1 Introduction
This chapter provides a grammatical sketch of the Nambu dialect spoken in Aomori Prefecture, in the Northern Tohoku Region of Japan’s mainland. Aomori is divided into three dialectal areas, Nambu (the southeastern part), Shimokita (the northeastern part), and Tsugaru (the western part). The Nambu area straddles the prefectural border of Aomori and Iwate. See Figure 7.1, where the Nambu region is highlighted in light gray (the part in Iwate is omitted); Tsugaru is west of Nambu; and Shimokita is north of Nambu.
Of the varieties of the Nambu dialect, I mainly describe the Noheji dialect. I conducted fieldwork for four years from 2016 to 2019. My main consultant is a female speaker born in 1945, to be referred to as MT, who grew up with her grandparents as well as her parents, and who mainly speaks the Noheji dialect. She studied in Tokyo when she was 18–21 years old. Occasionally I also consulted two other female speakers born in 1944 and 1947. Unfortunately, the latter speaker did not permit me to record her voice and so the information from her is based only on my field notes.
1.1 Typological Characteristics
Tohoku dialects are known to have consonant-voicing (stops, affricates, and optionally fricatives) between vowels. For example, oto ‘sound’ in Tokyo Japanese corresponds to odo in Tohoku dialects. Northern Tohoku dialects distinguish voiced vs. prenasalized stops and affricates. For instance, hidʒi ‘elbow’ in Tokyo Japanese corresponds to hiⁿdʒi in Northern Tohoku dialects. Minimal pairs are also found; wa-ⁿdo means ‘1sg-pl (we)’, whereas wa⸗do means ‘1sg⸗com (with me)’. While in many Tohoku dialects, /zi/, /zu/, /di/, and /du/ are pronounced as homophones, the Nambu dialect distinguishes /zi/ from /zu/, but does not distinguish /zi/ from /di/ [(d)zɨ ~ (d)ʒi], and /zu/ from /du/ [(d)zɨ ~ (d)zɯ] (making it a so-called futatsugana dialect). Eastern Japanese, including Tohoku dialects, widely uses -nai ‘does not exist’ to negate verbs (and often adjectives) instead of -n, which is widely used in Western Japanese. Tohoku dialects use -ne (from -nai) for negation.
Morphologically, the Nambu dialect is an agglutinative language which predominantly employs suffixes rather than prefixes, and totally lacks conclusive vs. adnominal distinctions like many other Japanese languages.
Syntactically, the Nambu dialect is a head-final language with basic SOV word order. It has bi-directional valency alternations, with both causative constructions which demote the agent of an action to the dative and anti-causative constructions which promote the patient to the subject. Case marking systems in Tohoku dialects are also note-worthy: both nominative and accusative nouns are frequently zero-coded, while accusative nouns of particular characteristics (e.g., animate objects) are overtly coded, which is a phenomenon known as differential object marking (DOM). Different Tohoku dialects have different accusative markers and some dialects have more than one marker. This indicates that DOM phenomenon in Tohoku dialects developed independently in different regions. See Otsuki (2018) for the DOM phenomenon in the Tsugaru dialect, which is the closest dialect to Nambu. See also Sasaki (2004) for the Mitsukaido dialect (Kanto region) and Sasaki (2006) for a review of case marking systems in Japonic languages.
1.2 Previous Literature
As far as I know, there are no grammar sketches on the Nambu dialect. As has been described above, however, Nambu dialects share some characteristics with Northern Tohoku dialects, some with Tohoku dialects more generally, some with Eastern Japanese, and some with all Japonic languages. There are descriptions of some phonological and grammatical aspects on the Nambu dialect in Iwate. In this section, I will give an overview of grammar sketches of Eastern Japanese.
Otsuki (2018) contains a grammar sketch and detailed description of the DOM in the Tsugaru dialect. Takeda (2020) describes the tense-aspect-mood systems of the Tohoku dialects including the Nambu dialect in Iwate. Matsumori and Onishi (2012) is a brief sketch of the Tsuruoka dialect. Sasaki (2004) describes case and grammatical relations in the Mitsukaido dialect. Konishi (2016) is a reference grammar of the Toyama dialect.
Occasionally, I refer to Nakaichi (1936), which is a glossary of the Noheji dialect with some examples. Since the expressions in this book were written in hiragana (Japanese characters), where one hiragana basically corresponds to one mora to express the pronunciation of Standard Japanese, I have romanized the hiragana using the kunrei-shiki system of romanization. Note that in this writing system, it is impossible to represent [ɨ], and that the hiragana might not represent the exact pronunciation of the Nambu dialect.
2 Phonology
This section first lists the phoneme inventories of the Nambu dialect. It then describes the syllable structure and phonotactics, mora, word-level prosody, and finally intonation.
2.1 Phoneme Inventory
This section is based on Nakagawa (2020), which can be consulted for more details, especially in phonetic variation.
2.1.1 Vowels
Table 7.1 shows the vowel inventory in the Nambu dialect. The assumed phonemes are in / /, and the actual pronunciations are given in [ ]. MT’s vowel space is shown in Figures 7.2 and 7.3.
Table 7.1
Vowels
Front |
Center |
Back |
|
---|---|---|---|
High |
/i/ [i (~ ɨ)] |
/ɨ/ [ɨ] |
/ɯ/ [ɯ (~ ɨ)] |
High-mid |
/e/ [e (~ ɪ, e̝)] |
/o/ [o] |
|
Low-mid |
/ɛ/ [ɛ] |
||
Low |
/a/ [a] |
Examples of each vowel after /k/ are shown in (230).
(230) |
Examples of vowels after /k/ |
|
[kattʃa] /kattja/ ‘married woman, mother’ |
[kettsɨ] /kettu/ ‘buttocks’ |
|
[kɛna] /kɛna/ ‘arm’ |
[kobɯra] /kobura/ ‘a road between houses’ |
|
[kina] /kina/ ‘yesterday’ |
[kɯdʒi] /kuzi/ ‘mouth’ |
Minimal pairs of non-open vowels are shown below.
(231) /o/ vs. /u/
a. [motsɨ] /motu/ ‘bowels’ vs. [mɯtsɨ] /mutu/ ‘Mutsu (place name)’
(232) /i/ vs. /e/
a. [miɾɯ] /miru/ ‘look at’
b. [meɾɯ] /meru/ ‘be visible’
Both /i/ and /u/ can be pronounced as [ɨ]; however, I analyze /i/ and /u/ as separate phonemes because the range of variation differs. The phoneme /i/ can be pronounced as either [i] or [ɨ], whereas /u/ can be pronounced as either [ɯ] or [ɨ] as in (233).
(233) /i/ vs. /u/
a. [asɨ ~ aʃi] /asi/ ‘foot/leg’ vs. [sɨne] /sune/ ‘shin’
b. [tsɨtsɨ ~ tʃitʃi] /titi/ ‘breast’ vs. [motsɨ] /motu/ ‘bowels’
c. [kɯ̥tʃi] /kuti/ ‘mouth’ vs. [kɯ̥tsɨ] /kutu/ ‘shoes’1
d. [motʃi] /moti/ ‘mochi (rice cake)’ vs. [motsɨ] /motu/ ‘bowels’
The phonological rule in (234) applies only when /i/ is pronounced as [i], although the pronunciation [i] and the rule itself are presumably influenced by Standard Japanese. The rule (234) explains the variation, for example, [asɨ ~ aʃi] in /asi/ (233a) and [tsɨtsɨ ~ tʃitʃi] in /titi/ (4b). Note that [ʃine] ‘shin’ (233a) and [motʃi] ‘bowels’ (233b) are not possible.
(234) Alveolar-to-palatal rule
a. [+alveolar, +stop] → [+palatal, +affricate] / __ [i]
b. [+alveolar, +fricative] → [+palatal] / __ [i]
In (233), I assume /u/ for /sune/ ‘shin’ and /motu/ ‘bowels’ without attested examples of [ɯ] because there are corresponding words for them in Standard Japanese (/sune/ [sɯne] and /motu/ [motsɯ]).
However, there are words that do not appear to correspond to Standard Japanese and are only pronounced with [ɨ]. I analyze the vowel inventory as containing /ɨ/ in addition to /i/ and /u/. Some examples of /ɨ/ are shown in (235).2
(235) Examples of /ɨ/
a. [bottsɨ] /bottɨ/ ‘head (of octopus or fish)’
b. [entsɨko] /entɨko/ ‘baby basket’
c. [hondzɨnaʃi] /honzɨnasi/ ‘person who does not know things’
Figure 7.3, reproduced from Nakagawa (2021), is a plot of /e/ and /ɛ/, indicated as E in the figure, as produced by MT. The F1 of /ɛ/ is significantly higher than that of /e/ (t < 0.001). Some examples of /e/ vs. /ɛ/ are shown in (236).
