Iyo dialect

From IkataWiki

The Iyo dialect(伊予弁 Iyo-ben) is a dialect of Japanese spoken throughout Ehime Prefecture. Its name comes from Ehime's former name prior to the Meiji Restoration, the Iyo Province(伊予国 Iyo no kuni).

Japanese dialects can differ wildly from the standard language(標準語 hyōjun-go). It can be difficult for outsiders, both Japanese and foreigners alike, to understand different dialects of Japanese, and the Iyo dialect is no exception.

This article will focus on the major differences between Iyo dialect and standard Japanese, with the goal of helping Japanese language learners better understand daily spoken Japanese in the Iyo dialect. In particular, JET Programme CIRs and advanced ALTs may find this information helpful.

Contents

Notes

  • While these features are all found in the Iyo dialect, this article is not exhaustive, nor does it distinguish between features unique to Iyo-ben and those also found in other dialects.
  • There are variations in Iyo-ben even within Ehime, especially by region and age group.
  • Except where noted, these speech patterns are used by both men and women.
  • This article assumes knowledge of Hiragana and basic to intermediate Japanese grammar.

Grammar

While much information about dialects in Japanese focuses on individual vocabulary words, the biggest hurdle for non-native speakers is the grammar.

Grammar in the Iyo dialect has the same basic structure and features as standard Japanese, but conjugations and some words are different.

Copula や

Verb info: "To be"
Dictionary form や
Past tense やった
Negative form やない
Past-negative やなかった
Standard
Japanese 		だ

A copula is a word that joins the subject of a sentence with a predicate. In English this is "to be" and its various conjugations (am, was, etc.).

In standard Japanese the basic copula is だ, with polite form です. In the Iyo dialect, the copula is や.

Example
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
今日はいい天気やね
kyō wa ii tenki ya ne 		今日はいい天気だね
kyō wa ii tenki da ne 		Nice weather today, isn't it?


Since や has no polite equivalent, です is used in polite conversation.

The copula や is a very common feature of dialects in western Japan(関西|Kansai).

Because けん

Word info: "Because"
Dialect form けん
Standard
Japanese 		から
Type Suffix particle

The suffix particle から, meaning "because" in standard Japanese, becomes けん in Iyo dialect.

This should not be confused with the particle から meaning "from" (as in "from A to B"), which is identical in standard Japanese and Iyo dialect.

Example 1
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
今忙しいけん、あとで話そう
ima isogashii ken, ato de hanasō 		今忙しいから、あとで話そう
ima isogashii kara, ato de hanasō 		I'm busy right now, so let's talk later.


In some parts of Ehime this is pronounced more like きん, though the meaning is unchanged.

けん is often combined with the copula や to make やけん, which is equivalent to だから ("therefore") in standard Japanese

Example 2
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
もう5時やけん、急がないと！
mō goji yaken, isoganai to! 		もう5時だから、急がないと！
mō goji dakara, isoganai to! 		It's already 5! I'd better hurry.


Animate "to be" おる

Verb info: "To be"
Dictionary form おる
Past tense おった
Negative form おらん
Past-negative おらんかった
Standard
Japanese 		いる

In standard Japanese, the verb "to be" is different for animate and inanimate objects, namely いる and ある respectively. In Iyo dialect, いる is replaced by おる.

This has a number of consequences. For one, おる exists in standard Japanese as the humble form(謙譲語 kenjō-go) of いる. In Iyo dialect this politeness nuance is lost, which can cause some confusion for outsiders. Another consequence is that おる (a type I verb) conjugates differently from いる (a type II verb); the result is that even familiar grammatical constructions can sound completely different.

Example 1
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
田中くんは今日、おる？
Tanaka-kun wa kyō, oru? 		田中くんは今日、いる？
Tanaka-kun wa kyō, iru? 		Is Tanaka here today?


The honorific form of いる is いらっしゃる; confusingly, in Iyo dialect this is often replaced with the passive/honorific form of おる, which is おられる.

Example 2
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
佐々木さんはおられますか？
Sasaki-san wa oraremasuka? 		佐々木さんはいらっしゃいますか？
Sasaki-san wa irasshaimasuka? 		Is Mr. Sasaki there?


