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| Nagasaki dialect | |
|---|---|
| 長崎弁 | |
 Nagasaki dialect area (orange). | |
| Native to | Japan |
| Region | MainlandNagasaki Prefecture, Kyushu |
Japonic
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| Dialects |
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| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
TheNagasaki dialect (Japanese: 長崎弁Nagasakiben) is the name given to thedialect of Japanese spoken on the mainland part ofNagasaki Prefecture on the island ofKyushu. It is a major dialect of the widerHichiku group ofKyushu Japanese, with similarities to theChikuzen (includingHakata) andKumamoto dialects, among others. It is one of the better known Hichiku dialects within Japan, with various historical proverbs that relate to its regional flavour.
There are several regional sub-dialects of the broader Nagasaki dialect, which are commonly divided into two main groups: Central-Southern and Northern. Of these, the Central-Southern dialect is further divided as shown below.[1][2]
Central-Southern and Northern differ inpitch accent, with the former possessing non-accent and the latter having a southwestern Kyushu-standard accent. They also differ grammatically, with Northern having similarities with the dialects of westernSaga Prefecture.[3] Within Central-Southern, the dialect of Nagasaki city retains vocabulary ofChinese andDutch origin, owed to the city's close ties to theShogunate during theEdo period.[4] The other divisions have been drawn to match the historical territories of Nagasaki Prefecture, which are thought to have led to the observable differences in the present day.[5][6]
Thediphthongsai (あい),oi (おい) andui (うい) experience merging in the Nagasaki dialect. For example, thedai- (だい-) indaikon (だいこんradish) becomesjaa- (じゃあ) to makejaakon (じゃあこん),ototoi (おとといday before yesterday) becomesototee (おとてぇ) andsuika (すいかwatermelon) is saidshiika (しいか).[7] Conversely, the diphthongei (えい) is unaffected, so thattokei (とけいclock) is pronounced the same as in standard Japanese.[7] Like other Kyushu dialects, the longo (お) sound derived from the diphthongsoo (おお),ou (おう) oreu (えう) is pronounceduu (うう). Examples of diphthong merging in the Nagasaki dialect are shown below.
Unlike other Kyushu dialects, the Nagasaki dialect does not distinguish between theyotsugana (ji (じ) andzi (ぢ), andzu (ず) anddzu (づ).[8] Theconsonantsga (が),gi (ぎ),gu (ぐ),ge (げ) andgo (ご) lose theirvowel sounds to become simplyg / [g].[8] There remain some sounds in the Nagasaki dialect spoken predominantly by older speakers which are not found in standard Japanese. These includeshe (しぇ) andje (じぇ), which are now commonly pronounced asse (せ) andze (ぜ) by younger speakers, as well as thelabializedvelar consonantskwa (くゎ) andgwa (ぐゎ).[9][8][10][11] Ther-starting consonants (ra (ら),ri (り),ru (る),re (れ) andro (ろ)) can also experienceelision when found within a word, leading to the omission of the consonant sound (r-). For example,are (あれthat) becomesai (あい).
