| Akiyama-gō Japanese | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Japan |
| Region | Akiyama-gō (Shin'etsu region) |
| Japanese | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
The Akiyama dialect (秋山郷方言, Akiyama-gō hōgen) is a dialect spoken in the hamlet of Akiyama, located on the Nakatsu River along the border of Sakae Village in Nagano Prefecture and Tsunan Town in Niigata Prefecture. Due to the hamlet's location, communication and transportation were difficult before the modern era, particular during winters when snowfall was heavy, and thus it remained highly secluded until the Showa Era. The Akiyama dialect shares peculiarities with both Middle Japanese and with Eastern Old Japanese that set it apart from the surrounding Tōkai–Tōsan dialects of Nagano and Niigata Prefectures, and consequently it is considered a language island in the region. In contrast, many of the same Eastern Old Japanese features are shared in common with the Hachijō language and with the dialect of Toshima.
Phonology
editVowels
editIn contrast to Standard Japanese, which distinguishes 5 vowel qualities, the Akiyama dialect distinguishes 7:
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | /i/ [i] | /u/ [u] | |
| Close-Mid | /e/ [e ~ ɪ] | /o/ [o ~ ʊ] | |
| Open-Mid | /ɛ/ [ɛ ~ e̞] | /ɔ/ [ɔ ~ o̞] | |
| Open | /a/ [a] |
Each vowel can occur as either short or long. When compared to Standard Japanese /e/ and /o/, which are approximately mid vowels, the Akiyama dialect's /e/ and /o/ are close-mid or near-close, approaching (and occasionally being switched with) /i/ and /u/. In the katakana orthography used by Mase (1982), close-mid vowels are denoted with the same kana as Japanese /e/ and /o/, while the open-mid vowels /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ are denoted by using kana with /e/ and /o/ followed by a small katakana ァ a.
Long vowels in the Akiyama dialect generally correspond to Late Middle Japanese diphthongs or vowel sequences:
| Late Middle Japanese | /ii ~ iː/ | /oi/ | /ui/ | /ie/ | /ei/ | /ai/ | /uu ~ uː/ | /ou ~ oː/ | /au ~ ɔː/ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modern Standard Japanese | /iː/ | /oi/ | /ui/ | /ie/ | /eː/ | /ai/ | /uː/ | /oː/ | |
| Akiyama dialect | /iː/ | /eː/ | /ɛː/ | /uː/ | /oː/ | /ɔː/ | |||
- Word-final long vowels can sporadically shorten.
- After /#, n, m, p, b, r/, /u-o/ and /i-e/ have no distinction.
- Often /fi/ → /fe/, or devoiced /fi/ → /fu/.
- After y, sy, zy, cy: /u/ → /o/.
Minimal Pairs
editThe following minimal pairs between the vowels are given in Mase (1982):
小路 koozi "alley" - 麹 kɔɔzi "malt" 十 too "ten" - 塔 tɔɔ "tower" 洞 doo "hollow, cavity" - 堂 dɔɔ "pavilion" 用事 yoozi "tasks" -- 楊枝 yɔɔzi "toothpick" 冬至 toozi "winter solstice" -- 湯治 tɔɔzi "hot-spring relaxation" 見えた meeta "was visible" -- 蒔いた mɛɛta "sowed" 煮えた neeta "boiled" -- 泣いた nɛɛta "cried" 稗 fee "barnyard millet" -- 灰 fɛɛ "ashes"
Consonants
editThe consonants of the Akiyama dialect are largely the same as in Standard Japanese, with only a few differences: Standard Japanese /h/ corresponds to Akiyama /ɸ/, and Akiyama retains the labialized velars /kʷ, ɡʷ/ of Late Middle Japanese (which have merged into the plain velars /k, ɡ/ in Standard Japanese).
| Bilabial | Coronal | Velar / Glottal |
Labio- velar |
Placeless | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m ⟨m⟩ | n ⟨n⟩ | N | ||||
| Plosive / Affricate |
Voiceless | p ⟨p⟩ | t ⟨t⟩ | t͡s ⟨c⟩ | k ⟨k⟩ | kʷ ⟨kw⟩ | Q |
| Voiced | b ⟨b⟩ | d ⟨d⟩ | z ⟨z⟩ | ɡ ⟨g⟩ | ɡʷ ⟨gw⟩ | ||
| Fricative | ɸ ⟨f⟩ | s ⟨s⟩ | h ⟨h⟩ | ||||
| Tap | ɾ ⟨r⟩ | ||||||
| Approximant | w ⟨w⟩ | j ⟨y⟩ | |||||
All consonants become palatalized when followed by the close front vowel /i/ or /iː/ or the glide /j/. Furthermore, when palatalized, the consonants /t/ and /k/ merge with /t͡s/ into palatal [t͡ɕ], and likewise /d/ and /ɡ/ merge with /z/ into [ʑ ~ d͡ʑ].
