no, no wa, mono wa | Marks a nominalized phrase |
| yokka | yori | Marks provenance |
For a full in-depth list of the particles found in this dialect, including examples, see the articleParticles of the Kagoshima dialects.
Pronouns in the Satsugū dialect display considerable variation from their standard counterparts. The table below lists the most common pronouns as they occur in their basic forms. When followed by particles beginning with a vowel or a glide, affected pronouns will be resyllabified in thecoda according to the phonological patterns of the local dialect. In most of mainland Kagoshima, for instance, when the pronounsoi "I" andohan "you" are followed by the topic particlea, they becomeoya andohanna respectively. Similarly, in Tanegashima, when the pronounwaga "oneself" is followed by the topic particlewa, it becomeswagoo.
| Romaji | Hiragana | Kanji | Formality | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reflexive pronoun | ||||
| waga | わが | 我 | formal | Often used in the sense of the standard term自分jibun, roughly meaning "oneself", "yourself" or "myself". |
| First-person pronouns | ||||
| oi | おい | 俺 | formal, informal | Though it derives fromおれore, the pronounおいoi is commonly used by both men and women of all ages in Kagoshima. The shortened formおo is also used in a few regions. |
| atai | あたい | 私 | formal | More common among women; the formあてate is sometimes used. Derives fromわたしwatashi. |
| don | どん | 共 | Used chiefly in Tanegashima; variants includeどもdomo,どむdomu andどんがdonga.[77] | |
| wan | わん | 我ん | Used chiefly inNakanoshima.[78] Possibly borrowed from the Amami dialects where this form is common. Note that the formwantachi, also used in Tanegashima along with the variantswanchi andwandomo,[77] is a plural second-person pronoun meaning "you (pl)" (cf. the pronounwai below).[44] | |
| Second-person pronouns | ||||
| ohan | おはん | formal | The honorific prefixo- is sometimes omitted, making it more informal. | |
| omai | おまい | お前 | informal | A variant ofおまえomae. |
| wai | わい | 我 | formal | Derives from the historical formわれware. The shortened formわwa is sometimes used. |
| omansa(a) | おまんさ(あ) | お前様 | very formal | Related to the standard formおまえさまomaesama which is now considered archaic. |
| nn | んん | 己 or汝 | Considered somewhat archaic and abasing. The form derives from a reduction of the historical pronounうぬunu, meaning "you" or "thou". Sometimes used in the sense of the standard term自分jibun, roughly meaning "oneself", "yourself" or "myself".[79] | |
| oze, oje | おぜ, おじぇ | formal, informal | Used chiefly in Tanegashima.[77] | |
| akko | あっこ | Used chiefly in northern Koshikijima.[80] In this dialect, it is considered slightly more polite than the pronounわいwai.[80] | ||
| nan | なん | 汝ん | Used chiefly in Nakanoshima.[78] Possibly borrowed from the Amami dialects where this form is common. | |
| Third-person pronouns | ||||
| ai | あい | 彼 | Derives from the formあれare, which itself stems from the older formかれkare, still used in standard Japanese. As a deictic pronoun, it follows the morphological pattern ofdemonstratives. Thus,あいai becomesあんan in its possessive form. | |
| anta | あんた | 彼方 | Though it ultimately derives fromanata, the formanta is here used as a third person pronoun and does not carry the pejorative nuance it does in mainland Japan. The related formsこんたkonta andそんたsonta are also occasionally used, and differ primarily by the proximity or relation between the person concerned and the speaker. | |
| anshi | あんし | 彼人, 彼ん人, 彼衆, 彼ん衆 | From the demonstrativeあんan and the person suffixし-shi; equivalent to the standard term あの人ano hito. The related formsこんしkonshi andそんしsonshi are also sometimes used, and differ primarily by the proximity or relation between the person concerned and the speaker. | |
| anossama, anossa(a) | あのっさま, あのっさ(あ) | あのっ様 | very formal | The related variantsこのっさまkonossama,このっさ(あ)konossa(a),そのっさまsonossama andそのっさ(あ)sonossa(a) are also sometimes used. Like the above, these differ primarily by the proximity or relation between the person concerned and the speaker. |
In mainland Kagoshima, the two suffixesどん-don andたっ-taʔ are commonly appended to the pronouns above in order to indicate plurality:おいoi "I" →おいどんoidon "we",おはんohan "you" →おはんたっohantaʔ "you (pl)". The suffix-don historically derives from the ending共domo, as revealed when topicalized asどま-doma. More rarely, it may also be topicalized asだ-da, as inおいだoida "we.top" orわいだwaida "you (pl).top".[81] Due to its pervasive use in the Satsuma region, the endingdomo may have come to be associated with the speech of samurais, and thus carries a slight condescending or humble connotation in standard Japanese. The suffix-taʔ originates from達-tachi, and may be topicalized asたちゃ-tacha. Elsewhere in Kagoshima's peripheral islands, the forms differ only slightly. In the Satsunan islands, the ending共-domo is most common, and may be topicalized asdomaa in Tanegashima. The ending-tachi appears to be favored in the Tokara Islands[44] and may be clipped as-(t)chi in Tanegashima, resulting in such forms aswanchi orwagatchi for "you (pl)".[77]