(236) /e/ vs. /ɛ/
a. [nekko] /ne-kko/ ‘plant.root-dim’ vs. [nɛkko] /nɛ-kko/ ‘sapling-dim’
b. [kettsɨ] /kettu/ ‘buttocks’ vs. [kɛna] /kɛna/ ‘arm’
High vowels are devoiced between voiceless consonants and after a word-final voiceless consonant. This rule is formalized in (237).
(237): |
[+high, + vowel] → |
[–voice] / [–voice] __ [–voice] |
→ |
[–voice] / [–voice] __ ## |
2.1.2 Consonants
The consonant inventory of the Nambu dialect is in Table 7.2.
Table 7.2
Consonants
Bilabial |
(Post-)alveolar |
Velar |
Glottal |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stop |
/ᵐp/ [ᵐp] |
||||||
/p/ [p] |
/b/ [b] |
/t/ [t] |
/d/ [d] |
/k/ [k] |
/ɡ/ [ɡ] |
||
/ᵐb/ [ᵐb] |
/ⁿd/ [ⁿd] |
/ŋ/ [ŋ] |
|||||
Fricative |
/s/ [s] |
/z/ [z] |
/h/ [h] |
||||
/ⁿz/ [ⁿz (~ z)] |
|||||||
Nasal |
/m/ [m] |
/n/ [n] |
|||||
Tap |
/r/ [ɾ] |
||||||
Approx. |
/j/ [j] |
/w/ [w] |
It is difficult to find minimal pairs in this dialect for a historical reason; voiceless consonants become voiced between vowels, and voiced stops and fricatives become prenasalized in the same environment. Here I do not list examples of each consonant because of limitations of space. See Nakagawa (2021) for more examples.
Historically, /ᵐp/ is considered to stem from /ᵐb/, and at some point became voiceless /ᵐp/ since it is never confused with other phonemes. However, not all /ᵐb/ changed to /ᵐp/, and I analyze /ᵐp/ as an independent phoneme here.
(238) /ᵐp/
a. [jɯᵐpɯ̥te] /juᵐpute/ ‘smoky’, [neᵐpɯ̥te] /neᵐpute/ ‘sleepy’, [kɯᵐpi̥ta] /kuᵐpita/ ‘neck’
As mentioned in (234), alveolar stops and fricatives become palatal affricates before [i]. This rule is repeated here as (239a–b). Alveolar stops also become alveolar affricates before [ɨ] as formulated in (239c).
(239) |
The affrication and palatalization rules |
|||
a. |
[+alveolar, +stop] |
→ |
[+palatal, +affricate] / __ [i] |
|
b. |
[+alveolar, +fricative] |
→ |
[+palatal] / __ [i] |
|
c. |
[+alveolar, +stop] |
→ |
[+alveolar, +affricate] / __ [ɨ] |
For now, I distinguish prenasalization (syllable-initial nasal) and coda (syllable-final) nasals. In some cases, the etymologies are clear and it is relatively obvious to regard the nasal as being in the coda position: [nanda] < nani⸗da ‘what⸗cop’, [dʒeŋko] < zeni-kko ‘money-dim’, and [taɴ ~ taa᷉] < tan ‘phlegm’. Meanwhile, prenasalized consonants correspond to voiced consonants in Standard Japanese as in [hiⁿdʒi] < hizi ‘elbow’ and [oᵐbeɾɯ] < oboeru ‘remember’.
Finally, I formulate the nasal assimilation rule in (240). It is cross-linguistically common for the place of articulation of nasals to assimilate to that of the following consonant.
(240) |
Nasal assimilation rule |
||
/n/ |
→ |
[m] / __ [+labial] |
|
→ |
[ŋ] / __ [+velar] |
||
→ |
[n] / __ [+alveolar] |
||
→ |
[ɴ ~ ṽi] / elsewhere |
2.2 Syllable Structure and Phonotactics
This dialect allows (C)(j)V(C) syllable structure where C stands for a consonant, V for a vowel, j for /j/. Phonemes in parentheses are optional. This is exemplified below.
(241) (C)(j)V(C), e.g., /dak.kja/ (top), /bjon/ (fp)
Words cannot end with C other than N. Also, glides (j) always follows C. I did not find examples of /CwV/ which is found in the Shimokita dialect. This is one of the facts that indicate the Nambu dialect differs from the Shimokita dialect.
2.3 Mora
Unlike many other Japanese varieties, this dialect has no distinction between short and long vowels. It does, however, have long consonants or geminates word-medially that may be realized as short. As shown in (242), for example, /tt/ and /kk/ can optionally be pronounced as [t] and [k], respectively.
(242) a. [dʒeŋkko ~ dʒeŋko] /zjen-kko/ ‘money-dim’
b. [otʃakko ~ otʃako] /otja-kko/ ‘tea-dim’
c. [mittaɡɯnɛ ~ mitaɡɯnɛ] /mittaɡunɛ/ ‘ugly’
d. [okketta] /okketta/ ‘fall’
Geminates can be distinguished from word-medial voiceless consonants by the fact that they never become voiced, and adjacent vowels are never devoiced.
2.4 Word-Level Prosody
The Nambu dialect is known to have an ascending kernel (nobori-kaku) accent system (Uwano 2017), where only the accented mora rises within a phrase. “In the unaccented type, the pitch of the last mora rises; In the word-final kernel type, the pitch of the last mora falls; In other types, the pitch of the mora with the kernel rises” (Uwano 2017: 2). Table 7.3 shows examples of one-, two-, and three-mora words with different kernel positions. The number “o” indicates that the word has no kernel, “1” indicates that the first mora has the kernel, and so on.
Table 7.3
Examples of words with different kernel positions
0 (no accent) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
ke [H] ‘hair’ |
ˈhe [F] ‘flatulence’ |
– |
– |
2 |
tura [LH] ‘face’ |
ˈtiti [HL] ‘breast’ |
aˈse [LF] ‘sweat’ |
– |
3 |
nazuɡi [LLH] ‘forehead’ |
ˈkobura [HLL] ‘calf (of leg)’ |
maˈnaɡu [LHL] ‘eye’ |
kenˈdo [LLF] ‘road’ |
The accent of words in Noheji from my field notes almost always corresponds to the accent of words reported in Uwano (2017).
2.5 Intonation
Declarative sentences and content questions (or wh-questions) end with falling intonation, while polar questions optionally end with rising intonation but can also end with falling intonation. Kibe et al. (2018) investigated corpora across Japanese dialects and reported that all three types end with a falling pitch in the Hirosaki dialect (a variant of the Tsugaru dialect). However, they also report that the steepness of the falling pitch differs depending on the type of sentence: polar questions have a sudden drop, declaratives have the shallow and steady drop, and wh-questions have a rather steep but steady drop. In my impression, the Nambu dialect follows the patterns Kibe et al. report, although a quantitative characterization awaits further study.
3 Descriptive Units
3.1 Morphological Units
The morphological units described in this study are listed in Table 7.4. A phrase consists of a word and, optionally, one or more clitics; a word consists of a root optionally preceded by a prefix and followed by one or more suffixes.
Table 7.4
Morphological units
prefix-{0,1} |
root |
-suffix* |
|
word |
⸗clitic* |
||
clitic group |
As far as I know, only a single prefix can appear before the root, whereas multiple suffixes can appear after the root. The order of affixes is fixed and will be outlined in the relevant sections.
3.2 Parts of Speech
A noun typically refers to a thing or a person. A pronoun refers to somebody or something that the speaker and the addressee are both aware of and often replaces a noun that the speaker can use instead. A verb typically refers to an event. An adjective typically describes a property. Adjectives and nominal adjectives are distinguished by their morphology (§ 6). An adverb typically describes manner, attitude, time reference, and location. Particles denote a relation between a noun and a verb or between sentences. Interjections express the speaker’s attitude towards the preceding utterance, the addressee, etc.
3.3 Grammatical Relations
As discussed in § 9.3 and § 11.2, the case alignment of subject and direct object in Noheji is a nominative-accusative type with differential object marking. A noun that is a subject can be followed by the particles ⸗∅, ⸗a, or ⸗ŋa. A noun that is an object can be followed by the particles ⸗∅ or ⸗ba. A noun that is an indirect object can be followed by the particle ⸗ni.
4 Nominals
The class of nominals includes pronouns (§ 4.1), nouns (§ 4.2), and numerals (§ 4.3).
4.1 Pronouns
The personal pronouns are listed in Table 7.5.
