The grammar of the Nagoya dialect shows intermediate characteristics between eastern Japanese (including standard Tokyo dialect) and western Japanese (including
Kansai dialect). For example, Nagoya dialect uses eastern
copula da instead of western
ya (to be precise, in traditional Nagoya dialect); western negative verb ending -
n and -
sen instead of eastern -
nai; western verb
oru (to exist [humans/animals]) instead of eastern
iru.
Onbin of verbs is same as eastern, but one of adjectives is same as western; for example, "eat quickly" becomes
hayoo kutte in Nagoya dialect instead of eastern
hayaku kutte and western
hayoo kuute.
Particles Tokyoites frequently use
sa and
ne, and Osakans frequently use
naa. In contrast, Nagoya speakers frequently put
yoo between phrases.
De is another characteristic particle of Nagoya dialect. In the Nagoya dialect, the
no in
no de "because" is optional.
Monde is also used as well as
de in Nagoya dialect.
Sentence final particles Nagoya dialect has a wider range of
sentence-final particles than is used in standard Japanese. ;gaya :(1) Used when the speaker is surprised. (1a) When surprised about the current situation. Ex.
Yuki ga futtoru gaya. (It is snowing!) (1b) When an idea flashed through the speaker's mind, or when the speaker reminds something suddenly. ex.
Ikan ikan, wasuretotta gaya. (Oh no, I forgot it.) :(2) To let the listener know the speaker is surprised of what the listener did. (2a) When surprised for the listener's ability, richness or something good. Ex.
Sugoi gaya. (You are great.) (2b) When surprised for the listener's incompetence or something not good, ordering the listener to do better. Ex.
Ikan gaya. (Literally "It's prohibited". The speaker is surprised that the listener does not know it and is ordering them to remember it is prohibited.) :(3) {misuse} sometimes used to mimic Nagoya-ben. Also
gyaa. ;gane :Almost the same as
gaya but is somewhat soft. ;ga, gaa, ge, gee, gan: These are contractions of
gaya or
gane and are relatively new words. ;te, tee :To emphasize the statement. ;to :"I heard" or "They say". Used when the speaker is in direct to the source. Ex.
Sore wa chigau to. (They say it is not so.) ;gena :Also "I heard" or "They say". Less confident than
to. ;ni :Used when the speaker thinks that the listener does not know what the speaker is saying, equivalent to Standard
yo. Ex.
Wikipedia wa furii nanda ni. (Wikipedia is free. (I bet you don't know it.)) ;mai, maika :Used after the volitional form of verbs to make it clear that the speaker is inviting. The "shiyou" form once had meaning of "maybe" though this usage is archaic both in Nagoya-ben and the Standard Japanese today. Ex.
Nagoya-ben shaberomai. (Let's speak Nagoya dialect.) ;shan, kashan, kashiran, shiran. :(1)"I wonder". Same as
kashira in Standard Japanese though "kashira" is used only by women while these are used both by men and women. Ex.
Kore de ii kashan. (I wonder if it is OK.) :(2)"I am not sure". Ex.
Nan da shan ittotta. (He said something though I am not sure what he said.) :Whether there is "ka" or not is due to the speaker. ;de kan :(1)Expresses that the speaker is not satisfied. Ex.
Kaze hiite matta de kan.(I have caught a cold. (I hate it).) :(2)Expresses that the speaker is pleased. Same as some Americans say "bad" to mean "good". ;wa :Used only by women in Standard Japanese, but also used by men in Nagoya dialect. ;miyo :Formed from the command form of the verb "miru"(to see). Attached to attract the listener's attention mostly in order to scold them. Ex.
Kowaketematta miyo. (Look what you've done. It's broken.) ;miyaa, mii :Formed from the soft command form of the verb "miru"(to see). Attached to attract the listener's attention. But the usage is not restricted to scolding. ;namo :Polite particle mainly used by upper-class people, though is obsolete and the Standard Japanese auxiliary verb "-masu" is used instead today. Also
emo.
Auxiliary verbs Nagoya-ben has some auxiliary verbs which are not used in the standard language. Some standard helping verbs are contracted in Nagoya dialect. ;yaa, yaase :Forms a soft order. Ex.
Yookee tabeyaa. (Eat a lot.) ;sseru, yasseru, yaasu :Forms an expression in
respectful language. :In some sub-dialects of Nagoya-ben,
yaasu is used for the second person and
sseru/yasseru for the third. ;choosu :Respectful form of the helping verb
kureru.
Kudasaru in Standard Japanese. ;mau1 :contraction of helping verb
shimau. ;mau2 :contraction of helping verb
morau. Differs from mau1 in accent. ;...tekan: contraction of
-te wa ikan, Standard Japanese
-te wa ikenai ;...toru :contraction of
-te oru, Standard Japanese
-te iru. ;...taru1 :contraction of
-te aru. ;...taru2 :contraction of
-te yaru. Differs from taru1 in accent. ;imperfective form (
mizenkei) + suka :strong negative. Ex.
Ikasuka (I will never go.) ;continuative form (''ren'yōkei'') + yotta :Used to talk about old days. ;imperfective form (
mizenkei) + na kan :contraction of
-neba ikan, Standard Japanese
-nakereba ikenai. ;imperfective form (
mizenkei) + na1 :Negative conditional form. ;imperfective form (
mizenkei) + na2 :Contraction of
-nakan, Standard Japanese
-nakereba ikenai. Used mainly to command. ;imperfective form (
mizenkei) + n naran :Contraction of
-neba naran, Standard Japanese
-nakereba naranai. == Vocabulary ==