Japanese dialects – Oita

After spending many years in Japan, my favorite place is still Kyushu. Although I do not have any relatives there I still feel that Kyushu is home. The longest I’ve spent in Kyushu has been Oita on a small remote island only accessible by ferry. One of the reasons I find Kyushu the most interesting is the many dialects that are still spoken and what is more interesting that across prefectures or even cities there are words and expressions that remain incomprehensible. While I was doing the research on Traditional Japanese Dances of Himeshima, which became my first publication in 2004 I have become fascinated with the Oita dialect as well as the Himeshima dialect. Both have similarities but have striking differences. It is said that the characteristic nature of the Oita dialect is no honorifics but I tend to argue the point that there is a sort of honorific language in the Oita dialect. For example, there is the expression ～されてくださいwhich is added to make what is known as reception honorifics. お大事にされてくださいwould be used at a hospital to a patient, 資料を参照されてください。ゆっくりされてください。These expressions tend to be used at service counters, reception desks and other places where customers are served. Other examples are, 名前を書かれてください。～時までにこられてください。The honorific されるtogether with くださいhave the meaning of requesting or instructing something to someone.

While not common in standard Japanese it has been found in Oita. For example, on some local buses there is the announcement to instructing passengers to please take a ticket when boarding. 整理券を取られてください。According to some studies it seems that the youth have brought this on because of a difficulty in using honorifics. Recently, some technical manuals use this expression. For example, 設定されてくださいor クリックされてください　in computer manuals.
In Himeshima however, the dialect is interestingly different from the mainland Oita and Kyushu, which tend to have similarities. Himeshima’s dialect has similarities to the Osaka – Kansai area dialects. For example, the use of おおきに(Thank you) is used quite commonly in both places. Another similarity is the use of なthis has the equivalent of ねin standard Japanese and is used at the end of sentences when there is some sort of agreement. The reason for this is because before the construction of the ferry line between Himeshima and Kunimi in Oita there was little contact with Kyushu and more contact with Ehime (Shikoku) but even more with Tokuyama (Yamaguchi) and the Kansai areas. Therefore, Himeshima’s dialect is closely related to that of Yamaguchi and Kansai. It should be noted that the ferry line between Kyushu and Himeshima is fairly recent – only 30 or so years. Therefore, the majority of the population – those in their 40s, 50s and over use the Kansai dialect and is therefore filtered down the generations to their children and grandchildren.