Table 7.5
Personal pronouns
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
---|---|---|---|
sg |
wa, ora |
ome, na (~ ŋa) |
kore/sore/are, sono {hito/huto} |
pl |
wa-ⁿdo, ora-ⁿdo |
ome-ⁿdo |
sore-ⁿdo, sono {hito/huto}-ⁿdo |
gr |
ora-ho |
ome-ho |
– |
There are two types of first-person pronoun: wa and ora. According to MT, she uses both pronouns interchangeably with no gender or age constraints, although I observe that she prefers to use wa. An example is given in (243).
(243)
ano
kasi⸗dakkja
wa
tabe-ta⸗jo
that
sweet⸗top
1sg
eat-pst⸗fp
‘Regarding that sweet, I ate it.’
The plural affix -ⁿdo follows the pronoun to indicate plural. The form ora-ⁿdo can be used for both exclusive (244) and inclusive (245) first-person plurals.
(244)
kore
ora-ⁿdo
hutari⸗de
taberu
no
da-kara
ome-∅⸗sa
k-ahe-nɛ⸗jo
this
1-pl
two.people⸗inst
eat
nmlz
cop-because
2-sg⸗dat
eat-caus-neg⸗fp
‘(I) won’t let you eat this because we two (excluding you) are going to eat this.’
(245)
kore
ora-ⁿdo
minna⸗de
taberu
besi
this
1-pl
all⸗inst
eat
infr
‘This one, we all are going to eat it.’
Another plural suffix -ho is used when the speaker thinks that the people being referred to belong to the same group: e.g., the same family, the same village, the same organization, etc. In (246), for example, the speaker describes how and what to arrange things in front of his/her Buddhist altar and asks how the interlocutor arranges their altar.
(246)
a.
ora-ho⸗daba
mikan
mame⸗no
ue⸗sa
aŋe-te
jat-ta⸗n
da-kedomo
ome-ho⸗daba
desu
1-gr⸗top
mandarin
bean⸗gen
top⸗dat
offer.to.altar-seq
give-pst⸗nmlz
cop-though
2-gr⸗top
how.do
‘We (our family) offer a mandarin orange on beans to the Buddhist altar. What do you (your family) do?’
b.
ora-ho⸗daba
aŋe-nɛ
2-gr⸗top
offer.to.altar-neg
‘We (Our family) don’t offer (in that way).’
The second person pronouns ome and na (~ŋa) can also be used interchangeably, and the speaker MT prefers ome over na or ŋa. There could be dialectal differences between ome and na (ŋa). The demonstratives kore/sore/are can refer to people and things, but it is rude to refer to people using kore/sore/are. Since the main function of kore/sore/are is to refer to things in the context of utterances, I will describe them in § 8.1.
4.2 Lexical Nouns
Only lexical nouns can be followed by -kko (-dim). Other post-nominal affixes are listed below. As far as I know, the plural and honorific suffixes can follow pronouns as well as to nouns.
(247) Time: ban-ŋe [bãŋe] ‘night-time’, asa-ma ‘morning-time’ (Nakaichi 1936)
(248) Person: jame-tto ‘sick-person’, rusu-tto ‘absent-person’ (Nakaichi 1936)
(249) Plural: warasi ‘child’, warasa-ⁿdo ‘chile-pl’
(250) Honorific: ome-sama ‘2sg-hon’ o-ga-sama ‘hon-mother-hon’ o-ᵐba-sama ‘hon-grandmother-hon’
Another plural suffix -ho has been described in (246) in § 4.1. Animate entities tend to require plural marking when used of plural referents, whereas inanimate entities are only optionally marked for plural as shown by the distinction between (251) and (252). In (251), the speaker chose to use -ⁿdo to clarify that there was more than one person who ate the sweet, while, in (252), she chose not to use -ⁿdo for sweet potatoes.
(251)
ano
kasi
{are-ⁿdo/ano
huto-ⁿdo}
ku-te
mat-ta⸗no⸗ɡa
that
sweet
{that-pl/that
person-pl}
eat-seq
finish-pst⸗nmlz⸗q-gr
‘That sweet, did they eat it?’
(252)
soko⸗ni
aru
satumaimo
mina
ku-ttɛ⸗na
there⸗dat
exist
sweet.potato
all
eat-want⸗fp
‘The sweet potatoes there, (I) want to eat them all.’
4.3 Numerals
Like other Japonic languages, the Nambu dialect has classifiers. Here I provide example (253) which is the number (one to ten) + classifier combinations (one to ten) used when counting small inanimate entities in general. This series uses the Sino-Japanese numerals.
(253) ikka ‘one’, ni-ka ‘two’, san-ka ‘three’, si-kka ‘four’, ɡo-ka ‘five’, ro-kka ‘six’, nana-{??ka/tu}/??siti-ka ‘seven’, ha-kka ‘eight’, ku-kka ‘nine’, zi-kka ‘ten’
The Nambu dialect also has a series of native numerals (hitottu, hutattu, mittu, jottu …), which I have not investigated thoroughly. Other numerals needs to be studied further.
5 Verbs
5.1 Inflectional Morphology
A summary of verbal inflection is shown in Table 7.6. The cells marked “?” have not been investigated yet. The two major categories of verbs are vowel-ending roots (e.g., mi- ‘see’) and consonant-ending roots (e.g., nar- ‘become’). The non-past-tense suffix -ru follows the former, and -u follows the latter. Also, the vowels -a- and -i- are inserted in negation and medial forms only after the consonant-ending roots. The phonemes k and ɡ in the k- and ɡ-ending roots change into i in the sequential and past forms (known as the i-euphonic or i-ombin form). Also, /i/ is inserted after s-ending verb root in the same condition; for example, the sequential form of hanas- ‘release’ is hanas-i-ta. The verbs su- ‘do’ and ku- ‘come’ are irregular. The root-final vowels of irregular verbs change depending on which suffixes follow them. Note that the negative form of su- is si- instead of sa-, unlike many other Tohoku dialects.3 The verb k- ‘eat’ is a regular consonant-ending root except that the vowel -u is inserted in the medial form.
Table 7.6
Verbal inflection
mi- ‘see’ |
nar- ‘become’ |
kak- ‘write’ |
su- ‘do’ |
ku- ‘come’ |
k- ‘eat’ |
omo- ‘think’ |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
npst |
mi-ru |
nar-u |
kak-u |
su-ru |
ku-ru |
k-u |
omo-ru |
neg |
mi-nɛ |
nar-a-nɛ |
kak-a-nɛ |
si-nɛ |
ko-nɛ |
k-a-nɛ |
omo-nɛ |
seq |
mi-ttɛ |
nar-i-ttɛ |
kak-i-ttɛ |
si-ttɛ |
ki-ttɛ |
k-u-ttɛ |
omo-ttɛ |
seq2 |
mi-te |
nar-te |
kai-te |
si-te |
ki-te |
k-u-te |
omo-te |
cond |
mi-reba |
nar-eba |
kak-eba |
su-reba |
ku-reba |
k-eba |
omo-eba |
imp |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
k-e |
omo-re |
The conditional form of omo- ‘think’ is slightly unpredictable possibly because of the influence of Tokyo Japanese. The traditional conditional form might be omo-(reba), which is exactly the same as mi- ‘see’. Table 7.6 is not a complete list of verbal classes. The inflection of the verb roots which historically ended with -h- or -p- (e.g., kah- or kap- ‘buy’ depending on the stage of phonetic change) is unpredictable. Whereas the forms of omo- ‘think’ (historically omoh- or omop-) are as listed in Table 7.6, the negative form of kaw- ‘buy’ is kaw-a-nɛ and the non-past form is ka-ru. Sasaki (2019: 221) argues that the root-final consonant of this type of verb in the Tsugaru dialect is /w/ instead of /r/; /r/ is inserted for the onset of non-past-tense suffix -(r)u, and the root-final /w/ is deleted after non-low vowels and consonants. This analysis predicts the verb forms correctly: ka-ru, kaw-a-nɛ, kaw-ttɛ, and kaw-te. Further investigation is needed to describe the traditional forms of these verbs including imperative forms, which I have not investigated thoroughly.
5.2 Derivational Morphology
Derivational affixes that follow verb stems are summarized in Table 7.7. Not all combinations and orders are possible; a detailed description requires further investigation.
Table 7.7
Verbal derivation
Causation |
Potential |
Voice |
Polarity |
Aspect |
Tense |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-(r)ahe- (caus) |
-(r)e- (poss) |
-(r)are- (pass) |
-nɛ (neg) |
-tera (prog) |
-ta (pst) |
-tta (epst) |
-(r)asar- (ac) |
-(r)u (npst) |
|||||
-(r)agas- (caus) |
Examples of combinations of suffixes are shown below. The experienced-past suffix -tta always occurs immediately following the past-tense suffix -ta. This suffix -tta is found prevalently among Tohoku dialects. Examples are given in (254) and (255). The morpheme -tera can be analyzed as -te-ra (-prog-pst) and has variations such as -de-da, -dda, and -dera (Takeda 2020: 28). Since -ra in -te-ra can be analyzed as the past morpheme, -tta can follow it.4
(254)
k-ahe-rare-ta-tta
eat-caus-pass-pst-epst
‘(I) was forced to eat.’
