| Banshū dialect | |
|---|---|
| Harima dialect | |
| 播州弁 | |
 Banshū dialect area (dark pink) | |
| Native to | Japan |
| Region | SouthwesternHyōgo Prefecture |
Japonic
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
TheBanshū dialect (播州弁,Banshū-ben), also called theHarima dialect (播磨弁・方言,Harima-ben/-hōgen), is aJapanese dialect spoken in the Harima region (corresponding to the boundaries of the formerHarima Province) of southwesternHyōgo Prefecture. Although it is included in theKansai dialect group, it shares much of its vocabulary withChūgoku group.[1] It can be further subdivided into theWestern Banshū dialect (西播方言,Seiban-hōgen) and theEastern Banshū dialect (東播方言,Tōban-hōgen).
The Banshū dialect is flanked by theTajima,Okayama,Tanba, andSettsu dialects, the last two being closely related to the better-knownKyoto andOsaka dialects, respectively. In addition, the dialect, spoken betweenKobe andHimeji, is distinct from thedialect of the prefectural capital. For this reason, Ryōji Kamata[e] regards the Banshū dialect as the most representative of Hyōgo Prefecture, where Japanese transitions between the Kansai dialect group in the east and the Chūgoku group in the west.[2]
The Banshū dialect's subdivisions correspond well to the various river basins over which it is spoken. In particular, the Western Banshū dialect area comprises theIbo River basin and the cities ofTatsuno,Aioi,Akō, andShisō and the towns ofTaishi (Ibo District),Kamigōri (Akō District), andSayō (Sayō) on theChikusa River basin, and the Eastern Banshū dialect area comprises the basins of theKako,Ichi, andYumesaki Rivers. Although Himeji City is generally considered part the Western Banshū (geopolitical) area,[3] its subdialect is best classed with the Eastern Banshū group. Owing to the increased economic intercourse between the coastal region of the Eastern Banshū (geopolitical) area and the Osaka area, as well as the former's consequential urbanization and industrialization (seeCoast of Harima Industrial Area), the coastal Eastern Banshū dialects have been influenced by the Osaka dialect.[2]
TheFunasaka Pass that marks part of the boundary between Hyōgo andOkayama Prefectures also marks the furthest western extent of the Western Banshū dialect group, and upon crossing over the pass, one encounters the Okayama dialect of the Chūgoku dialect group. However, the zone of contact between the Okayama dialect and the aforementioned subdialects of the City of Akō and of the towns of Kamigōri and Sayō has some distinctive features (as a result of dialect mixture).[2] The Banshū area is also in contact withAwaji Island across theAkashi Strait, but that island'sAwaji dialect shares common features instead with such as theKishū andAwa dialects, and is quite distinct from Banshū.[4]
Like other Kansai dialects, the Banshū dialect has a minimal length restraint of two moras for phonological words. Therefore, words that are underlyingly one mora are realized with a long vowel in isolation; for example, /ki/ ("tree") and /me/ ("eye") are pronounced [kiː] and [meː], respectively, in isolation in Banshū dialect (but cf. forms with a following particle, which is considered part of the phonological word; for example with the nominative case particle=ga:ki=ga → [ki.ga] andme=ga → [me.ga], with no vowel lengthening), but [ki] and [me] in standard Japanese, which lacks the minimal length constraint. In contrast, long vowels in some grammatical forms, including the volitional and the infinitive of adjectives, are shortened (the latter only for adjectives of root length at least two moras); for example, Banshū dialect hasik-o=ka ("go.volitional=interrogative") andhay-o nar-u ("fast.infinitive become.nonpast") for standardik-oo=ka andhaya-ku nar-u, respectively (see "Euphonic changes (音便,Onbin)" for more information on the second example, which involves a euphonic change followed by monophthongization followed by vowel shortening). Also, the western subdialects have the monophthongization /ai/ to /ee/.
As in the Tanba dialect, alternations between the phonemes /d/ and /z/ are seen before all vowels.[5] For instance,ademichi ("footpath between rice fields"),denbu ("all"),sendai ("garden"), andatsu-i=do ("hot.nonpast=emphatic") for standardazemichi,zenbu,senzai, andatsu-i=zo, respectively. There is also some alternation with these phonemes and /r/; for example,see=∅ raite-ik-o ("Keep up the hard work!", lit. "spirit=accusative take out.continuative.volitional") for standardsee=∅ dasite-ik-oo (again, this example features a euphonic change in addition to the phonological change; see below).