Truncated negative

As seen above with the negative conjugation of おる, the negative forms of verbs are often truncated from 〜ない in standard Japanese to 〜ん in Iyo dialect. 〜かった can then be appended to the 〜ん to form the past tense, 〜んかった.

Example 1
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
今日は休みやけん、オフィスにおらん。
kyō wa yasumi yaken, ofisu ni oran. 		今日は休みだから、オフィスにいない。
kyō wa yasumi dakara, ofisu ni inai. 		I'm off today, so I won't be in the office.


Example 2
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
へぇ！知らんかった！
hee! shirankatta! 		へぇ！知らなかった！
hee! shiranakatta! 		No way! I didn't know (that)!


Verb info: "To do"
Dictionary form する
Past tense した
Negative form せん
Past-negative せんかった
Standard
Japanese 		する
(only the negative forms differ)

Note that する, the verb "to do," is irregular, conjugating to せん for the negative form.

Example 3
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
卒業してからはぜんぜん勉強せんよ。
sotsugyō shite kara wa zenzen benkyō sen yo. 		卒業してからはぜんぜん勉強しないよ。
sotsugyō shite kara wa zenzen benkyō shinai yo. 		Ever since graduating I haven't studied at all.


The negative of the て-form is the above truncated negative, plus で.

Example 4
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
そんなことせんで！
sonna koto sende! 		そんなことしないで！
sonna koto shinaide! 		Don't do (things like) that!


Continuous verbs

In standard Japanese, a continuous action or state can be expressed by putting a verb into て-form and appending いる ("to be" for animate objects). In Iyo-ben いる is replaced by おる; this 〜ておる form is then slurred together in two different ways to form two classes of continuous verbs: One ending in よる and one ending in とる.

While the standard Japanese 〜ている form describes both

  1. continuous physical action such as running(走っている hashitteiru), and
  2. continuous state of being such as marriage(結婚している kekkon shiteiru),

the Iyo dialect distinguishes between these two usages. In general,

  1. the 〜よる form refers to physical action, and
  2. the 〜とる form refers to continuous state.

This is an interesting case where the dialect is more expressive than the standard language.

Physical action 〜よる

Verb info: "Is V-ing"
Dictionary form 〜よる
Past tense 〜よった
Negative form 〜よらん
Past-negative 〜よらんかった
Standard
Japanese 		〜ている

The continuous physical action form 〜よる is constructed as follows:

  1. Instead of the て-form, start with the verb stem. (Simply put, the verb stem is ます-form without the ます. The verb stem tends to end with a kana in the xi row, e.g. い, き, し, ち, etc.)
  2. Attach おる.
  3. The お is then slurred (more precisely, undergoes onbin) to よ.

In short,

V-stem + おる → V-stem + よる
Example 1 (type II verb 見る)
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
今テレビを見よる。
ima terebi o miyoru. 		今テレビを見ている。
ima terebi o miteiru. 		I'm watching TV.


Example 2 (type I verb 使う)
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
今ホッチキスを使いよるけん、終わったらあげる。
ima hotchikisu o tsukaiyoru ken, owattara ageru 		今ホッチキスを使っているから、終わったらあげる。
ima hotchikisu o tsukatteiru kara, owattara ageru 		I'm using the stapler right now; I'll give it to you when I'm done.


Continuous state 〜とる

Verb info: "Is V-ing"
Dictionary form 〜とる
Past tense 〜とった
Negative form 〜とらん
Past-negative 〜とらんかった
Standard
Japanese 		〜ている

Another alternative continuous verb conjugation is とる. With よる you start with the verb stem, but with とる you start with the て-form as in standard Japanese.

  1. Start with the て-form.
  2. Attach おる.
  3. The てお part is then combined (more precisely, undergoes onbin) to と (or sometimes ちょ).

In short,

て-form + おる → "と-form" + る (〜とる)

For type II verbs, the とる and よる conjugations are identical except for the と and よ. This is not the case for type I verbs, as the て-form may introduce ん (for verbs ending in む, ぶ, or ぬ) and other differences from the よる case.

Example 1 (type I verb 住む)
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
1年前から愛媛に住んどる。
ichinen mae kara Ehime ni sundoru. 		1年前から愛媛に住んでいる。
ichinen mae kara Ehime ni sundeiru. 		I've lived in Ehime for one year.


