The Fukuoka Dialect – Hakata Ben

Fukuoka is situated on the island of Kyushu and is one of the top 10 most livable places on Earth. The dialect is spoken in and around Fukuoka, on Hakata Bay.

The dialect has unique distinctions that make it popular with Japanese from other islands. The dialect is called “Hakata Ben” [博多弁] and is considered the most distinct dialect of the Japanese language. Grammar and writing style also change.

Some of the changes in the Hakata Ben dialect is the use of "tto" when asking questions, for example:

  • Normal: nani or shiteiru no?
  • Hakata Ben: nan ba shiyo tto?
  • Hakata Ben: nan shitō to?

There is also the use of some words:

  • I - uchi
  • You - ātan
  • yes - yoka
  • No - innya

Another interesting factor in the dialect is to leave the verbs in the negative form, while in traditional Japanese "nai" is used, the Hakata dialect uses only "n" example: 食べない > 食べん

Another examples:

Below are some more examples of grammar changes in the Fukouka dialect:

  • totta / yotta
  • totta / yotta
  • nete ita => netetta / neyotta
  • Te aru => toro / tou
  • kaitoru
  • Akete Aru = & GT; AKETORU / AKETTOU
  • It's not a snake => gate
  • Mitemo II ja nai ka = & gt; mitemo yokaroumon
  • komaru ja nai ka => Are you not troubled?
  • Conjugation "kedo" => batten
  • Nihon-jin batten
  • kana => kaina
  • mou tsuita kana
  • Konai kana => Kon kaina
  • oishii kana
  • Hima Kana = & GT; Hima Kaina

The Hakata dialect is very similar to the Hichiku dialect (肥筑) which is also spoken in western Japan on the island of Kyushu and encompasses all other local dialects.

Below I will leave an image showing some of the words used in the dialect, if you have knowledge in hiragana and nihongo, try to assimilate the words to the images.

We also recommend reading: Keigo – Formality in the Japanese Language

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