In the Nagasaki dialect,ru-ending verbs may have their eponymous ending replaced with a geminate consonant (smalltsu (っ)).[12] For example,kuru (来るto come) becomesku- (来っ) andkangaeru (考えるto think) becomeskangayu- (考ゆっ).[12] Similarly toru-ending verbs, the plain dialectal form ofi- andna- adjectives may also have its ending changed to a geminate consonant. E.g.,takaka (高かtall) becomestakka (たっか).[12] Aside from when starting a word,n-starting consonants (na (な),ni (に),nu (ぬ),ne (ね),no (の)) andm-starting consonants (ma (ま),mi (み),mu (む),me め,mo (も)) often change to a nasalisedn (ん).[12][13] For example,inu (いぬdog) becomesin (いん) andtsumetai (つめたいcold) becomestsuntaka (つんたか).[12]
The sub-dialect of Shimabara possesses several notable phonological differences with the rest of the Nagasaki dialect area. Certains-startingvoiced consonants (za (ざ),ze (ぜ),zo (ぞ)) become pronounced with a leadingd / [d] instead, resulting in pronunciations closer toda (だ),de (で) anddo (ど).[14][15] In addition,ri (り) andryo (りょ) may be said aszi (ぢ) anddzo (ぢょ), respectively.[14]i / [i] may also be replaced by au / [u] sound so thattori (とりbird) becomestoru (とる) andawabi (あわびabalone) becomesawabu (あわぶ).[16]
The Central-Southern sub-dialect group of the Nagasaki dialect possesses a so-called ‘second-type’ (nikei (二型)) pitch accent of the wider southwestern Kyushu-standard pitch accent.[17] It shares this trait withKagoshima Prefecture and the western part ofKumamoto Prefecture. This pitch accent has generally consistent rules which change based on the number ofmora and type of word; second-type pitch accent distinguishes between two majornoun types, ‘A’ and ‘B’. ‘A’-type nouns are generally pronounced with a higher pitch towards the start of the word. For example,kaze (かぜwind) orkatachi (かたちshape). This higher pitch never exceeds the second mora, regardless of the length of the word. In contrast, ‘B’-type nouns are pronounced with a higher pitch only on the final mora. For example,haru (はるspring) orkaminari (かみなりthunder).[18] Pitch accent can change whenparticles are attached to the word. For ‘A’-type nouns, an extra particle could ‘extend’ the length of a two-mora noun so that it is usually non-accented second mora is stressed. For example,kaze becomeskaze when the particlega (が) is attached to (kazega (かぜが). Similarly, ‘B’-type nouns can have the stress usually found on their final mora transferred to the addended particle instead. For example,haru becomesharu whenga is attached (haruga (はるが)). Among younger speakers, ‘A’-type nouns can have the stress on their first mora transferred to the second mora when a particle is attached, so thatkazega (かぜが) becomeskaze ga (かぜが).[19] Additionally, in regions close to Saga Prefecture and around Shimabara city, ‘A’-type nouns may not have their stress extended to the second mora when a particle is addended. E.g.,kazega (かぜが) remainskaze ga (かぜが).[20] The table below shows some examples of pitch accent in the Central-Southern Nagasaki sub-dialect.
| Noun type | Two-mora | Three-mora | Four-mora |
| A | Kaze (かぜ) Chiga (ちが) | Katachi (かたち) Kazega (かぜが) | Kamaboko (かまぼこ) Katachi ga (かたちか) |
| B | Haru (はる) Tega (てが) | Inochi (いのち) Haruga (はるが) | Kaminari (かみなり) Inochiga (いのちが) |
Unlike the Central-Southern sub-dialects, the Northern sub-dialect does not possess any discernible pitch accent, with all words pronounced flat.[19]
Theinflection of verbs differs considerably between the Nagasaki dialect and standard Japanese. The table below shows the differences in conjugation between Standard Japanese and the Nagasaki dialect for theIchidan verbukeru (受けるto receive).
| Form | Standard Japanese | Nagasaki dialect |
|---|---|---|
| Plain/dictionary | Ukeru (受けるreceive) | Ukuru (受くる) |
| Negative | Ukenai (受けないdo not receive) | Uken (受けん) |
| -masu stem | Uke- (受け-) | Uke- (受け-) |
| Hypothetical | Ukereba (受ければif I receive) | Ukureba (受くれば) |
| Imperative | Ukero (受けろreceive) | Ukero (受けろ) |
Traditionally, for thevolitional and persuasive form (shiyou (しよう)let’s ~), Ichidan verbs with an -iru (-いる) ending are conjugated with a palatalised-u (-う) sound. For example,okiru (起きるto wake up) is conjugated tookyuu (起きゅう) as opposed tookiyou (起きよう) (with both meaninglet's get up). Likewise, some former Nidan verbs such asderu (出るto go out) are palatalised (in this case tojuu (じゅう) orzuu (ずう) instead ofdeyou (出よう) (all meaninglet's go out)).[21] A more recent conjugation pattern has also emerged in which Ichidan and former Nidan verbs are conjugated as if they are Godan verbs.[21] E.g.,okirou (起きろう) anddero (出ろう).[21]
Thete- (て-) and past tense form of certain verbs experience euphony in the Nagasaki dialect. These include verbs ending in -u (-う), -bu (-ぶ) and -mu (-む), as well as those ending in -su (-す). For the former three, au sound is inserted as shown in the examples below.[22]
For the latter, ani (い) sound is inserted as shown in the example below.