(255)
ano
hito
ki-te-ta⸗no
oᵐbe-tera-tta?
that
person
come-seq-pst⸗nmlz
remember-prog-epst?
‘Do you still remember that that person came?’
The phoneme /t/ in -ta (pst) and -tera (prog) is voiced between voiced vowels; i.e., when it followes consonant-ending roots. For example, mi-ta is pronounced as [mida]. The rule is schematized as in (256).
(256) |
t-voicing in verbal suffixes |
||||
-t |
→ |
/d/ |
/ [+voice, +vowel] __ |
(e.g., mi-ta [mida], ojoi-ta [ojoida]) |
|
→ |
/d/ |
/ [+nasal, –velar] __ |
(e.g., jom-da [jonda]) |
||
→ |
/tt/ |
/ [–nasal] __ |
(e.g. nar-ta [natta]) |
||
→ |
/t/ |
/ elsewhere |
(e.g., ki-ta [kɨ̥ta], hanasi-ta [hanaʃi̥ta]) |
When these morphemes follow verb roots such as su- ‘do’ and ku- ‘come’, the root vowels may be devoiced by the rule of devoicing high vowels between voiceless consonants (237). When this rule is applied, si-ta and ki-ta are pronounced as [ʃi̥ta] and [ki̥ta] respectively. On the other hand, if rule (256) applies first, they are predicted to be pronounced as [ʃida] and [kida], although [ʃida] is not attested and could be ill-formed for some unknown reason ([kida] is attested).
The usages of other suffixes -(r)ahe- (caus), -(r)asar- (ac), -(r)aɡas- (caus), and -(r)are- (pass) will be discussed in § 11.4, which deals with valency-changing morphology.
5.3 Existential and Copula
For nominal predicates and nominal adjective predicates, the copula da is used.
(257)
ara
ame⸗da
oh
rain⸗cop
‘Oh, it’s raining.’
(258)
asita
jasumi⸗da⸗kkja
tomorrow
holiday⸗cop⸗fp
‘Tomorrow is holiday.’
(259)
dɛ⸗ⁿda?
who⸗cop
‘Who?’
(260)
kono
hana
kire-ⁿda⸗kkja
prox.dem
flower
beautiful-cop⸗fp
‘This flower is beautiful.’
The copula -da is sometimes prenasalized (-ⁿda) as in (259) and (260), and sometimes the prenasalization of the copula sounds longer than the usual prenasalization. I speculate that the prenasalization of the copula is used to preserve moraic structure. For example, since the older form of kire- ‘beautiful’ is considered to be kirei or kireː, the prenasalization could be inserted to preserve the length of the whole word kirei-da or kireː-da. In the same way, since the older form of dɛ could be dare > *daɛ > dɛ, the prenasalization could be inserted for the same motivation as the case of kire-. See also the discussion in Nakagawa (2021: § 4.3).5
While most languages in the Japonic family distinguish the existence of animate and inanimate entities (iru vs. aru), iru is extensively used in the Nambu dialect. Only sometimes is aru used. The conditions in which aru can be used need further investigation.
6 Adjectival Expressions
Adjectival expressions consist of inflected adjectives (§ 6.1) and nominal adjectives (§ 6.2). They are distinguished by the suffixes they take in negation, predication, and modification.
6.1 Inflected Adjectives
The basic forms of inflected adjectives are given in Table 7.8. The parenthesized (i) means that it is optional, whereas other parenthesized morphemes are examples that can follow the verb form. The parenthesized expression (atu-ka-tta) is a predicted but not yet attested form.
Table 7.8
Adjective
i ‘good’ |
atu- ‘hot’ |
|
---|---|---|
npst |
i |
atu-(i) |
neg |
i-ɡu⸗nɛ |
atu-ku(⸗nɛ) |
seq |
i-{ɡu/hu}-te |
atu-{ku/hu}-te |
cond |
i-ba |
atu-i-ba |
pst |
i-ɡa-tta |
(atu-ka-tta) |
Table 7.9
Nominal adjective
kire-ⁿda ‘pretty’ |
siⁿzuɡa-da ‘quiet’ |
|
---|---|---|
npst |
kire-ⁿda |
siⁿzuɡa-da |
neg |
kire-ⁿde(⸗nɛ) |
siⁿzuɡa-de(⸗nɛ) |
seq |
kire-ⁿde |
siⁿzuɡa-de |
cond |
kire-ⁿda(-ba) |
siⁿzuɡa-da(-ba) |
pst |
kire-ⁿda(-tta) |
siⁿzuɡa-da(-tta) |
Inflected adjectives end with i when modifying noun in the adnominal form. The suffix -ɡu, -ku, -hu is inserted before the negative ⸗nɛ and the continuative -te suffix for inflected adjectives. Before the past-tense morpheme -tta, the suffix -ɡa or -ka is added after the inflected adjective root. The consonant at the beginning of the inflected adjective suffix -ɡ{u/a} or -k{u/a} varies depending on the environment. It is voiced between voiced vowels but voiceless when one of the vowels is devoiced (see the high vowel devoicing rule (237)). In this case, either rule can be applied first, and the morpheme-initial consonant can be either ɡ or k. Since the high-vowel devoicing rule (237) applies to u in atu-, it is highly likely that the suffix starts with the voiceless consonant k. Another variant of -ku is -hu, which is an older form of -ku.
The past-tense suffix is -tta and not -ta (the past-tense suffix of verbs). There is a historical reason for this form: -{k/ɡ}u ar-ta ‘-adj exist-pst’ became -{k/ɡ}a-tta. However, I analyze -tta as an independent past morpheme for inflected (and nominal) adjectives.
6.2 Nominal Adjectives
Nominal Adjectives (keiyōdōshi in Japanese) do not inflect. To function as a predicate, they are followed by a copula, as summarized in Table 7.9.
Note that -da is the conclusive as well as adnominal form in this dialect unlike in Standard Japanese.
(261)
te⸗no
kire-ⁿda
hito
hand⸗gen
beautiful-cop
person
‘A person who has beautiful hands.’
7 Class-Changing Derivations
7.1 Nominalization
The suffix -sa follows an adjective root to change it into a noun. For example, when atu- ‘hot’ (adjective) is followed by -sa, atu-sa means ‘degree of hotness’.
The clitic ⸗no follows the verb’s non-past form to make a noun as in (262). The same morpheme behaves as a noun when another genitive noun precedes it as in (263).
(262)
hare-tera⸗no⸗sa
kju-ni
ame⸗{n/ni}
nar-ta⸗kkja
clear-prog⸗nmlz⸗all
sudden-adv
rain⸗dat
become-pst⸗fp
‘(The sky which was) clear suddently turned into rain.’
(263)
kore
wa⸗no⸗no⸗da
this
1sg⸗gen⸗nmlz⸗nmlz⸗cop
‘This is mine (my thing).’
The zero-suffix -∅ combines with ⸗ni to convert a verb into a noun to express a purpose.
(264)
(kono
basjo)
maturi
mi-ru-∅⸗ni
i⸗jo
this
place
festival
see-npst-nmlz⸗dat
good⸗fp
‘This place is good to see the festival.’
The suffix -tto attaches to verb and noun roots and forms nouns which refer to a person with the characteristic of the verb/noun (265).
(265) a. jame-tto ‘sick person’
b. rusu-tto ‘absent person’ (Nakaichi 1936)
Further investigation into this word-formation process is necessary.
7.2 Verbalization
The morpheme -meɡu (-vlz) forms verbs. Some examples are shown in (266). The parts of speech of the roots are not clear yet. Some roots such as jotja appear to be onomatopoeia, some such as sira appear to be adjectival, and others are unclear.
(266) sira-meɡu ‘be biting’, maja-meɡu ‘be halting’, jotja-meɡu ‘stagger’, gahu-meɡu ‘(clothes) be too big’ (Nakaichi 1936)
8 Demonstratives and Interrogatives
Demonstratives and interrogative forms are summarized in Table 7.10.
