Particles of the Kagoshima dialects

When a word is followed by a particle that starts with a vowel (such as the topic particle a, the accusative particle o or the dative particle i), the final syllable of that word will be fused with the particle and be subject to Kagoshima's vowel coalescence rules as well as other sound changes occurring in the regional dialect. As a simple example, when the word kore "this" is followed by the topic particle , it becomes korya "this=". A secondary sound change in Mainland Kagoshima then causes the medial ry to become y, giving the common form koya "this=". Two main exceptions to this rule exist: • If a word's underlying form ends in a moraic nasal (i.e. ), an epenthetic is inserted between the word and the particle. For example, hon "book" becomes honna when fused with the topic particle. • If a word's underlying form ends in a long vowel or sequence of vowels, then an epenthetic consonant is sometimes inserted between the word and the particle. In the case of topic particle a and the accusative particle o, the epenthetic consonant is . In the case of the dative particle i, the epenthetic consonant is . This rule is not consistently applied across all dialects of Kagoshima. The following table shows how particles change the final syllable of words in the mainland Kagoshima dialects. The rules of resyllabification differ only slightly in peripheral areas. The following table shows how particles change the final syllable of words in the Sato dialect of the Koshikijima Islands. • Note: The accusative particle ( o) is not listed above because the Sato dialect replaced it with the particle ba. For example, the accusative form of koi "this" is simply koi ba. These works provide the oldest glimpse into the Kagoshima dialect. For the most part, the works of Gonza show that the topic particle a and the dative particle i followed the same rules as they do today, fusing with the final syllable of the preceding word and being subject to the same exceptions that exist today. The accusative particle wo, however, was independent and shows fusion in only a couple recorded examples. == Comparison with Amami and standard Japanese ==

The following table gives an overview of some of the main particles used in Kagoshima as compared to those used in Northern Amami, a language group spoken directly to the south of the Kagoshima dialects, as well as standard Japanese. :1. These forms are not attested in the referenced source, but are inferred based on the Kagoshima City forms and known sound changes in Minamikyūshū. Overall, Kagoshima and Amami varieties appear more similar to each other when it comes to the overlapping use of the genitive and nominative particles, the use of a topicalized accusative particle (absent in standard Japanese), the use of a purposive particle that is separate from the dative particle, and the use of multiple terminative particles. When it comes to dative, locative, directional and instrumental particles, Kagoshima is more similar to standard Japanese than it is to Amami, as Amami varieties use a number of different particles for these cases. Kagoshima also uses a regular accusative particle like standard Japanese, whereas most Amami varieties do not. == Index of particles ==

A-Z index • bakkai • batten • chi • de (1) • de (2) • do • don • doma • ga • gaa • gii • hozu • i • ina • ka (1) • ka (2) • kara • ke (1) • ke (2) • mo / n • mon • mon ka • na • na(n)do • naa / nee / nii • no • o • (o)ba • see • seka • shiko • to (1) • to (2) • to (3) • (w)a • (w)ai / (w)a / i • yara • yokka • yoo • zui Index by meaning • also • and / with • as if • at / in / to • because • but • emphatic markers • even • for example • from • just • more than • of / 's • object markers • question markers • quote markers • only • or • roughly • tag markers ("eh?", "right?") • topic marker ("as for") • to the extent of • towards • until / up to • with / using == Syntactic case-marking particles ==

Case-marking particles are short lexical items that attach to the end of nouns, verbs or adjectives and help indicate their grammatical relation within a phrase, clause or sentence. To illustrate, the following example shows how the word "cat" is explicitly marked to indicate that it is the subject of the transitive verb, while the word "fish" is marked to indicate that it is the object of the verb within the phrase "The cat ate the fish". Note that most case-marking particles do not have a direct translation in English, as modern English mostly relies on word order, although it does have some basic subject (aka nominative) and object (aka accusative) marking in personal pronouns such as "he" versus "him". Ablative kara Like standard Japanese, the particle kara is used to indicate a time or place from which something begins. In this sense, it can generally be translated to "from" in English. Regional variants of this particle include kaa and ka. In the Higashimorokata district of Miyazaki specifically, the form kai is used. An example of the second would be '' "(he) was killed by Pedro". and is not as widespread elsewhere. Considered an archaism in Standard Japanese, the form oba, pronounced uba in Southern Kagoshima, is more frequently used instead. In contrast with the particle o, oba'' can be described as an emphatic accusative; that is, it places more emphasis on the direct object. Examples: {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(2) Comparative yokka The particle yokka {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(2) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(3) Dative and locative i The dative-locative particle i The Kagoshima dialects, like other Western Kyūshū dialects and Ryukyuan varieties, are notable in that this original distinction is largely maintained, although some regional variation in usage occurs. ga In Kagoshima, the particle ga is considered somewhat more derogatory and occurs mainly with a human subject or possessor. Examples: {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(2) no In contrast with the particle ga, the particle no (or n) is considered more neutral or polite. marks direction. It can roughly be translated as "in" or "to" in English and is comparable in usage to e in standard Japanese. Etymologically, the particle is said to originate from the expression sama ni "by way of, in the state of". {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(2) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(3) Nominalizing to Other than its standard usages, the particle to is also a nominalizing particle in the Kagoshima dialects. That is, it can be appended to a verb, an adjective or another utterance to transform it into a noun. This usage is similar to how no is used in standard Japanese. {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(2) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(3) The particle to can also be used at the end of declarative sentences to add mild emphasis. {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(4) ta The particle ta or its variant taa is a combination of the nominalizing particle to and the topic particle a. It can be combined with a verb or adjective to turn it into a noun, similar to how mono wa and no wa work in standard Japanese. can be used with verbs in their stem form to indicate either the purpose of a movement or the arrival point of a movement. It most often occurs in the construction ~ ke iʔ "to go (do something)". In parts of the Koshikijima islands, the variant kyaa is used; in Tanegashima, the variant kaa is used; For example: {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(3) Quotative to (3) The quotative particle to is used to mark speech or thought that is being directly quoted (e.g. something someone else said) or indirectly quoted (e.g. paraphrasing what someone else said or indicating hearsay). While both this particle and the particle chi largely overlap in usage, the particle to tends to be favoured with verbs of thought such as omoʔ "to think". {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) chi The quotative particle chi is used to mark speech or thought that is being directly quoted (e.g. something someone else said) or indirectly quoted (e.g. paraphrasing what someone else said or indicating hearsay). While both this particle and the particle to largely overlap in usage, the particle chi tends to be favoured with verbs of speech or communication such as yu "to say" or kiʔ "to hear". {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) When followed by the verb yu "to say", it tends to fuse, becoming chuu or chu instead. {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(2) == Binding particles ==