A report in 1998 found that among these instances of euphony, in particular the insertion of -u in -bu and -mu ending verbs was vanishing among younger speakers, with most conjugating in concordance with standard Japanese.[13][22]
Forpolite speech, the Nagasaki dialect makes use of the bound auxiliary -masu (-ます), albeit often with geminate consonant (smalltsu (っ)) insertion. For example,shirimasen (知りませんI don’t know (polite)) may be said asshirimassen (知りまっせん).[22] Like standard Japanese, speakers of the Nagasaki dialect may contract the hypothetical form of verbs. For example,kakeba (書けばif I write) may be saidkakya (書きゃ) andsureba (すればif I do),surya (すりゃ).[22]
Like other Hichiku dialects, the Nagasaki dialect possesses several notable differences regardingi-adjectives when compared to standard Japanese. For the plain and attributive form, the eponymous ending -i (-い) is replaced withka (か).[23][24] For example,akai (赤いred) becomesakaka (赤か) andshiroi (白いwhite) becomesshiroka (白か). The connective -ku (-く) is contracted to -u (-う), leading to conjugations such asyounaka (良うなか) (yokunai (良くないnot good)). The continuative form, -kute (-くてand), is changed to -shite (-して), so thatyokute (良くてgood and…) is saidyoushite (良うして).[13][23] Unlike standard Japanese, which simply addendsdarou (だろうprobably, could be) to the end of all adjective types to express conjecture,i-adjectives in the Nagasaki dialect can be conjugated.-rou (-ろう) is added to the plain form to create expressions such asyokarou (良かろうit’s good, right?) orshirokarou (白かろうI wonder if it’s white). Alternatively, an equivalent todarou,jarou (じゃろう), can be directly added to the end of the adjective like inyokajarou (良かじゃろう) orshirokajarou (白じゃろう).[23] For the hypothetical form,-kereba (-ければif its…) is changed to -kareba (-かれば), which may be contracted to -karya (-かりゃ).[25] For example:yokareba (良かればif it's good) /yokarya (良かりゃ). For expressing conjecture about the state of something (-garu (-がるseeming to be) in standard Japanese),-sshasuru (しゃする) is used. For example,ureshigaru (嬉しがるhe/she seems happy) becomesuresshasuru (嬉っしゃする).[25] Lastly,-sa (-さ) may be added to the stem ofi-adjectives to express exclamation. For example,umasaa! (美味さあ!it's so tasty!).[25]
Likei-adjectives,na-adjectives often haveka attached in place of a copula for their plain and attributive forms. For example,genki da (元気だ,I'm well) becomesgenkika (元気か).[24][25] Somena-adjectives may havena inserted in addition toka, producing forms such ashenna ka (変なか,it’s strange) (equivalent tohen da (変だ)).[25]
The Nagasaki dialect makes use of thecopulasja (じゃ) andya (や). In practice, however, they rarely appear in these forms, appearing instead as conjugated versions. For example, the past tense (jatta (じゃった) andyatta (やった), bothwas) or hypothetical (jarou (じゃろう) andyarou (やろう) forms. There is also a marked disparity in usage ofja andya between older and younger speakers, with older speakers preferringjatta andjarou and younger speakers tending towardsyatta andyarou.[26] In place ofja andya, the sentence-ending particlesbai (ばい) andtai (たい) are also commonly used as declaratives.[26]
For the present tense negative (-nai (-ない)),n (ん) is attached to the -nai stem. For example,ikanai (行かない,don’t go) becomesikan (行かん). Aside from the attachment ofn, certain Ichidan verbs may be conjugated akin to Godan verbs, so thatokinai (起きないdo not go out) may not be conjugated in the Nagasaki dialect asokin (起きん) but asokiran (起きらん).[27] For the past tense negative (-nakatta (-なかった)),-njatta (-んじゃった) or-nyatta (-んやった) is attached to the-nai stem. For example,ikanakatta (行かなかった,did not go) becomesikanjatta (行かんじゃった) orikanyatta (行かんやった). In Hirado and the Kitamatsu area,-jatta (-じゃった) is added to the-nai stem instead (E.g.,ikajatta (行かじゃった)).[26]
Like other Kyushu dialects, the Nagasaki dialect makes a distinction between theprogressive andperfective aspects. Generally,-yoru (-よる) is used to express a progressive state whilst -toru (-とる) is used for completed actions.[28][29] However, in some parts of the dialect area -choru (-ちょる) may be used in place of -toru, and in the Isahaya sub-dialect -oru (-おる) is sometimes used for the progressive aspect instead of -yoru.[30] The table below shows how these auxiliaries attach to the Godan verbfuru (降る, to rain, to fall).