Example 2 (type II verb 生きる)
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
ムカデを踏み殺そうとしたけど、まだ生きとった。
mukade o fumikorosō to shita kedo, mada ikitotta. 		ムカデを踏み殺そうとしたけど、まだ生きていた。
mukade o fumikorosō to shita kedo, mada ikiteita. 		I tried to crush the mukade, but it was still alive.


Further discussion

The distinction between physical action and state of being can sometimes be difficult to understand. Consider these examples:

Continuous action
You're at a party. Just as you start wondering when Mr. Suzuki will come, you look out the window and see him walking toward the door.
Example 1
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
鈴木さんが来よる。
Suzuki-san ga kiyoru. 		鈴木さんが来ている。
Suzuki-san ga kiteiru. 		Mr. Suzuki is coming.


State of being
You just arrive at a party. You ask the host, "Is Mr. Tanaka here yet?" Unbeknown to you, Mr. Tanaka arrived 20 minutes ago. The host answers,
Example 2
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
田中さんは来とる。
Tanaka-san wa kitoru. 		田中さんは来ている。
Tanaka-san wa kiteiru. 		Mr. Tanaka is here.


In the first example, Mr. Suzuki is physically walking toward the speaker, so this is a physical action. In the second example, as of 20 minutes ago Mr. Tanaka is no longer physically en route anywhere; he has already arrived, which constitutes a state of being (in English perhaps "in attendance"), described in standard Japanese as 来ている.

In theory, all verbs should be able to be conjugated to 〜よる or 〜とる. The preceding examples do indeed use 来る in both conjugations. Interestingly, this possibility would seem to create collisions that don't exist in standard Japanese.

Standard Japanese
生きる (ikiru "to live") → 生きている, and 行く (iku "to go") → 行っている
Iyo dialect
生きる → 生きよる, and 行く → 行きよる

However, the semantic distinction of action vs state resolves this overlap: "Living" (生きている) is always a state, not a physical action in Japanese, so it can only conjugate to 生きとる. On the other hand 行く, like 来る, can refer both to physical action (行きよる "going"), or a state of being (行っとる "gone").

Example 1
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
鈴木さんは行きよる。
Suzuki-san wa ikiyoru. 		鈴木さんは行っている。
Suzuki-san wa itteiru. 		Mr. Suzuki is on his way.


Example 2
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
田中さんは東京に行っとる。
Tanaka-san wa Tōkyō ni ittoru. 		田中さんは東京に行っている。
Tanaka-san wa Tōkyō ni itteiru. 		Mr. Tanaka is in Tokyo.


The particle が

Word info: "?"
Dialect form が
Standard
Japanese 		の
Type Particle (various)

The standard Japanese question marker is か, which has no explicitly spoken English equivalent, but can be said to be like a question mark in written English.

In some parts of Ehime, particularly northern Nan'yo (Ikata, Yawatahama, etc.), people use が as a sentence-final question marker; at first blush this might seem to come from か, but it is actually a replacement for the particle の, which can have several meanings:

  1. At the end of a sentence, it is a question marker with the nuance of requesting an explanation.
    Example: 何してるの？ (nani shiteru no?) in standard Japanese means "What are you doing?"
  2. When modified by a preceding clause it can be an indefinite pronoun (equivalent to こと), essentially turning the clause into a noun.
    Example: 東京に行くのは火曜日だ。 (Tōkyō ni iku no wa kayōbi da.) in standard Japanse means "Tuesday is when I'm going to Tokyo."
  3. Paired with the particle に, the suffix particle のに means "even though," with the nuance of decrying some inconsistency or unfairness.
    Example: 一緒に行ってくれると言ったのに！ (issho ni itte kureru to itta noni!) in standard Japanese means "But you said you'd go with me!"

が in the Iyo dialect can, but doesn't always, replace の in all of the above situations. The most common and confusing use is as a question marker. It is confusing because が as a sentence-final particle in standard Japanese generally means "but" or "however." When used in these cases, in Iyo dialect it loses this meaning entirely.

Example 1
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
「りんご」は英語で何というが？
"ringo" wa eigo de nan to iu ga? 		「りんご」は英語で何というの？
"ringo" wa eigo de nan to iu no? 		How do you say "apple" in English?