| Accent class | Example words | Keihan type | Tarui type | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kobe | Ono | Taishi | Kamikawa | Sayō | |||
| 2-mora nouns | 2.1 | ame ("candy") kama ("kettle") | HH | LH/HH | |||
| 2.2 | kami ("paper") kawa ("river") | HL | |||||
| 2.3 | ike ("pond") iro ("color") | HL | |||||
| 2.4 | kama ("sickle") hashi ("chopsticks") | LH~LL-H | LH | LH/HH | |||
| 2.5a | aki ("autumn") ame ("rain") | LF~LH-L | LF~LH-L/HF~HH-L | HL | |||
| 2.5b | kumo ("spider") koe ("voice") | LF~LH-L | LF~LH-L/HF~HH-L | HL | |||
| 1-mora verbs | H | tob- ("fly") ki-("wear") | H | ||||
| L | kir- ("cut") mi- ("see") | R~L-H | H | ||||
| 2-mora adjectives | H | aka- ("red") ama- ("sweet") | HL | LF~LH-L/HF~HH-L (elderly speakers: LF~LH-L) | |||
| L | shiro- ("white") atsu- ("warm") | HL | LF~LH-L/HF~HH-L (elderly speakers: HL) | ||||
The subdialects spoken in the southern and eastern parts of the Banshū (geopolitical) area, which comprises the cities ofAkashi,Kakogawa,Takasago,Miki,Ono,Kasai,Nishiwaki, andKatō, the towns ofInami,Harima,Fukusaki, andIchikawa, the city of Himeji (excepting the vicinity of theHayashida-chō district) and the southern part of the town ofTaka, use aKeihan type (word tone and accent) pitch accent system. Among these, Himeji, Akashi, and others use a system identical to that of Kobe (see the table at right), while the accent used in the vicinity of Nishiwaki and Ono differs in that unaccented low-tone nouns (like those in class 2.4, and alsousagi ("rabbit") andmidoriiro ("green")) have a pitch rise between the first and second moras rather than between the penultimate and ultimate moras (so for instance,usagi andmidoriiro are LLH~LLL-H and LLLLH~LLLLL-H in the Kobe-type subdialects but LHH and LHHHH in the Ono-type subdialects). The Ono-type accents represent an older form of the Keihan-type accent.[6]
On the other hand, the subdialects of the northern and western Banshū (geopolitical) area, which comprises the cities of Aioi, Akō, Shisō, and Tastuno, the towns ofKamikawa, Taishi, Kamigōri, and Sayō, the vicinity of the Hayashida-chō district of Himeji, and the northern part of Taka, use theTarui type accent system. In the Keihan system, 2-mora nouns can begin with either high tone (classes 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3) or low tone (classes 2.4, and 2.5), but this opposition has been lost in the Tarui type accent (high and low tones on the first mora are in free variation). Even within the same cities and towns, there are variations by neighborhood and age, the younger generation's speech has been influenced by the standard Japanese used in the media, so while we speak of a single "Tarui type" accent system, in fact there is great diversity within that system.
2-mora nouns of the classes 2.2 and 2.3 have merged in the Keihan type system; the notation 1/23/4/5 is used to express this. The Tarui type accent of Taishi, described in the table and also employed in areas such as Akō, Tastuno, and Aioi, would then be represented 14/23/5. This is said represent the most original Tarui type accent.[6] The accent of Kamikawa (14/235b/5a) has split the original 2.5 class, with nouns such asaki ("autumn"),ame ("rain"),ase ("sweat"), andayu ("sweetfish") in the 2.5a class and nouns likekumo ("spider"),koe ("voice"),saru ("monkey"), andtsuru ("crane") in the 2.5b class. Generally it is thought that the pitch contour of the 2.5a class is the original, and that the nouns of the 2.5b class diverged from it.[7] The accent of Sayō (14/235), also used in places such as Shisō, differs from the others by the presence of a high tone on the first mora of class 2.5a and 2.5b nouns; this accent system is also used in the non-Banshū dialects of the cities ofTanba in Hyōgo Prefecture andFukuchiyama inKyoto Prefecture, as well as that of theIkuno-chō neighborhood of the city ofAsago.[6][7] The Kamikawa subdialect is believed to be in the process of abandoning its own system in favor of the 14/235 system as well. Especially among young people in the 14/235 region, a trend towards a high tone on the first mora of class 2.4 nouns is seen, perhaps due to influence from the accent system of Standard Japanese. That is to say, these regions are in the process of adopting the system of the (non-Banshū) dialect of theAsago-chō neighborhood of Asago City (1/2345). Young people even in other (non-Banshū) regions where the Tarui type accent is used are being influenced by the accent system of the standard language, and as a result the number of people in those areas who do not follow the patterns of the chart is increasing.
In regions using the Keihan system, there is a distinction made between 1-mora H- and L-verbs, as shown in the chart. Tarui type regions lack this distinction, pronouncing both classes the same (with the sole exception of the verbor- ("exist-animate"), which is F~H-L in both areas).[6]
In the Keihan type regions, the pitch contour of 2-mora adjectives is the same as in places like Kyoto, namely HL. Tarui type regions, on the other hand, have the same pitch contour for such adjectives as in the Tajima and Okayama dialects, with either LH~LH-L or HH~HH-L in free variation.[7] Elderly speakers of the Western Banshū dialect still preserve the distinction between H- (LF~LH-L) and L-adjectives (HL). In recent years, that distinction is in decline, with their merger into LF~LH-L that started among young people steadily becoming mainstream.[8]
There is a tendency, especially prominent with upper monograde verbs likemi- ("see") and 2-mora lower monograde verbs likeuke- ("receive"), for verbs of the monograde class to be conjugated using the quadrigrade pattern; some speakers have fully migrated all monograde verbs to the quadrigrade class:[9]
The-ba ending of the provisional form fuses with the realis stem,[r] with the final-e of that stem being deleted and the initial-b- of the provisional ending either changing to a palatal glide, as inik-ya ("go.provisional") andyoker-ya ("good.provisional") for standardike-ba andyokere-ba, respectively, or disappearing entirely, as inik-a andyoker-a. However, in the modern Eastern Banshū dialect, the conditional formeuphonic[s] +-tara is often used in place of the provisional:
A merger of the conclusive and adnominal for adjectival nouns is also heard:
Tsu