＼(＾▽＾*) Angry Gaijin Understand Understanding. (*＾▽＾)／
Kyushu is the 3rd largest island of Japan, and located where KYUSHU is spelled out on most maps. Put your finger on the map and show your friends!
Kyushu is also home to a wide array of local dialects, which to the average Tokyoite (or to anyone from outta town) can range from ‘mostly understandable’ to ‘Can I see your passport and visa? How long do you intend to stay in Japan?’
I live wayeee up in the north of Kyushu, in a place known as Kita (North) Kyushu (Fukuoka Prefecture). I’ve noticed that even within this one single prefecture, the dialects run rampant and change depending on where you are, from the Hakata Bijin speak in Fukuoka City to the Kita Kyushu slang influenced by more easternly located prefectures. And all the dialects seem mixed together geographically to me: with everyone commuting from here to there for work, I suppose dialects leaking and mixing into one another is only unavoidable. But there are some common threads:
A lotta people know that the word ‘suki‘ (好き) is the Japanese word used to express like or love towards a person or thing,
and that ‘suki jyanai‘ (好きじゃない) is the negative.
‘Round these parts if you wanna express the same feelings the respective words are ‘suitou‘ (すいとう) and ‘sukan‘ (すかん).
These days I hear the negative ‘sukan‘ about a billion times more than I hear the positive ‘suitou,’ but let’s try out some of these great examples! As I mentioned before, depending on where you are in Fukuoka Pref, the speaking is a little different. Let’s mark each usage with an (H) for Hakata Dialect and a (K) for Kitakyushu Dialect.
NOTE: Dialects are extremely tough to pin down and there’ll be people who disagree with what I say here. If you have a suggestion, help me out! Leave a comment! :)
LIKE – SUITOU
(H) “Mentaiko suitou to~?” (明太子すいとうと～？) “Do you like mentaiko*?” *(A Fukuoka delicacy!)
(H) “Suitou bai!” (すいとうばい！) “Of course I do!”
(K) (This word isn’t used much in Kita Kyushu and eastern Fukuoka.)
DISLIKE – SUKAN
(H) “Sore, sukan tai!” (それ、すかんたい！) “I told you, I don’t like that shit!”
(K) “Sore, sukan cha!” (それ、すかんちゃ！) ”I told you, I don’t like that shit!”
(H/K) “Mou, shigoto ga sukan.” (もう、仕事がすかん。。。) ”Crap, I hate my work.”
How about you? How do you express to other people what you like and dislike where you live?
p.s. Happy New Year, everyone! ( ^ _ ^)∠☆PAN！あけおめ！
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Happyuan
Thanks this is really helpful for me. That way if and when I do visit Japan, depending on where I am I will remember that it may not be me not understanding from stupidity but more that I may not be hip to the local lingo.
I did recall a few differences in Germany in the way things were said or words were pronounced. Munich seemed to seemed to use whole words where as some of the same words were cut shorter in Berlin.
Being unwise to the local lingo is something a lot of Japanese folk travelling within their own country suffer from! No worries. :) Japanese, although super interesting and gratifying to study, really is an impossible language! It’s wayeee too complex for its own good.
I’ve heard there are a lot of dialects in Germany too…what was it, “Upper German” and “Lower German”?
Wow, that’s really advanced stuff for someone like me, who can’t even write proper hiraganas:)
Don’t worry! Using slang is so much easier than writing hiraganas. :) Try it!
How awesome! ! I can learn a few Japanese words here :D
“Knowledge is Power!!”
Oh, wow. I didn’t know all these. there is always something new to learn everyday. Where I grow up, we have a totally different language called “Bisaya.” Like means “gusto” and dislike means “hindi.” In between there are tons of way to express both. Great post. Happy New Year!
Thanks for the info! That’s interesting… Do you know what language family BIsaya belongs to?
Happy New Year!! I wish you and your loved ones a joyful, happy, successful, rewarding, and healthy new year!!
Many thanks, Judy! And likewise, to you and yours! ^_^/
Happy New Year! I’ve nominated you for The Versatile Blogger Award.
http://happyuan.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/the-versatile-blogger-award/
Oooooooooooh! :D No wayeee!! *excited!!*
When I visited Kyushu I found people’s dialects and accents really hard to understand even when they were trying to speak slowly and simply to me in standard Japanese. But I’m a slow learner. It took months for me to figure out that they were saying “paper or plastic?” at the supermarket checkout in Texas.
Hahaha, I understand. Both my bandmates are super quick/mumbly talkers and I don’t catch a heck of a lot of what they’re saying. My favourite people to speak to are old ladies – - their Japanese tends to sound to me super clean and clear. Old guys tend to mumble and be lazy with syllables. I’m told this happens everywhere. ^_^
See if you can go to AMA no iwato
Translation the birth place of god
It’s in the center of kyushu
A steep train ride from kumamoto
if I remember
Lots of old ladies there 40 years ago,but very interesting
I hope you get a chance to visit “AMA no iwato”. Translation ” the birthplace of god” located in the center mountains of kyushu, a steep train ride from Kumamoto. Lotsa old ladies there 40 years ago. Maybe young ones now. A very interesting place.
Cool, yo! Actually I’m just starting to plan a trip down toward Kagoshima in a couple months. Provided there’s not a butt load of snow going up the mountain, I think we might check it out on the way down!
There is/was a youth hostel there. I believe it was 二月 か？三月 there were traces of snow on the higher mountains. Is there a volcano cauldron called Beppu? I remember something like that. There was a cave with little stacks or towers of stone. I’d live to know what it’s like now. There was also a huge beehive under the eave of the hostel. Probably a meter long and half that wide. Somewhere I have pictures
Beppu is the name of a city in Oita (not to be confused with the Befu of Fukuoka – same kanji spelling, but very different place). Not sure about the volcanic cauldron bit, but there are volcaons all over Kyushu, eh? My posts relating to Beppu, if you’re interested. :) > > http://angrygaijin.wordpress.com/?s=beppu)
Haha, shit that’s a huge beehive. If I go then I’ll make sure to take some photos and upload them here. :) Sounds like it’s a place full of cool memories.
I’m totally confused. Dug out my diary. The mountain I was meaning to remember is Aso-san
I’ll photo some pages and email you them. This was in the early 70′s when handwriting was all I had.
Yo! Got your mail~ ^_^ And it looks like I’ma be taking a trip down to Amanoiwato a little sooner than I thought~
I’ll send you the other pages, its somewhere from Takemori….don’t remember. check your email for some graphics with very poor handwriting.