Like Standard Japanese, Akiyama is a futatsu-gana dialect, having merged historical づ・ぢ /du, di/ into ず・じ /zu, zi/. As such, the consonant /z/ can vary freely as [z ~ d͡z] when unpalatalized and [ʑ ~ d͡ʑ] when palatalized.
Akiyama has retained the bilabial pronunciation of historical /ɸ/ before all vowels, in contrast to Standard Japanese, where native [ɸ] is found only as an allophone of /h/ before /u/ and /uː/.
Akiyama has retained the labialized velar consonants /kʷ, ɡʷ/ from Late Middle Japanese when they occurred in the sequences /kʷa/ and /ɡʷa/. In earlier times, Akiyama also retained Late Middle Japanese /kʷɔː/ and /ɡʷɔː/, but according to Mase (1982), these have now largely merged into /kɔː/ and /ɡɔː/. Akiyama has also innovated new instances of /kʷ, ɡʷ/ from sequences of /ku, ɡu/+vowel, such as in クォァー /kʷɔː/ "let's eat" (Late Middle Japanese 食わう /kuwɔː/).
The consonant /d/ has a tendency to weaken into [ɾ] in intervocalic position, but not to the extent that the opposition between /d/ and /ɾ/ is lost.
The velar /ɡ/ is always pronounced as a plosive [ɡ], never as a nasal [ŋ].
Similar to tendencies in the nearby Echigo dialects, the sequences /Nb, Nz, Ng/ often become /Qp, Qt͡s, Qk/ in Akiyama:
貧乏 binbou -- beppo さんざん sanzan -- sacca 三弁 ??? -- saccu, saccyo 安堵 ando -- atto 三合 sangou -- sakkɔ
Isochrony and Pitch Accent
editUnlike Standard Japanese, which is generally described as mora-timed, the Akiyama dialect is syllable-timed, with each syllable taking up roughly equal units of time regardless of the presence of a long vowel or a coda consonant.
According to Mase (1982), the pitch accent system of Akiyama is largely similar to that of Standard Japanese, save with these major differences:
- Words that are unaccented in Japanese have no "upstep" in Akiyama, remaining low-pitch throughout their whole duration:
- [fana] "nose" LL-L
- [masu] "trout" LL-L
- isi rock, iwa rock, oto sound, kami paper, kawa river, kita north, kura saddle, sita down, curu string, nasi pear, hasi bridge, fata flag, fizi elbow, fito person, mune breast, mura village, yuci snow
- Single-mora words that are accented in Japanese have a falling pitch in Akiyama when spoken carefully in isolation:
- [ko] "powder" F
- [t͡ɕi] "tree" F
- Among three-mora words, many of those that have transitioned from initial-accented to unaccented [clarify here] have remained initial-accented in Akiyama:
- (insert examples)
Grammar
editɛɛ ɔɔ
- Shuushikei: tac-u-na, tac-u-rɔɔ. Rentaikei: tat-o.
- an da = のだ
- Monograde: -ro imperative (old/strong), -re imperative (new)
- Adjectives: akɛɛ "is red", akɛɛkke "was red", akɛɛku naro "become red", akɛɛ daba "if it's red"
- Adjectives: akɛɛkeba "when it's red"; OLDER tookaba "if it's far", tookado "although it's far"
- Adjectives: akɛɛ/akakke/akɛɛke "which is red"
- Adjectives: akɛɛ-ge-da, akakke-ge-da, akeɛɛkke-ge-da "seems red"
- Intention/Conjecture: kak-ɔɔzu "I shall write", s-yoozu "I shall do", har(e)-yoozu "it should clear up", e-kar-ɔɔzu "should be good"
- Intention/Conjecture: yar-obee "I'll give", sabee-bee "is likely cold"
- Reason sukɛɛ, sukɛɛde, sukɛɛre (from sakai) : ema ego sukɛɛ macyare "I'm coming now, so wait"; kono mekanna sukkɛɛ sukɛɛ-re bocyare "this orange is sour, so throw it out"
- Reason see, seene (from soe ni)
- Reason danga (from Echigo dialects)
References
editWorks cited
edit- Mase Yoshio [in Japanese] (1982), 信越の秘境 秋山郷のことばと暮らし (Secluded in Shin'etsu: Language and Life in Akiyama Hamlet), Dai‐Ichi Hoki Co., Ltd., doi:10.11501/10259313.