Example 2
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
そういうがは、ちょっとわからない。
sō iu ga wa, chotto wakaranai 		そういうのは、ちょっとわからない。
sō iu no wa, chotto wakaranai 		I don't really know much about (things like) that.


Example 3
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
せっかくここまで来たがに、閉店とは何だよ！
sekkaku koko made kita gani, heiten towa nan dayo! 		せっかくここまで来たのに、閉店とは何だよ！
sekkaku koko made kita noni, heiten towa nan dayo! 		We came all this way, just for them to be closed!? What's with that!?


が is frequently paired with the continuous よる to make this commonly-heard equivalent of 何してるの？:

Example 4
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
何しよるが？
nani shiyoru ga? 		何してるの？
nani shiteru no? 		What are you doing?


Adjectives to adverbs

In standard Japanese, い-adjectives are turned into adverbs by dropping the い and adding く. For example, よい goes to よく.

In Iyo dialect, the adjective instead often undergoes a transformation called onbin (音便, lit. "convenient sound") which makes it "easier" to pronounce. Essentially,

  1. the い is dropped and
  2. the previous sound is lengthened.

For example, よい (yoi) goes to よう (yō). We then say that よう is the onbin of よく.

Example 1
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
難しくてようわからん。
muzukashikute yō wakaran. 		難しくてよくわからない。
muzukashikute yoku wakaranai. 		It's too hard to understand.


Example 2
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
最近、寒うなったね。
saikin, samū natta ne. 		最近、寒くなったね。
saikin, samuku natta ne. 		It's gotten cold recently, hasn't it?


Negative potential form

While the potential form in standard Japanese (する → できる, etc.) is used and understood in Iyo dialect, there is also an alternative construction for the negative form.

The alternative construction is

よう (the onbin form of よく) + truncated-negative form of a verb

This gives the negative potential form of the verb in question.

The most typical example of this is ようせん, which is equivalent to できない in standard Japanese.

Example 1
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
そんなことなんかようせん。
sonna koto nanka yō sen. 		そんなことなんかできない。
sonna koto nanka dekinai. 		I could never do that (kind of thing).


Example 2
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
あのバーはやかましくて、よう行かん。
ano bā wa yakamashikute, yō ikan. 		あのバーはやかましくて、行けない。
ano bā wa yakamashikute, ikenai. 		I can't go to that bar; it's too loud.


Must

The standard Japanese constructions for "must (verb)," 〜なければならない and 〜なければいけない, are considerably shorter in Iyo dialect.

  1. Take a (non-truncated) negative verb and drop the い
  2. Append 〜いかん (sometimes 〜いけん) to the end

In short,

〜ない + いかん → 〜ないかん

For 行く "to go," this gives 行かないかん, which is considerably shorter than the standard 行かなければいけない.

As usual, する is an exception: It conjugates to せないかん.

Example 1
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
もうそろそろ行かないかん。
mō sorosoro ikana ikan. 		もうそろそろ行かなければいけない。
mō sorosoro ikanakereba ikenai. 		I've got to get going soon.


Example 2
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
早うせないかんよ！
hayō sena ikan yo! 		早くしなきゃいけないよ！
hayaku shinakya ikenai yo! 		(We've) got to get this done quickly!


Emphatic らい

Iyo dialect has a special emphatic form, らい. It's similar in meaning to the sentence-final よ in standard Japanese—it is used for instance to inform the listener of some new information.

  1. Take a sentence that ends with a verb that ends in る
  2. Drop the る and add らい

In short,

〜る → 〜らい
Example 1
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
行ってくらい。
itte kurai. 		行ってくるよ。
itte kuru yo. 		I'll be right back.


Example 2
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
これ要らんけんあげらい。
kore iran ken agerai. 		これ要らないからあげるよ。
kore iranai kara ageru yo. 		I don't need this anymore, so you can have it.


Older speakers may instead append わい to the unmodified original sentence. A common colloquialism that uses this construction is いんでこーわい (or いってこーわい), which is derived from 去んで（行って）くるよ. However, even though this literally means "I will go and come back," the speaker does not intend to come back at all; despite its derivation, it is closer in meaning to 帰りますよ in standard Japanese.

