Paper short abstract:

This paper deals with the current state of the Tsushima dialectal varieties of Japanese based on the data gathered during two fieldwork trips taken in 2018 and 2019. Their major features, internal variation, and the level of language attrition will be discussed.

Paper long abstract:

This paper deals with the current state of the Tsushima dialectal varieties of Japanese based on the data gathered during two fieldwork trips taken in 2018 and 2019. The data has been gathered from several different sites on the island: Tsutsu, Sago, Waniura, and Toyo. These sites were chosen for the relatively high usage of dialect in the daily speech and to be as representative of the variability of the dialectal varieties of Tsushima as possible. The sites are situated both in the very south (Tsutsu), and in the north, be it in the northwest (Sago), or at the northernmost tip of the island (Waniura and Toyo). These varieties belong to Western Japanese dialects, showing clear Western Japanese features with prominent Kyushu influence on one hand, and on the other hand vocabulary and features seldom encountered outside of Tsushima. While these varieties are clearly closely related, there is a discernable difference between the Tsutsu variety, and the northern varieties (Sago, Waniura, and Toyo) both in vocabulary and phonology. As with most dialectal varieties of Japanese, they are endangered by dialect leveling and massive adoption of standard Japanese by the younger generations.

Major grammatical features of these varieties and their vocabulary will be remarked upon, as well as on their relative levels of language attrition. The variation among them will also be discussed in detail. Finally, several remarks will be made on the history of these varieties as seen through the gathered modern data and its implications on the development of Japanese in general.