Table 7.10
Demonstratives
Nominal |
Prenominal |
Locative, selectional |
Kind |
Verbal |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|
prox |
kore |
kono |
koko, kotti |
kotta(ra) |
kesu |
med |
sore |
sono |
soko, sotti |
sotta(ra) |
sesu |
dist |
are |
ano |
asoko, atti |
atta(ra) |
esu |
Wh |
dore |
dono |
doko, dotti, dono |
dottara |
desu |
8.1 Demonstratives
Demonstratives in this dialect have three-way distinctions as in many other Japanese dialects: proximal (k-), medial (s-), and distal (a-). Proximal refers to something near the speaker; medial to something near the addressee or a referent in the discourse; and the distal to something away from both the speaker and the addressee or a referent in the memory of the speaker. Examples of nominal and pronominal usages are shown in (267) and (268), respectively.
(267)
sore-ⁿdo⸗no
namɛ
nan⸗tteru⸗no
3-pl⸗gen
name
what⸗qt.call⸗nmlz
‘What are their names?’
(268)
sono
hito⸗no
namɛ-kko
oᵐbe-tera⸗ɡa
that
person-gen
name-dim
remember-prog⸗q
‘Do you remember that person’s name?’
In addition to nominal, adnominal, locative, and kind demonstratives, this dialect has demonstrative verbs, which refer to actions in the context of utterances. The paradigm is described in Table 7.11.
Table 7.11
Paradigm of demonstrative verbs
kes-u ‘do in this way’ |
ses-u ‘do in that way’ |
es-u ‘do in that way’ |
des-u ‘do in what way’ |
|
---|---|---|---|---|
neg |
kes-i-nɛ |
ses-i-nɛ |
es-i-nɛ |
des-i-nɛ |
seq |
kes-te/kes-i-te |
ses-te/ses-i-te |
es-te/es-i-te |
des-te/des-i-te |
npst |
kes-u |
ses-u |
es-u |
des-u |
cond |
kes-e-ba |
ses-e-ba, se-ba |
es-e-ba |
des-e-ba |
For example, the speaker can use kesu when s/he is showing the procedure of something (e.g., cooking) in front of the addressee as in (269); the addressee can respond this using sesu when s/he sees it.
(269)
kes-un⸗no
prox.do-npst⸗nmlz
‘You can do in this way.’
(270)
ses-u⸗no⸗ɡa
med.do⸗nmlz⸗q
‘Oh, you do in that way!’
When the procedure is demonstrated away from both the speaker and the addressee, the speaker uses esu to refer to the activity.6 The interrogative verb desu can be used to ask about the procedure. In (272), the speaker is asking of the mental state of the addressee.
(271)
es-te
tukuru⸗no⸗ɡa
dist.do.seq
make⸗nmlz⸗q
‘(I see!) you do in that way!’
(272)
des-ta⸗no⸗i
how-pst⸗nmlz⸗fp
‘How did you do? (What’s wrong?)’
8.2 Interrogatives and Indefinites
Some examples of interrogatives are given below. First, there is a singular vs. plural distinction in wh-questions. A special marker -ⁿdari is used to express plurality of wh-words as shown in (273).
(273)
de-ⁿdari
i-ru⸗no
who-pl?
exist-npst⸗nmlz
‘Who (plural) are there?’
There are a number of variant forms of ‘why’ and ‘how’; the expressions partially overlap with each other as can be seen in (274) and (275).
(274)
{nande/nasite/des-i-te}
kono
i
kar-ta⸗no
why
this
house
buy-pst⸗nmlz
‘Why did you buy this house?’
(275)
{des-te/des-i-te}
sono
i
mekke-ta⸗no
how
that
house
find-pst⸗nmlz
‘How did you find that house?’
Some expressions such as nande might be borrowed from Standard Japanese, which might be why the dialect has multiple expressions to express similar content.
Indefinite expressions can be formed by a content question expression followed by -ɡa (276, 277). The morpheme -ɡa is also used for polar questions when used at the end of a sentence. Here I use the gloss (indef) for -ɡa as used in indefinite expressions since the functions differ from those of the ɡa that forms polar questions.
(276)
tukamar-i
sonta-tta⸗keⁿdomo
des-te-ɡa
ki-ta⸗n⸗da⸗ɡa
niŋe-te
ki-ta
catch-seq
seem-pst⸗conc
do.what-seq-indef
come-pst⸗nmlz⸗cop⸗q
run.away-and
come-pst
‘Although I was almost caught, somehow I ran away.’
(277)
zjen-kko
{nanbo/nanbora-en}-ɡa
mot-te
ki-ta
money-dim
how.much-indef
bring-and
come-pst
‘I brought some money.’
9 Argument Phrase
9.1 The Head
Nominals can be the head of a noun phrase (NP). For example, lexical nouns, modified by one or more adjectives, can be the head of NP.
Verbs can be the head of a verb phrase (VP). Elements such as NPs, adverbs, the adverbial form (seq) of adjectival expressions, etc. can modify a verb to form a verb phrase.
9.2 The Modifier
When another noun modifies the head noun, e.g., to express possession, to form a NP, the modifying noun is followed by genitive marker ⸗no (gen). This is exemplified in (278). In the same way, the modifying noun followed by ⸗no modifies a formal noun ⸗no ‘one’ (279), unlike in other Japonic dialects such as Tokyo Japanese.
(278)
sore⸗a
wa⸗no
okasi⸗da⸗be⸗i
that⸗nom
1sg⸗gen
snack⸗cop⸗infr⸗fp
‘That is my snack, isn’t it?’
(279)
kore
wa⸗no⸗no⸗da
this
1sg⸗gen⸗nmlz⸗cop
‘This is mine (my thing).’
Also unlike in other dialects of Japonic languages such as Standard Japanese is the fact that ⸗no (⸗gen) cannot be used within a relative clause to indicate a subject. This contrast is shown in (280).
(280)
kore
wa(*⸗no)
kɛ-ta
zi⸗da
prox.dem
1sg(⸗gen)
write-pst
character⸗cop
‘These characters are the ones I wrote.’
See § 5 and § 6 for modification of nominals by verbs and adjectives.
9.3 Case and Other Role Markings
Case markers are listed in Table 7.12.
Table 7.12
Case markers
nom |
acc |
dat |
all |
loc |
inst |
com |
gen |
abl |
lat |
cmpr |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
⸗∅/(⸗a)/(⸗ŋa) |
⸗∅/⸗ba |
⸗ni |
⸗sa |
⸗de |
⸗de |
⸗do |
⸗no |
⸗ɡara |
⸗made |
⸗jori |
9.3.1 Nominative
Nominatives are most frequently zero-coded as exemplified in (281). It can also be zero-coded when the word order is changed as in (282).
(281)
ome
dottara
okasi
tukur-i-ttɛ⸗no
2sg
like.what
sweet
make-seq-want⸗nmlz
A
P
‘What kind of sweets do you want to make?’
(282)
sono
siŋoto
ome
su-be
that
job
2sg
do⸗infr
P
A
‘That job, you do it, right?’
Nominative nouns (but not pronouns) can be followed by ⸗a as in (283). Although the particle may be interpreted as a topic marker in other cases, I describe it as a nominative marker here (to be discussed in § 11.7; see also Haga (2019)).
(283)
taro⸗a
hikkuriɡɛr-e-ba
musuko⸗a
osɛ-de
ke-ru⸗zɨ
Taro⸗nom
fall-seq-cond
son⸗nom
support-seq
give-npst⸗hrs
‘If Taro falls down, his son will support him.’
9.3.2 Accusative
This dialect has an accusative marker ⸗ba which follows animate objects as shown in (284). Inanimate objects are typically zero-coded as shown in (285). This pattern may be described as differential object marking Comrie (1979, 1983).
(284)
taro
{wa/omɛ/hanako/tomodati/inu}⸗{ba/??∅}
mi-tera
Taro
{1sg/2sg/Hanako/friend/dog}⸗{acc/∅}
see-prog
‘Taro is looking at {me/you/Hanako/(his) friend/a dog}.’
(285)
taro
sodo⸗{ba/∅}
mi-tera
Taro
outside⸗{acc/∅}
see-prog
‘Taro is looking outside.’
According to my impression, however, ⸗ba is less frequently used than zero-coding and some animate objects can also be zero-coded in natural conversation, whereas the examples above are from elicitation. Further investigation is necessary to reveal exactly under what conditions ⸗ba can or cannot be used.
This differential object-marking phenomenon is widely observed in Eastern Japanese dialects, some of which are well-described. See Otsuki (2018) for the Tsugaru dialect (western Aomori) and Sasaki (2004: Chapter 3) for the Mitsukaido dialect (Ibaraki).
9.3.3 Dative
The particle ⸗ni is used to express the agent in passive constructions (286) and the result of a change (287).
(286)
taro⸗a
odotto⸗ni
putaɡ-are-ta
Taro⸗nom
younger.brother⸗dat
beat-pass-pst
‘Taro was beaten by his younger brother.’
(287)
taro
sense⸗ni
nar-ta⸗zɨ
Taro
teacher⸗dat
become-pst⸗hrs
‘(I) heard that Taro became a teacher.’