Topic (w)a The particle a or wa is a topic marker. That is, it marks the main thing being talked about in a sentence. Like the particles o and i, when a is added to a word, the final syllable of that word will be subject to resyllabification. For instance, koi "this" becomes koya "this=" when topicalized. {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) == Conjunctive particles ==

Conjunctive particles are a category of particles that connect words, phrases or clauses together. Concessive batten ("but") The particle batten is a conjunctive particle meaning "but" or "although". It is less commonly used than don. In the peripheral islands of Tanegashima, Yakushima and Tokara, the variants batte and batche are also used alongside batten. don ("but") The particle don is a conjunctive particle meaning "but" or "although" and typically follows a declarative verb. From an etymological standpoint, while the particle don is technically cognate with the standard Japanese particle domo "even though", it may be more accurate to say that it stems from a reduction of the standard expression keredomo "but" which carries the same meaning. This is supported by the fact that, in neighboring provinces such as Miyazaki (including the Higashimorokata district), the form kendon is used, which can be further shortened to ken (as opposed to don like in Kagoshima). {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) Consequential de ("because") The particle de (sometimes dee in northern Koshikijima) can be combined with verbs or adjectives to mean "because". It is used in place of the standard Japanese particles kara or node. {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(2) Coordinating Coordinating particles (sometimes called connective particles or parallel markers) are particles used to link more than one noun or nominalized phrase together. They generally cover the meanings of "and" and "or". to ("and, with") The conjunctive or comitative particle to generally serves to coordinate nouns or noun phrases and can be translated to "and", "with" or "together with" in English. This particle is the same in both pronunciation and usage as standard Japanese. {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(2) Note that verbs and adjectives are coordinated using verbal suffixes instead of this particle. See Kagoshima verb conjugations: Te form for details. yara ("and") The conjunctive particle yara is used to coordinate nouns and signal that the list is incomplete. In this sense, it can translated to "A, B and C (amongst other things)" or "A, B, C, etc.". The particle is equivalent in usage to the standard Japanese particle ya. {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) ka ("or") The disjunctive particle ka serves to coordinate nouns or noun phrases and can be translated to "or" in English. This particle is the same in both pronunciation and usage as standard Japanese. == Adverbial particles ==

Adverbial particles are a broad category of particles that attach to the end of nouns or phrases (such as noun phrases and verb phrases) and "express such meanings as restriction, exemplification or similarity", amongst others. Approximation doma ("roughly") The particle doma Etymologically, doma stems from the word tomo, meaning "together with" in standard Japanese, and the topic particle は (w)a. {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) hozu ("to the extent of") The restrictive particle hozu is used to show the extent to which the following verb or adjective applies to what precedes. In English, it can be roughly translated with the expressions "to the extent of", "as (much) as" or "so (...) that". The particle shiko is used in place of standard Japanese dake To the south of Kagoshima, similar terminative particles are attested in Northern Ryukyuan varieties, such as gari in Kikai and gadi in Okinoerabu. However, it is unclear if these are related. {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(2) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(3) made ("until, up to") Just like in standard Japanese, the terminative particle made is used to indicate a time or place as a limit and can be translated as "until" or "up to" in English. In the Nakatane dialect of Tanegashima, the form maje is used, while in the Taira dialect of Koshijijima, the form myaa is used. {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) zui ("until, up to") The terminative particle zui (also spelled dzui) is used to indicate a time or place as a limit and can be translated as "to", "until" or "up to" in English. It is functionally equivalent to the particle made "to, up to, until", used in both standard Japanese while in the town of Ei, Kagoshima (now Minamikyūshū), the form djui is used. Etymologically, the particle zui likely originates from the noun "setting out (to)", which was historically pronounced dzuri in Kagoshima and would be cognate with the form de "coming out" in modern standard Japanese. This is evidenced by the fact that the verb "to go out; to exit; to set out" and its nominal form are still pronounced ずい zui or dzui in the traditional Kagoshima dialects. The oldest attestation of this particle is found in the 18th-century works of Gonza under the form dui ~ dwi (possibly pronounced or at the time), as in moskwi dui/dwi "up to Moscow". {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(2) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(3) In Koshikijima, zui can also be used in the sense of "even" or "so far as": {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(4) == Sentence-final particles ==