| Nagasaki dialect | Standard Japanese | |
| Progressive aspect ‘It is raining’ |
| Futteiru (降っている) |
| Perfective aspect ‘It has rained’ |
|
In addition tojarou andyarou, verbs andi-adjectives can also have their form changed to express conjecture in the Nagasaki dialect. Fori-adjectives,-rou (-ろう) is attached to the plain form like innakarou (無かろう,there probably is none) =nai darou (無いだろう).[31] For verbs,-u (-う) is often attached to the-nai stem and palatalised, thendai (だい) is added to the end.[31] For example,hareru darou (晴れるだろう,it will probably be sunny) becomesharyuudai (晴りゅうだい). Around Nagasaki city,dai is not added, so that the form above is simplyharyuu.[32] When expressing conjecture regarding the state of something or its likeness (you da (ようだto belike,toseem), the bound auxiliariesgoto (ごと),gotoaru (ごとある) andgotaru (ごたる) are used.[33][34] For expressing hearsay about something (sou (そう)), the bound auxiliaryrashika (らしか) and the particlegena (げな) are used.[35]
The Nagasaki dialect makes a distinction between so-called ‘ability potential’ (nouryokukanou (能力可能)) and ‘situational potential’ (joukyou kanou (状況可能)). Ability potential refers to someone or something being able or unable to do something due to their internal ability. For example, a child cannot ride a bike because they are too small. In contrast, situational potential places the condition for potential to do something on an external locus. For example, a man cannot eat a fish because it has gone off. For ability potential, the bound auxiliaries -kiru (-きる) andyuru (-ゆる) are attached to the -masu stem ofGodan verbs and some Nidan verbs, respectively.[31] Whilst-yuru is widespread across Kyushu, -kiru is found exclusively in Nagasaki and Saga Prefectures.[36] For situational potential, the bound auxiliaries-ruru (-るる) and-raruru (-らるる) are attached to the -nai stem of certain Nidan verbs.[33] Exclusively in the dialect of Nagasaki city,-dasan (-ださん) may also be used to express inability (e.g.,cannot) by attaching to the -masu stem of verbs.[29][33] The example sentences below show uses of the potential bound auxiliaries mentioned above.
→Mada komoushite jitensha ni norikiran (まだこもうして自転車に乗りきらん).[37]
→Kon mesha nemattokken kuwarenbai (こんめしゃ ねまっとっけん くわれんばい).[37]
→Machi san ikouchi omoutotta batten isogashuushite ikidasanjatta (町さん行こうち思うとったばってん忙しゅうして行きださんじゃった).[37]
The Nagasaki dialect makes use of various bound auxiliaries to express politeness, with some variation across the dialect area. Across most of Nagasaki, -naru (-なる) and -nasaru (-なさる) are attached to the -masu stem of verbs whilst -su (-す) and -ru (-る) are attached to the -nai stem of Godan verbs and the irregular verbsuru (する). Meanwhile, -rasu (-らす) and -raru (-らる) are used for all other verb types.[38][39] The city of Oomura and its surrounding area shares usage of the polite bound auxiliary -nasu (-なす) with the Kumamoto dialect, whilst two additional polite bound auxiliaries,-sharu (-しゃる) and -nsharu (-んしゃる), are commonly used in the Isahaya sub-dialect.[30][40][41]
The Nagasaki dialect possesses a number of particles that are not found in standard Japanese, with many of them shared with other Hichiku dialects. The nominative case-marking particle (ga (が) in standard Japanese) is replaced byno (の) orn (ん), whilstto (と) is used in place of the explanatory and soft interrogative particleno (の). Furthermore, the accusative case-marking particlewo (を) is replaced byba (ば).[42][43] There are numerous particles used to indicate direction (ni (に)), includingsan (さん),shan (しゃん) andsame (さめ).Ni itself is commonly abbreviated toi (い), which often merges with the preceding word.[44][45] To describe the goal of an action (...するため,for the purpose of), the particlegya(a) (ぎゃ(あ)) is widely used.[44][46] The particlekara (から) (not to be confused withkara (から,because / so)) is used to express a method or means of doing something (commonlyde (で)).[44] The adverbial particlewa (は), used to indicate a new topic, is changed tona (な) when following a nasaln (ん) sound. For example,hon wa (本は,the book is…) becomeshon’na (本な). The following sentences provide examples of the particles listed above in everyday conversation.