In the mainland, the suffixどん-don also carries a second function: it can be used as an honorific as opposed to a plural-marking suffix. It is worth noting, however, that the honorific suffix stems from the historical form殿dono, now used in standard Japanese almost uniquely in business correspondences. In Kagoshima, the usage of the honorific suffix-don corresponds very closely to that of the standard Japanese honorifics様sama andさんsan. For instance,-don can be used in a very pompous manner with the first-person pronoun, resulting inおいどんoidon "I/my esteemed self", which is equivalent to standard Japanese俺様oresama. Other examples of honorific usage include母どんkakadon "mom" (standard:お母さんokaasan),親父どんoyaddon "dad" (standard:お父さんotōsan) and日どんhidon "sun" (standard:お日様ohisama). The suffix is also used in terms of address in a similar way to-san in Japanese, so大迫どんOsako-don would be equivalent to大迫さんŌsako-san in standard Japanese or "Mr./Ms. Ōsako" in English. Now more and more, however, this usage is being phased out in favor of its standard Japanese counterparts.
The honorific suffix様-sama is also used in a limited number of expressions, along with its more common mainland variantさ(あ)-sa(a). For example,あのっさあanossaa orあのっさまanossama are honorific pronouns used to refer to a third person, while天道様tendosa is another honorific term used to refer to the sun,[82] and神様kansaa is an honorific referring to gods or deities.[83] Under the influence of mainland Japanese and in certain regions like Nakanoshima, the variantsさん-san andはん-han are used, especially with terms of kinship.[44][83] Some examples from Nakanoshima include:おっとはんottohan "dad",おっかはんokkahan "mom" andあんさんansan "older brother".[44]
| ko- | so- | a- | do- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -i | koi this one | soi that one | ai that one over there | doi which one? |
| -n | kon (of) this | son (of) that | an (of) that over there | don (of) what? |
| -gen(a) | kogen(a) like this in this manner | sogen(a) like that in that manner | agen(a) like that over there in that (other) manner | dogen(a) what sort of? how? in what manner? |
| -ko | koko here | soko there | asuko * over there | doko where? |
| -shiko | koshiko to this extent, only this much | soshiko to that extent, only that much | ashiko to that extent, only that much | doshiko to what extent? how much? |
As with Standard Japanese, demonstratives also occur in theko- (proximal),so- (mesial), anda- (distal) series, with the corresponding interrogative form asdo-.
The pronoun series is created using the suffix-i, which is a reduced form of the standard suffix-re. Particles attached to this form may cause the underlying historical form-re to resurface. For example, when the dative particle-i (standard-ni) is attached, the forms becomekore,sore,are anddore, since sonorant gliding (i.e./ɽe/ →/i/) fails to trigger when the vowel stems from a historically long vowel or diphthong (i.e./ɽei/ →*/i/). So instead, vowel coalescence and vowel reduction are exhibited (/ɽei/ →/ɽeː/ →/ɽe/).
The determiner suffix surfaces as-n for the standard ending-no. Thus, "this book" would be expressed asこん本kon hon. The determiner series also serves to replace the standard Japanese person series-itsu by compounding onto it the nounwaro (orwarō in Tanegashima),[77] roughly meaning "person", creating the formskon waro,son waro,an waro and more rarelydon waro.[84][85] Tanegashima also appears to make use of the determiner series followed by the suffix 共domo to indicate plurality, sokon domo would effectively mean "these people" or "these guys".[77]
The kind and manner series, which are-nna(ni) and-u in standard Japanese, are grouped together under the-gen (before a verb) and-gena (before a noun) series, which may be elided to-en and-ena in casual speech. In parts of the Koshikijima Islands, the latter may be pronounced as-gan or-ran.[86] In other parts, namely the Southern Satsuma Peninsula, these forms are replaced by compounding the determiner suffix-n with the nounyu followed by the directional suffix-n if used before a verb, thus creating the formskonyu(n),sonyu(n),anyu(n) anddonyu(n). The preceding compound is equivalent to that of the standard form-noyou(ni), as inkonoyou(ni),sonoyou(ni), etc.