Indirect objects take the particle ⸗sa (⸗all) instead of ⸗ni. Although I regard ⸗ni as dative and ⸗sa as allative in this chapter, the distinction between the two is subtle and both particles are acceptable in some contexts. I will explain what we currently know in the following section.
9.3.4 Allative
The distinction between ⸗sa and ⸗ni is subtle and differs depending on the specific Nambu dialect. Here I describe the Noheji dialect. Further study is needed to figure out the exact usages and regional differences of both particles. Fundamentally, ⸗sa is used to indicate direction: the indirect object (288), the location of existence (289), the goal of a motion (290), the object of meeting (291), etc.
(288)
taro
odotto⸗sa
zibun⸗no
i
ke-ta⸗zɨ
Taro
younger.brother⸗all
self⸗gen
house
give-pst⸗hrs
‘Taro gave his house to (his) younger brother.’
(289)
kabe⸗sa
toɡe
kaɡat-teru
wall⸗all
clock
hang-prog
‘A clock is hanging on the wall.’
(290)
taro⸗a
ha
kina
tokyo⸗sa
ik-te
mar-ta⸗zɨ
Taro⸗nom
already
yesterday
Tokyo⸗all
go-seq
finish-pst⸗hrs
‘(I) heard that Taro left for Tokyo yesterday.’
(291)
taro⸗a
kendo⸗de
ziko⸗sa
at-ta⸗zɨ
Taro⸗nom
road⸗loc
accident⸗all
meet-pst⸗hrs
‘(I) heard that Taro encountered an accident on the road.’
The agent of causative constructions is expressed variously depending on whether s/he is forced to do the action. When the agent is forced to do something, ⸗ba is used as in (292); when s/he is not forced, ⸗sa is used as in (293). The particle ⸗ni is used irrespective of whether s/he is forced or not as in (294) and (295).
(292)
taro⸗a
jar-ttaɡu-nɛ⸗noni
odotto⸗ba
ojoŋ-ase-ta⸗zɨ
Taro⸗nom
do-want-neg⸗conc
younger.brother⸗acc
swim-caus-pst⸗hrs
‘Taro forced his younger brother to swim though he does not want to.’
(293)
taro⸗a
warasi⸗sa
sɨɡidabuttsɨ
keki
k-ahe-ta⸗zɨ
Taro⸗nom
child⸗all
as.much.as.s/he.likes
cake
eat-caus-pst⸗hrs
‘Taro let the child eat cake as much as s/he likes.’
(294)
taro⸗a
odotto⸗ni
sɨɡidabuttsɨ
ojoŋ-ase-ta⸗zɨ
Taro⸗nom
younger.brother⸗dat
as.much.as.s/he.likes
swim-caus-pst⸗hrs
‘Taro let the child swim as much as s/he likes.’
(295)
taro⸗a
odotto⸗ni
murijari
jasai⸗ba
k-ahe-ta⸗zɨ
Taro⸗nom
younger.brother⸗dat
forcibly
vegetable⸗acc
eat-caus-pst⸗hrs
‘Taro forced his younger brother to eat vegetables.’
Further investigation is needed to describe the possibilities of usages of each particle.
9.3.5 Instrumental
In addition to locative, ⸗de is used to indicate instrument or manner. It is not clear to me whether the locative ⸗de and the instrumental ⸗de are polysemous or homonymic.7
(296)
taro
kasɨɡi
tarai⸗de
arat-tera
Taro
dishes
basin⸗inst
wash-prog
‘Taro is washing dishes with basin.’
The location of event is indicated by ⸗de (⸗inst).
(297)
taro⸗dakkja
i⸗de
ne-tera⸗jo
Taro⸗top
house⸗loc
sleep-prog⸗fp
‘Regarding Taro, (he) is sleeping in the house.’
9.3.6 Comparative
The marker ⸗jori is attached to elements to which another element is being compared.
(298)
kotti⸗jori
sotti
mme⸗to
omo-ru
prox.dem⸗cmpr
med.dem
delicious⸗qt
think-npst
‘(I) think that one is more delicious than this one.’
The marker ⸗jori is also used with the sense of ‘other than’.
(299)
zen
ha
sore⸗yori
nɛ
tray
already
demmed⸗other.than
not.exist
‘There are no trays other than that.’
10 Predicate Phrase
10.1 Verbal Predication
A verbal predicate minimally consists of a verb which at least one tense, aspect, or modality suffix.
10.2 Non-verbal Predication
The nominal predicate is formed by a noun and the copula ⸗da. The copula is almost always necessary regardless of tense. As shown in (300) and (301), ⸗da forms a nominal predicate whether or not the sentence is in the present or the past.
(300)
ara
ame⸗da
oh
rain⸗cop
‘Oh, it’s raining.’
(301)
wa
sense⸗da-tta
1sg
teacher⸗cop-pst
‘I was a teacher.’
The copula is necessary for wh-copula predicates as exemplified in (302), unless they are confirmation questions like (303).
(302)
kore
dɛ⸗ⁿda
prox.dem
who⸗cop
‘Who is this?’
(303)
dɛ⸗i
who⸗fp
‘(He passed away.)—Who?’
This follows the pattern reported by Shiraiwa et al. (2016), where dialects of the Kinki region and of the eastern regions more frequently have the copula in the non-past tense without following suffixes or particles.
11 The Simple Sentence
11.1 Sentence Types
There are three sentence types: declaratives, interrogatives, and imperatives. Interrogatives are further divided into polar and content questions. Polar questions typically end with the question morpheme ⸗ɡa as exemplified in (304) and (305).
(304)
jama⸗sa
iɡ-u⸗no⸗ɡa
mountain⸗all
go-npst⸗nmlz⸗q
‘Are you going to the mountain?’
(305)
sono
hito⸗no
name-kko
oᵐbe-dera⸗ɡa
that
person⸗gen
name-dim
remember-prog⸗q
‘Do you remember the name of that person?’
Content questions on the other hand, do not have special sentence-final markers as exemplified below. Both polar and content questions end with falling intonation (§ 2.5).
(306)
kore
de⸗no⸗da
prox.dem
who⸗nmlz⸗cop
‘Whose is this?’
(307)
ano
warasi
doɡo⸗no
warasi⸗da
dist.dem
child
where⸗gen
child⸗cop
‘Where is that child from?’
Content questions with verbal and adjectival predicate do not require special sentence-final markers either. (308) and (309) are examples of content questions with verbal and adjectival predicates respectively. As shown in (309), the sentence can be optionally end with ⸗no (⸗nmlz) and ⸗i (⸗fp).
(308)
ome
asita
nani
su-ru
2sg
tomorrow
what
do-npst
‘What are you going to do tomorrow?’
(309)
kono-hen⸗daba
nani
mmɛ(⸗no⸗i)
dem.prox-area⸗cntr
what
delicious(⸗nmlz⸗fp)
‘In this area, what is delicious?’
A command may be expressed using the imperative verb form -(r)o, -te form, or the ⸗no⸗da form. In (310), mi-te, mi-te ke, and mi-te ke⸗n⸗da are possible ways to order somebody to look at something.
(310)
koɡo
mi-te
({ke/ke⸗n⸗da})
here
look-and
({give.imp/give⸗nmlz⸗cop})
‘(Please) look at here.’
11.2 Alignment
The Nambu dialect has a nominative-accusative alignment system. While A (the agent in a transitive construction), S (the only argument in an intransitive construction), and P (the patient in a transitive construction) are zero-coded, special types of P (e.g., pronoun and words with animate referents) are sometimes overtly coded by ⸗ba. See also § 9.3.2 and the references therein.
When both A and P are zero-coded, A almost always precedes P as in (311). However, given clear contexts where A is animate and P is inanimate, P can precede A without any overt coding as shown in (312), although it is highly likely that animate P preceding A is overtly coded by ⸗ba.
(311)
ome
dottara
okasi
tukuri-ttɛ
no
2sg
like.what
sweet
make-want
nmlz
A
P
‘What kind of sweets do you want to make?’
(312)
sono
siŋoto
ome
su
be
that
job
2sg
do
indef
P
A
‘That job, you do it, right?’
11.3 Possession
As described in § 9.2, possession is expressed using the genitive marker ⸗no. As far as I can tell, there are no distinctions between alienable and inalienable possession.
11.4 Valency Changing
This section describes the verbal suffixes -(r)ahe- (caus), -(r)aɡas- (caus), -(r)asar- (ac), and -(r)are- (pass). The full list of verbal suffixes is provided in Table 7.7.
The suffix -(r)ahe- (caus) is used to add an agent that lets or makes someone carry out an action as in (313). The agent is expressed using the dative (⸗ni) or locative (⸗sa) markers.