Across most of the Nagasaki dialect area, the reason-expressing resultative conjunctive particlekara (から,because, so) is replaced byken (けん) orkee (けぇ). To express a greater degree of emphasis, the particleskenka (けんか) andkenga (けんが) may also be used.[44] In the Northern sub-dialect, the Shimabara sub-dialect, as well as in the coastal parts of the Sonogi dialect area,sen (せん) orshen (しぇん) are also used.[47][48] The phrasessori ken (そりけん) andsoi ken (そいけん) are used as equivalents tosou da kara (そうだからbecause it’s like that).[24]
The adversative resultative conjunctive particlekeredomo (けれども, but, although) has a variety of equivalents in the Nagasaki dialect depending on area. Most common are the particlesbatten (ばってん),batte(e) (ばって(え)) and their more emphatic counterpartsbattenka (ばってんか) andbattenga (ばってんが). In the Isahaya, Sonogi and northern Shimabara sub-dialects,don (どん) andjon (じょん) are also used.[46][49] The phrasessojjon (そっじょん),soru batten (そるばってん),soi batten (そいばってん) andsogan batten (そがんばってん) are all used as equivalents to the phrasesou da kedo (そうだけどthat may be true, but...).[24]
There are a wide variety of particles used to express resultative hypotheticals (if X then Y) in the Nagasaki dialect, with usage depending on area. These particles are outlined below.
In the Sonogi area, the conjunctive phrasesaiba (あいば) andnaiba (ないば) are commonly used as equivalents to the phrasesore nara (それならif that is the case).[30]
For adversative hypotheticals (-temo (-ても,even if)), the particlesten (てん) andtaccha (たっちゃ) are used.[35]
The particlesbai andtai are used in place of the copulasja andya, attaching directly to nouns.Bai is often used for affirming one's own subjective conclusions about something and also as a soft explanatory particle, whereastai is used for self-evident, objectively true facts or situations.[51] There are several variations of the standardbai andtai particles, includingbana (ばな),ban (ばん) andbaita (ばいた) for the former andtaa (たぁ) andtan (たん) for the latter.[51]
The particlesi (い) andde(e) (で(ぇ)) are used following the volitional form of verbs to express an added element of emphasis or persuasion.[52] E.g.,ikou yo (行こうよlet’s go) becomesikoui (行こうい) andyameyou yo (やめようよlet's stop) becomesyamyuude (やみゅうで).
Like standard Japanese, the Nagasaki dialect makes frequent use of the sentence-ending particlesna (な),no (の) andne (ね), withne used frequently by younger speakers.[52] The interjectory particlesa (さ) is also commonly used.[52] Among female speakers, the particleshe (へ) andtohe (とへ) are also widely used.[32]
In the eastern part of the Sonogi sub-dialect area, the sentence-ending particlezan (ざん) acts as an equivalent to all three of the sentence-ending particleszo (ぞ),yo (よ) andne (ね). In the bay area of western Sonogi as well as in the Kitamatsu region,zai (ざい) is also used with the same meaning.[53][54]
The particlenai (ない) is commonly used as an affirmative response marker in the Northern sub-dialect.[50] Female speakers in the Nagasaki city area usehaisaa (はいさぁ) with the same meaning asnai.[32]
There are several regional variations of the interrogative case-marking particleka (か). In the Isahaya area,kan (かん) is often heard, whilstkanashi (かなし) orkanaashi (かなぁし) is used in northern Shimabara andkanai (かない) is said in southern Shimabara.[15][55]
The Isahaya area features several commonly used sentence-ending particles which are used to denote a degree of politeness. These are:nata (なた) ornataa (なたぁ), andnomai (のもい).[5][30]Nata andnataa are derivations of the phrasenaa anata (なぁあなたhey, you) andnomai is derived from the phrasenaa omae (なぁお前 alsohey, you).[56]