Negative questions

In standard Japanese as well as Iyo dialect, questions are often phrased in the negative, such as:

今日は暑くない？ (kyō wa atsukunai?), lit. "Is it not hot today?"

In Iyo dialect this kind of negative question is frequently phrased differently, using こと:

今日は暑いことない？ (kyō wa atsui koto nai?), lit. "Is it not that it is hot today?"

This is a very casual construction, used in conversation only.

Example 1
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
そんな薄着で寒いことない？
sonna usugi de samui koto nai? 		そんな薄着で寒くない？
sonna usugi de samukunai? 		Aren't you cold dressed so lightly?


Honorific なはる

The honorific verb "to do" in standard Japanese is なさる. In Iyo dialect this becomes なはる, most commonly heard in the command form V-stem + 〜なはい.

Example 1
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
早う行きなはいや！
hayō ikinahai ya! 		早く行きなさいよ！
hayaku ikinasai yo! 		Hurry up and go already!


Example 2
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
よう来なはったのぅ。
yō kinahatta nō. 		よく来なさったねぇ。
yoku kinasatta nē. 		You've come a long way (="Welcome!")


Another example of this can be seen in Ikata's summer festival きなはいや伊方まつり (kinahaiya Ikata matsuri), the "Ikata 'Come on down!' Festival."

Passive negative commands

It may be hard to imagine any overlap between passive verb forms and commands; indeed there is no link between the two in standard Japanese. In Iyo dialect, however, negative commands are often phrased in the passive voice. A literal translation of such a command might be "that is not done."

Example 1
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
あんまり遠くまで行かれんよ！
anmari tōku made ikaren yo! 		あまり遠くまで行かないで！
amari tōku made ikanaide! 		Don't go off too far!


Example 2
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
車は置かれません
kuruma wa okaremasen 		車を置くな
kuruma o oku na 		No parking


Vocabulary

The following are vocabulary words that might be confusing to the uninitiated.

  • 温い (nuku-i, い-adjective) — warm, hot (weather)
  • 温める (nuku-meru, type I verb) — to warm up (objects)
  • ひやい (hiya-i, い-adjective) — cool, cold (weather)
  • かまん (kaman, negative verb) — I don't mind (an irregular contraction of 構わない kamawanai)
  • どがい (dogai, adverb) — what, which, how (a variation of どう dō or どんな donna)
  • そがい (sogai, adverb) — that, like that, that kind (a variation of そう sō or そんな sonna)
  • こがい (kogai, adverb) — this, like this, this kind (a variation of こう kō or こんな konna)
  • つばえる (tsubae-ru, type I verb) — To joke around, to play. Often with a bad connotation, such as children getting carried away and creating a ruckus; a parent might scold them 「つばえられんよ！」.

Real life examples

"During an elementary visit I didn't want to drink my school lunch (給食 kyūshoku)<noinclude>

For the love of God, keep wiirntg these articles.vCHsad <a href="http://txvedwoshzin.com/">txvedwoshzin</a>xVa3uu , [url=http://kdmjaarxtqnx.com/]kdmjaarxtqnx[/url], [link=http://jrzwphscpuwk.com/]jrzwphscpuwk[/link], http://zlrjilpcelsa.com/ milk, so I lied, saying that I was lactose intolerant. The children didn't know what that meant, so I explained that I couldn't digest milk. On my next visit, the kids had forgotten this and were giving me a hard time about not drinking my milk. One child remembered and jumped to my defense, saying, 「消化できんがやけん！」. I couldn't help but laugh at how far from standard Japanese this was." -Ikata-cir 22:51, 23 October 2007 (JST)

Example
Iyo dialect Standard Japanese English
消化できんがやけん！
shōka dekin ga yaken! 		消化できないんだから！
shōka dekinai n dakara! 		(He) can't digest (it)!


References

  • Kitō, Takao; Shimizu, Atsushi (2002). 今日の伊予弁　伊予語学のために (Kyō no Iyo-ben: Iyo gogaku no tame ni). Aoba Tosho Publishing. ISBN-10: 4900024597.

See also

  • Iyo Dialect article from the March 2007 issue of The Mikan, a newsletter for Ehime JETs (PDF, 300KB)

External links

Retrieved from "http://www.town.ikata.ehime.jp/wiki/index.php/Iyo_dialect"