The place suffix-ko remains the same as standard Japanese. However, the directional series-chira, preserved in the expressionaccha koccha "here and there" (standardachira kochira),[87] is more commonly replaced by appending the directional particle-i (standard-ni and-e) to the place series, resulting in the form-ke (koke,soke,asuke,doke) due to vowel coalescence. In Tanegashima uniquely, this form is instead expressed by tagging on the directional particle-i to the pronominal series (-re), resulting inkoree,soree,aree, anddoree.[77] The directional ending-tchi(i) is also in use in a number of areas, givingkotchi(i),sotchi(i),atchi(i),dotchi(i).[88]
And lastly, the Satsugū dialect also makes use of an extra series that describes limits using the-shiko suffix, which is roughly the equivalent of the standard Japanese construction-re +-dake or-hodo. Sosore dake "only that much" in standard Japanese would becomesoshiko in the dialect.[89] To express approximation, as in "only about that much", the particleばっかいbakkai may be added to formsoshiko bakkai.[89] The interrogative formdoshiko is commonly used to ask about prices:doshiko na? "how much is it?" (standardikura desu ka?).
The verbal morphology of the Kagoshima dialects is heavily marked by its divergent phonological processes. Vowels can, for instance, coalesce, devoice, or be deleted entirely depending on the preceding sound. For example, the standard form書くkaku "write" becomes書っkaʔ in the dialects of the mainland as a result ofhigh vowel deletion. In addition to such changes, noticeable morphological differences exist between the standard language and the dialects. For example, the Kagoshima dialects pattern more closely with Western Japanese and Kyushu dialects, using the negative ending-n as opposed to-nai.[90] So the form書かんkakan "not write" is used instead of the standard equivalent書かないkakanai. Other examples include the use of the form-ute instead of-tte in the imperfective (ta) and conjunctive (te) forms of verbs ending with the vowel stem-u,[90] or the auxiliaryおるoru (おっoʔ) instead ofいるiru for the progressive form.[91] More specific to regions of Kyushu, the dialects continue to use the form-(y)uru for verbs that would end in-eru in standard Japanese, as in見ゆるmiyuru (見ゆっmiyuʔ) "to be seen" instead of見えるmieru,[90][92] and they also use the auxiliary verbgotaru (gotaʔ) where standard Japanese uses the ending-tai to express desire,[90] as in食ぉごたっkwo-gotaʔ "want to eat"[91] as opposed to the standard forms食いたいkuitai or食べたいtabetai.
Other noticeable differences specific to Kagoshima include its significant array of honorifics. For example, the polite auxiliary verbsもすmosu (orもうすmōsu in Tanegashima) andもんすmonsu, sometimes written as申す and申んす respectively,[91] are used instead of the standard endingます-masu. Compare食もいもすtamoi-mosu to食べますtabemasu "(polite) eat". The endingsす-su andんす-nsu are also sometimes used to replace to stem of verbs ending in-ru in order to add an extra degree of politeness. As a result, multiple variants of the same verb may exist:やるyaru,やすyasu andやんすyansu[68][91] are all formal auxiliaries used in imperative constructions, as in食もいやんせtamoi-yanse "please eat". And, while the formやいもすyai-mosu exists, the formsやしもすyashi-mosu andやんしもすyanshi-mosu are not used, suggesting thatす-su andんす-nsu may be reduced forms of the auxiliary verbsもすmosu andもんすmonsu. Related differences includekui-yai orkui-yanse instead of the standard formkudasai for politely requesting that someones does something for the speaker.
Many other differences also exist, especially at the lexical level. Examples in mainland Kagoshima includeasubu (asuʔ) instead ofasobu "to play",keshinu (keshin) instead ofshinu "to die",kibaru (kibaʔ) instead ofganbaru "to do one's best",[90]saruku orsariku (saruʔ orsariʔ) instead ofarukimawaru "to walk around",ayumu (ayun) instead ofaruku "to walk", and so on.
Japanese dialects spoken north of Kagoshima:
Japonic languages spoken directly south of the Kagoshima dialect boundaries:
Influential dialects:
It is a well known fact that there are two provinces in the extremities of our country where the language of the inhabitants cannot be understood by Tokyo people, viz. — Mutsu in the North, and Satsuma in the South.
The dialect of the city is incomprehensible to the people of Honshu, although it is classified among the Mainland dialects because of a great linguistic gap between it and those of the Ryukyu Archipelago.
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