Sentence-final particles, sometimes called sentence-ending particles or interactional particles, are uninflected lexical items that appear at the end of a phrase or sentence. Unlike other types of particles such as case particles or conjunctive particles, sentence-final particles do not indicate the grammatical relation of different elements in a clause. Instead, they can be described as indicating "the illocutionary force of the proposition as well as the speaker's attitude towards the proposition and/or the interloculor(s)". This means that, among other things, sentence-final particles can be used to indicate how true the speaker believes the utterance is (e.g. definitely true, probably true, hearsay, personal opinion, etc.), to express the speaker's personal feelings towards the utterance (e.g. admiration, shock, etc.), or to solicit a reaction from the listener. They can also vary based on the speaker's relation with the listener and the degree of politeness they wish to express. Modality markers (w)ai, (w)a and i The particle ai or more rarely wai is a sentence-final particle used to bring awareness to something and to indicate that the speaker is expressing their own view. Unlike other sentence-final particles, this particle attaches to the preceding word (typically a verb in its non-past form) and fuses with the vowel of the final syllable of that word. Functionally, this particle is similar in usage to the particle yo in standard Japanese. In the Koshikijima islands, the variants a and wa are used. {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(2) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(3) {{interlinear|indent=3|abbreviations=CONJC:conjectural|lang=ja|number=(4) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(5) After a verb in its volitional form (also called the presumptive form), the particle is reduced to i and serves to add insistence to what is being said. Examples from Izumi, Kagoshima include nomoi "let's drink", ikoi "let's go", miroi "let's see" and shui "let's do (it)". do The sentence-final particle do, sometimes lengthened to doo, is used to mark an assertion and to grab the attention of the addressee, if one is present. It is functionally similar to the particles yo and zo in standard Japanese gaa The sentence-final particle gaa or sometimes just ga is used to mark a statement that the speaker believes to be true. In English, it can be overtly translated as "I believe (that)" or "I think (that)", whereas in standard Japanese, there is no direct equivalent to this particle, so it is often translated with the tag-marker ne "eh?" or "right?", with the declarative modal particle yo or with the modal auxiliary of probability darou. {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(2) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(3) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(4) mon As a regular noun, () mon means "thing" and often follows verbs in their nominal form or stem form to create a compound noun. For example, kuimon "food" is a compound of kui "eating" and mon "thing". This word can also be used at the end of a sentence, where it functionally acts like both a nominalizer and a sentence-final particle marking a cheeky comment, sometimes translated as "you know" in English. When used as such, it is always written in kana as mon. In regards to its usage, the particle mon typically follows adjectives and verbs directly and is often also followed by the copula ja "is". {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(2) mon ka The compound particle mon ka (pronounced mun ka in the southern Satsuma Peninsula) typically follows a declarative verb and serves to both nominalize the phrase and to repudiate or dismiss the idea brought forth. In this sense, it can be overtly translated as "as if (I would)" or "there's no way (I could)". It can also simply be translated in English with negation, e.g. "(I) will not". Functionally, this compound particle is the same as standard Japanese mon ka, and ultimately derives from a combination of the sentence-final particle mon and the question particle ka. {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) naa, nee and nii The sentence-final particles na(a), ne(e) and nii (used chiefly in Minamikyūshū) are used to indicate or solicit acknowledgement, agreement or confirmation regarding non-controversial information. In English, these particles are typically translated using tag question markers such as "eh?", "right?", "isn't it?" or "aren't you?" because of their use in utterances where the speaker is looking for agreement or confirmation from the listener. That said, they also play a role in narration where they help indicate that the statement uttered is incomplete and is the basis for what will be said next, and that the speaker may or may not be seeking acknowledgement from the listener (through backchannel responses). Etymologically, these particles are all cognate with the standard Japanese particle ne and its variant na, common in most Western Japanese dialects. {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(2) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(3) A study on sentence-final particles in the Sato dialect of Koshikijima found that, while na(a) and ne(e) mostly overlapped in usage, speakers felt that the particle ne(e) was not native to their dialect and was instead an artifact of standard Japanese. {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(2) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(3) In Tanegashima, this particle fuses with the preceding word. For example, the phrase yoka o "it's good" would become yokoo. {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(2) {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(3) na The sentence-final particle na is used to mark a question at the end of a phrase. While this particle is functionally equivalent to the question particle ka, it is more specifically used when talking to someone who is older. {{interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja|number=(1) == See also ==