(313)
taro⸗a
odotto⸗{sa/ni}
jasai⸗ba
k-ahe-ta⸗zɨ
Taro⸗nom
younger.brother⸗{all/dat}
vegetable⸗acc
eat-caus-pst⸗hrs
‘Taro made/let his younger brother eat vegetables.’
Another causative suffix -(r)aɡas- is used to add the agent of an event in a sentence that acts as a cause of a naturally occurring event.
(314)
hotate
ame-ru
scallop
rot-npst
‘Scallops become rotten.’
(315)
wa
hotate
ame-raɡas-i-ttemar-ta
1sg
scallop
rot-caus-cvb-pfv-pst
‘I let the scallops go rotten.’
The suffix -(r)asar- (ac) is used to make an anti-causative construction (316).
(316) arug-asar-u ‘walk-ac-npst’, tabe-sar-u ‘eat-ac-npst’
The first form, aruɡ-asar-u, indicates that the agent can walk the road easily (contrary to the speaker’s assumption); the second form, tabe-sar-u, indicates that the agent can eat food easily (e.g., because it is delicious). Although the exact usage of this morpheme in the Nambu dialect is still under investigation, a suffix with the same or a similar form in the Tohoku and Hokkaido dialects is well-described (see Sasaki and Yamazaki (2006) for a description and analysis of the Hokkaido dialect, where the construction is analyzed as a spontaneous construction). (316) shows some examples of anti-causative expression. Since I do not have examples in full sentence form, the examples below (317, 318) are from the Hokkaido dialect (Sasaki and Yamazaki 2006). I follow their morphophonological analysis and romanization, but have changed the gloss of -asar- from ‘spontaneous’ to ‘ac (anti-causative)’. As shown in the contrast between (317) and (318), the plain predicate hos- ‘dry’ in (317) takes the agent (the mother) in the nominative and the patient (the laundry) in the accusative, while the anti-causative predicate hos-asar- in (318) takes the patient (the laundry) in the nominative.
(317)
haha-ɡa
sentakumono-o
sao-ni
hos-u
mother-nom
laundry-acc
bamboo.pole-dat
dry-pres
‘Mother dries the laundry on the bamboo pole.’
(318)
sentakumono-ɡa
sao-ni
hos-asar-u
laundry-nom
bamboo.pole-dat
hang.to.dry-ac-pres
‘The laundry dries on the bamboo pole.’ (Sasaki and Yamazaki 2006: 354)
The suffix -(r)are- (pass) is used to promote the object to the subject and to demote the subject to the dative (coded by ⸗ni (dat)).
(319)
odotto
taro
bokkake-ta⸗zɨ
younger.brother
Taro
chase-pst⸗hrs
‘His younger brother chased Taro.’
(320)
taro
odotto⸗ni
bokkake-rare-ta⸗zɨ
Taro
younger.brother
chase-pass-pst⸗hrs
‘Taro was chased by his younger brother.’
11.5 Polarity
Negation is expressed through the use of the negative morpheme -nɛ for verbs, -ɡu/ku/hu⸗nɛ for inflected adjectives, and ⸗de⸗nɛ for nominal adjectives and nouns. Some examples are shown below.
(321)
kono
huta
atu-ku-te
mot-e-nɛ
this
lid
hot-adj-and
have-poss-neg
‘This lid is so hot that (I) can’t hold (it).’
(322)
kono
inu
hutarasi-ku-nɛ
this
dog
??-adj-neg
‘This dog doesn’t behave well.’
(323)
wa
sense⸗de⸗nɛ-ɡa-tta⸗jo
1sg
teacher⸗cop⸗neg-adj-pst⸗fp
‘I was not a teacher.’
11.6 TAM
Tense, aspect, and modality expressions are listed in Table 7.13. The basic order is aspect, followed by tense, followed by modality. Some of those are suffixes and clitics; others are verbs, adjectival expressions, and sentence-final particles.
Table 7.13
Tense, aspect, modality expressions
Aspect |
Tense |
Modality |
---|---|---|
-tera (prog) |
-ta (pst) |
jonta, ɡotta (infr) |
-ttemaru (pfv) |
-ta-tta (epst) |
-ttɛ (des), sonta ‘nearly’ |
-u (npst) |
be, besi, bja, bjon (infr) |
Yakame et al. (2005) point out that -ta indicates simple past, and when -tta is added, it indicates that the event described was experienced by the speaker. This is shown by the contrast between (324) and (325). In (325), it is implied that the speaker actually saw the garbage.
(324)
kinona
koɡo⸗sa
ɡomi
ar-ta
yesterday
here⸗all
garbage
exist-pst
‘Yesterday there was garbage here.’ (Yakame et al. 2005: 54)
(325)
kinona
koɡo⸗sa
ɡomi
ar-ta-tta
yesterday
here⸗all
garbage
exist-pst–epst
‘Yesterday there was garbage here (and I saw it).’ (Ibid.)
The marker -tera attaches to verbs to add a progressive meaning as in (255). Additionally, it can also follow adjectival expressions to indicate that the state is temporal. For example, compare (326) and (327). (326) expresses a temporary state and the morpheme -tera is felicitous, whereas (327) expresses a permanent state (relative to human life) and -tera is infelicitous.
(326)
ittsɨmo
sizɯka-na
hito⸗a
kjo⸗a
zɨmbɯ
niŋijaɡa-tera
always
quiet-adj
person⸗nom
today⸗top
really
talkative-prog
‘The person who is usually calm is talkative today.’
(327)
ano
hito⸗dakkja
ittsɨmo
niŋijaɡa-{da⸗kkja/*tera}
that
person⸗top
always
talkative-{cop⸗fp/prog}
‘That person is always talkative.’
The detailed usages for each expression need further study. See, for example, Takeda (2000) and Takata (2003) for tense, aspect, and modality systems of closely related dialects.
11.6.1 Discourse Marker
Common discourse markers are listed in (328). Details of the usage of each marker are not yet understood. The markers ⸗i and ⸗sɛ can attach to nouns in addition to sentences. As far as I aware, the other particles attach only to the end of sentences.
(328) ⸗i (⸗fp), ⸗sɛ (⸗fp), ⸗zɨ (⸗hrs), ⸗kja (⸗fp), ⸗nɨsɨ (⸗plt)
The marker nɨsɨ varies widely within the Nambu dialect. I encountered nasɨ and naʃi in areas outside Noheji, and there may be more variation.
11.7 Information Structure and Its Formal Encodings
The particle ⸗a may have originated from either ⸗wa (⸗top) or ⸗ɡa (⸗ŋa) (⸗nom), either of which would be a natural but irregular sound change in this dialect. It could be from ⸗wa (⸗top) because ⸗a does not always follow nominatives in the closely related Shimokita, as shown in (329). The noun phrase kono kaʃi ‘this sweet’ is not nominative but accusative, and is topicalized in this case.
(329)
kono
kaʃi⸗a
wa
kat-te
ki̥-ta
dem.prox
sweet⸗a
1sg
buy-seq
come-pst
‘Regarding this sweet, I bought (it).’ (Nakagawa 2020: p. 54)
It is difficult to speculate that all examples of ⸗a are topics; clear cases of focus, such as the answer to a question and Brand-New NPs (Prince 1981), can also be coded by ⸗a.
(330)
dɛ
biriketu⸗da⸗no
–
hanako⸗a/∅
biriketu⸗da⸗jo
who
youngest⸗cop⸗nmlz
–
Hanako⸗a/∅
youngest⸗cop⸗fp
‘Who is the youngest child (in your family)?’—‘Hanako is the youngest.’
Moreover, it can code Brand-New NPs, which are not typically followed by a topic marker. In idioms like (331) and (332), for example, Brand-New NPs (which have not been mentioned in the discourse or shared between the speaker and the addressee) such as ‘flavor’ and ‘liver’ are coded by ⸗a.
(331) kibi⸗a wari ‘flavor⸗a bad (creepy)’
(332) kɨmo⸗a jageru ‘liver⸗a burn (exasparating)’
Therefore, I conclude that ⸗a in this dialect is a nominative marker, rather than ambiguous between topic and nominative markers. However, a single exception to this generalization has been found, (326), where two ⸗a-coded nouns appear in a row as in hito⸗a kjo⸗a. In this case, kjo⸗a should be interpreted as ‘today⸗top’.
The morphemes ⸗dakkja and ⸗daba are examples of topic particles. As shown in (333) and (334), ⸗dakkja can code both S and P; it can also code other elements but examples are omitted because of limitations on space.
(333)
taro⸗dakkja
i⸗de
ne-tera⸗jo
Taro⸗top
house⸗loc
sleep-prog⸗fp
‘Regarding Taro, (he) is sleeping at home.’
