| Tōhoku Japanese | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Japan |
| Region | Tōhoku |
Japonic
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | toho1244 |
 Northern Tōhoku dialects (navy), Southern Tōhoku (med. blue), and the transitionalEastern Kantō dialects (azure) | |
TheTōhoku dialect (東北方言,Tōhoku hōgen), commonly calledTōhoku-ben (東北弁), is a group of theJapanese dialects spoken in theTōhoku region, the northeastern region ofHonshū. Toward the northern part of Honshū, the Tōhoku dialect can differ so dramatically fromstandard Japanese that it is sometimes rendered with subtitles forintelligibility in the nationwide media and it has been treated as the typical rural dialect inJapanese popular culture.
A notablelinguistic feature of the Tōhoku dialect is its neutralization of the high vowels "i" and "u" (Standard[i] and[ɯᵝ]) aftercoronalobstruents, so that the wordssushi,susu ('soot'), andshishi ('lion') are rendered homophonous, where they would have been distinct in other dialects. In light of this, Tōhoku dialect is sometimes referred to asZūzū-ben. The vowels tend to be neutralized to[ɨ] in Northern Tōhoku dialect and[ɯ̈] in Southern Tōhoku dialect.
In addition, allunvoiced stops becomevoiced intervocalically, rendering the pronunciation of the wordkato ('trained rabbit') as[kado]. However, unlike the high-vowel neutralization, this does not result in new homophones, as all voiced stops areprenasalized, meaning that the wordkado ('corner') is pronounced[kaⁿdo]. This is particularly noticeable with/ɡ/, which is nasalized fully to[ŋ] with the stop of the hard "g"[ᵑɡ] almost entirely lost, so thatichigo ('strawberry') is pronounced[ɨd͡ʑɨŋo]. Standard Japanese can do this with/ɡ/ too (seeJapanese phonology), but not with the other stops.This distribution of medial voicing and prenasalization is thought to be a conservative pronunciation reflecting the originalOld Japanese state.[1]
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasals | m | n | ŋ | ɴ | ||
| Stops | pb | td | kɡ | |||
| Fricatives | ɸ | sz | ɕ | h | ||
| Affricates | ts | tɕdʑ | ||||
| Liquids | ɾ | |||||
| Semivowel | j | w |
The consonant inventory is identical to that of Standard Japanese but with a different distribution. In Standard Japanese, the palatal series was produced with palatalisation of alveolar consonants before the front vowel/i/ and the semivowel/j/;s →ɕ,t →tɕ,d →dʑ. However, in the Tōhoku dialect they were formed by the palatalisation of/k/ and/ɡ/ and the semivowel/j/;k →tɕ,ɡ →dʑ (kigahatteiru →chihatteɾu;benkyou →benchou) and a shift of/ç/ which was formed by palatalisation of/h/ before/i/ and the semivowel/j/, towards/ɕ/ (hito →shito).
In grammar, a volitional and presumptive suffix -be or -ppe is widely used in the region. It is a transformation of -beki, a conjugated form of an archaic suffix -beshi. Since the2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, a sloganGanbappe! ("Let's buckle down!") has often been used in the disaster area.
A directional particlesa is also widely used in the region. It is a transformation ofsama ('direction') and almost equivalent to standardni ore. AMuromachi period proverb "Kyōe,Tsukushini,Bandōsa"[2] says that the particlesa was once widely used in Kanto region.
The Tōhoku dialects can be broken down geographically and by formerhan domains:
In addition, theEastern Kantō dialects and thecoastal dialects of Hokkaidō have many Tōhoku features.
The vowel systems of the Izumo (also calledUmpaku) and Tōhoku dialects exhibit several shared phonetic characteristics, such as centralized /i/ and /u/ and elevated /e/ and /o/, which make these vowels resemble each other more closely than those in other Japanese dialects. This centralization and elevation have caused vowel mergers in central Izumo and Tōhoku, indicating a historical linguistic change likely propagated from Izumo to the northeast via coastal migration. Archaeological findings, including corner-projected mound burials from 100–250 AD in theNoto Peninsula andToyama Prefecture, provide evidence for early Izumo influence in these areas. This implies that the distinctive vowel systems of Izumo likely spread to these regions during the Mid to LateYayoi period. However, the Izumo-style tonal systems (Gairin A and Gairin B) had not yet developed then, as they are not present in the dialects of the Noto Peninsula and Toyama.[3]
Elisabeth de Boer arguments in favour of an Izumo/Tōhoku branch within the Japanese dialects and that pre-existing trade contacts after the defeat of theEmishi in Tōhoku paved the way for immigration to the area. The blurred dialectal transitional area that extends for more than 200 km (120 mi) in southernNiigata may be due to immigrants with two different tone systems arriving from two different directions: part of them coming from the coast (Izumo) and the other part from the central highlands (Chūbu).[4]
Further migration from Izumo to the Tōhoku region likely occurred after the development of the Gairin B tonal innovations. The existence of both Gairin A and Gairin B tonal systems in northern Tōhoku suggests multiple migration waves. Historically, political and economic conditions in Izumo fluctuated between the eastern and western areas. The more advanced Gairin B tonal innovations originated in western Izumo and gradually spread eastward. This is reflected in Tōhoku, where some areas still exhibit a blend of tonal systems.
Migration patterns during the Yayoi period saw rice farmers from western Japan moving to northern Honshū. Early Yayoi settlements in coastal areas such asIshikawa, Toyama, and western Niigata date back to around 300 BC. However, there is no direct evidence connecting these early settlers to Izumo. Clear indications of Izumo-style influence emerge later, especially through burial mounds dated 100–250 AD. Migration into the Tōhoku region in the late 6th century matches archaeological evidence of the arrival of a new population similar toKofun cultures found elsewhere in Japan. Prior to this, northern Tōhoku experienced a population decline as theEpi-Jomon people moved towardsHokkaidō. This new population, possibly from Izumo, spread swiftly across northern Tōhoku due to the region’s sparse population, preserving the Izumo-style tone system there better than in southern and central Tōhoku, where there was more linguistic and dialectal interference. The relatively low internal diversity of Tōhoku dialects can be attributed to the later spread of Japanese northeastward compared to other mainland regions of Japan.[3]