Hakata dialect (博多弁, Hakata-ben) is a Japanese dialect spoken in Fukuoka city.[1] Hakata dialect originated in Hakata commercial district, while a related Fukuoka dialect (福岡弁, Fukuoka-ben) was spoken in the central district.[2] Hakata dialect has spread throughout the city and its suburbs. Most Japanese regard Hakata dialect as the dialect typical of Fukuoka Prefecture, so it is sometimes called Fukuoka-ben.[citation needed]
Hakata dialect is being increasingly spoken in television interviews in Fukuoka, where previously standard Japanese was expected.[citation needed]
Hakata-ben, a dialect of Kyushu with historically strong ties to Okinawa (Ryukyu), retains a rich vocabulary that appears to share roots with the Ryukyuan languages. One example is the Okinawan word フーチバー, which means "mugwort." In Hakata-ben, related terms such as フツ and フツッパ (literally "leaf of フツ") are used, suggesting a common linguistic origin.
Grammar
The basic grammar of Hakata dialect is similar to other Hichiku dialects such as Saga dialect, Nagasaki dialect, and Kumamoto dialect. For example, Hakata dialect uses to or tto as a question, e.g., "What are you doing?", realized in standard Japanese as nani o shiteiru no?, is nan ba shiyo tto? or nan shitō to? in Hakata and other Hichiku dialects.
Characteristics
Among the various distinctive features of Hakata-dialect, some representative expressions include:
〜どげん ("dogen") – meaning "how" or "what kind of"
〜っちゃん ("-cchan") – used to emphasize a statement, similar to "you know"
〜と？ ("-to?") – a sentence-ending particle indicating a question, similar to "is it?" or "are you?"
〜やけん ("-yaken") – meaning "because" or "therefore"
〜ばい ("-bai") – a sentence-ending particle meaning "it is" or used for emphasis
〜たい ("-tai") – another sentence-ending particle conveying affirmation, similar to "-bai"
In particular, among younger speakers, the usage of 〜ちゃん ("-chan") is often preferred instead of 〜たい for a softer expression.
Accent
When a verb is followed by the particle 「と」 (to), which corresponds to the standard Japanese particle 「の」 (no) used for questions (e.g., "Are you going home?"), the pitch tends to rise toward the end.
When two verbs are connected in an auxiliary relationship, only the first syllable of the first verb and the last syllable of the second verb are pronounced with a low pitch.