(334)
taro⸗dakkja
sakita
eɡi-maɛ⸗de
mi-ta⸗jo
Taro⸗top
a.while.ago
station-front⸗loc
see-pst⸗fp
‘Regarding Taro, (I) saw (him) in front of the station a while ago.’
It seems that the topic marker ⸗dakkja is formed from the copula ⸗da followed by the subordinate suffix ⸗kkja ‘then’ (see § 12.1).
The morpheme ⸗daba is also a topic marker; in addition to the topicalization function, it also appears to have a contrastive function.8 This is especially clear in example (335), where the usual state of the teacher and his/her state today are contrasted. (336) is less clear, but ‘around here’ could be considered to be contrasted with other areas.
(335)
ittumo⸗daba
jasasi⸗tatte
kjo⸗no
sense
okkane-ɡa-tta⸗kkja
usually⸗cntr
friendly⸗conc
today⸗gen
teacher
scary-adj-pst⸗fp
‘The teacher who is usually friendly is scary today.’
(336)
kono
hen⸗daba
nani
mmɛ?
this
area⸗cntr
what
tasty
‘Around here, what is tasty?’
I speculate that ⸗daba consists of the copula ⸗da followed by a conditional suffix -ba.
Focus is not overtly coded by particles in this dialect; instead, it is expressed using a cleft construction. See Nakagawa (2020) for more about this in a related dialect.
12 The Complex Sentence
12.1 Clause-Combining Strategies
Below is a list of some clause-combining suffixes. Note that this is not an exhaustive list. All these suffixes follow a clause and indicate the relation between that clause and the following one. There are two kinds of concessive suffixes (⸗(ke)ⁿdomo, ⸗tatte) and two kinds of reason suffixes (⸗mono, ⸗site). The differences between the similar suffixes are still not clear.
(337) ⸗(ke)ⁿdomo (conc), ⸗tatte (conc), ⸗mono (rsn), ⸗site (rsn), ⸗dogo⸗de ‘?’, -(r)eba (cond), ⸗si (add), -te ‘and’, ⸗kkja ‘then’
12.2 Quotatives
Declarative and direct speech are coded using quotative ⸗tte or ⸗tto.
(338)
her-eba
her-ta-tte
her-are-ru-si …
speak-cond
speak-pst-qt
speak-pass-npst-and
‘If I speak, I would be said to have spoken I spoke, (if I don’t speak, I would also be accused, so it’s better to speak than not to speak. Either way I would be accused.)’
(339)
i
ur-ttɛ⸗tto
omo-ru-kedo
ome
do
omo-ru?
house
sell-want⸗qt
think-npst-conc
2sg
how
think-npst
‘I am thinking I want to sell my house. What do you think?’
⸗tte and her-u ‘speak’ are conflated into ⸗tte-ru, which I call a quotative verb. An example is given in (340). However, it is not clear whether the verb has other forms such as the negative form, although I have found the past-tense form ⸗tte-tta.
(340)
sore-ⁿdo⸗no
name
{nan⸗tteru/nan⸗tte heru}⸗no
that-pl⸗gen
name
{what⸗say.qt/what⸗qt speak}⸗nmlz
‘What are their names?’
Content and polar questions are quoted using ⸗ɡa, as exemplified in (341).
(341)
de-ɡa
de-ru⸗be⸗ɡa
oᵐbe-teru?
who-indef
answer-npst⸗infr⸗q
remember-prog
‘(If you make phone call,) do (you) remember who will answer (the phone)?’
12.3 Insubordination
All the clause-combining suffixes listed in (337) can also close a sentence, but such sentences imply that the speaker has not finished the sentence. Example (342) is relatively clear. When speaker A asks why B is angry, speaker B answers the question with a reason clause or leaves the sentence unfinished with ‘and …’.
(342) a. (Why are you so angry?)
b.
odotto
sara
{kasi-ta-site/
kasi-ta-n⸗da-mono/
kasi-te⸗i}
younger.brother
plate
{break-pst-rsn/
break-pst-nmlz⸗cop-rsn/
break-and-fp}
‘Because (my) younger brother broke a plate …’
A similar strategy can be applied without any explicit question like (342a).
12.4 Clause-Chaining Structure
With a rich array of suffixes indicating the relations between sentences and insubordination, the dialect also has clause-chaining especially in narratives and monologues. Examples of clause-chaining are to be found in the Appendix.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Mitsuse Tsunoka, who kindly donated her time to be a consultant. Also, Nobuko Kudo and Setsu Kamiharako always spoke to me in the Nambu dialect and provided a lot of interesting data. I thank the reviewers, Kan Sasaki and Wayne Lawrence, who gave insightful advice and raised many interesting questions. I also thank Yuko Urabe and Danning Wang, who made comments to my paper. Needless to say, any remaining deficiencies are the responsibility of the author.
Appendix: Sample Text (Nosaka 2009)
(343)
muɡaʃi
muɡaʃi
nohedʒisa
otonosamaŋa
merasɨ̥kkoba
hede
kɨ̥tazɨ
muɡasi
muɡasi
nohezi⸗sa
o-tono-sama⸗ŋa
merasi-kko⸗ba
he-te
ki-ta⸗zɨ
long.ago
long.ago
Noheji⸗all
hon-governor-hon⸗nom
girl.child-dim⸗acc
accompany-and
come-pst⸗hrs
‘A long time ago, a governor came to Noheji with a little girl.’
(344)
osamuraisamano
hiŋekko
nobide
kimonokkomo
kɨ̥tanaɡu
natterattazɨ
o-samurai-sama⸗no
hiŋe-kko
nobi-te
kimono-kko⸗mo
kitana-ɡu
nar-tera-tta⸗zɨ
hon-samurai-hon⸗gen
beard-dim
grow-and
clothing-dim⸗add
dirty-adj
become-prog-pst⸗hrs
‘The samurai grew an untidy beard and wore dirty clothes.’
(345)
nuɡui
nazɨdamono
naŋe
tabide
asaɡenaikurai
tsɨ̥karederattazɨ
nuɡu-i
nazu⸗da-mono
naŋe
tabi⸗de
asaɡ-e-nai⸗kurai
tukare-tera-tta⸗zɨ
hot-adj
summer⸗cop-rsn
long
travel⸗loc
walk-poss-neg⸗amount
tired-prog-pst⸗hrs
‘Because it was a hot summer, they were too tired to walk further after a long trip.’
(346)
nodokko
kawaide
idadoɡode
nodo-kko
kawai-te
i-ta-doɡode
throat-dim
dry-and
exist-pst-since
‘Since they were thirsty,’
(347)
ojakode
miwanoŋawano
ki̥ʃisa
ʃaŋandakkja
oja-ko⸗de
biwano-ŋawa⸗no
kisi⸗sa
sjaŋam-ta⸗kkja
parent-child⸗loc
Biwano-river⸗gen
bank⸗all
crouch-pst⸗then
‘the father and the child crouched down and’
(348)
ɡabuɡabutte
mizɨkkoba
nondazɨ
ɡabu~ɡabu⸗tte
mizu-kko⸗ba
nom-ta⸗zɨ
gulp~gulp⸗qt
water-dim⸗acc
drink-pst⸗hrs
‘gulped water.’
Regarding ‘mouth’, it can be pronounced as both [kɯ̥tʃi] (as in (233c)) and [kɯdʒi] (as in 230), depending on whether the high vowel devoicing rule (237) is applied or not.
The reviewer pointed out that /ɨ/ could be analyzed as /ɯ/ because [ɨ] and [ɯ] seem to show complementary distribution; [ɨ] appears after alveolar consonants and [ɯ] appears elsewhere. Since I do not have enough data to support or to reject this hypothesis, I shall retain /ɨ/ as a phoneme for now.
In the Morioka dialect (Takeda 2020: 22, for example, both su- and sa- are reported as negative forms.
However, the morpheme -ra appears to have lost the meaning of past tense, and I simply gloss -tera as -prog.
W. Lawrence suggested that the free form [nda] ‘yes, it is’, which is pronounced with full /n/ and stem from [soːda], can be evidence for my argument, although [nda] violates the syllable structure for Nambu.
Kohei Nakazawa (p.c.) points out that the demonstrative verbs kesu, sesu, and esu can be reconstructed as ko-joo(ni) su, sa-joo(ni) su, and a-joo(ni) su, respectively. At some point in the history, o-j changed into e and the -oo(ni) part was elided.
W. Lawrence suggests that if the locative ⸗de and the instrumental ⸗de can be used in the same clause, they would be different morphemes. I leave this as open question because of the limition of my data.
I became aware of this in an elicitation session with Michinori Shimoji and his students. I am grateful that they came up with wonderful questions.
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