The , often referred to as the , is a group of dialects or dialect continuum of the Japanese language spoken mainly within the area of the former Ōsumi and Satsuma provinces now incorporated into the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima. It may also be collectively referred to as the Satsuma dialect ( or ), owing to both the prominence of the Satsuma Province and the region of the Satsuma Domain which spanned the former Japanese provinces of Satsuma, Ōsumi and the southwestern part of Hyūga. The Satsugū dialect is commonly cited for its mutual unintelligibility to even its neighboring Kyūshū variants, prompting the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology to classify it as a distinct language in the Japanesic branch in its Glottolog database. It shares over three-quarters of the Standard Japanese vocabulary corpus and some areal features of Kyūshū.
Distribution and subdialects
The boundaries of the Satsugū dialect are traditionally defined as the former region controlled by the Satsuma Domain, which primarily encompassed the main portion of the Kagoshima Prefecture, located in the southern part of Japan's Kyushu Island, and a small part of the Miyazaki Prefecture to the East. For precision, this area could be further separated into three distinct branches of the Satsugū dialect: the Satsuma dialect spoken in western Kagoshima, the Ōsumi dialect spoken in eastern Kagoshima, and the Morokata dialect spoken in the southwesternmost part of the Miyazaki Prefecture.
However, the dialectal differences are much more localized making this three-way distinction superficial. Variations in pronunciation, words, expressions and grammatical constructions may occur between neighboring cities, towns and villages, with peripheral islands exhibiting greater divergence due to isolation. As such, Satsugū may be considered a dialect continuum, differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close, and gradually decreasing in mutual intelligibility as the distances become greater. By this token, all major areas of the mainland—including Satsuma, Ōsumi, Morokata, and possibly also a small fraction of southern Kumamoto—may form a single, closely related dialect branch with no precise boundaries due to continuous contact between the regions. Conversely, the peripheral islands are easier to distinguish and seemingly form three distinct, but related clades associated with the proximity of the islands. These would be: the Koshikijima Islands to the West, the Ōsumi Islands directly to the South (such as Tanegashima, Yakushima, and Kuchinoerabu), and the Tokara Islands in the very far South. The variants spoken on the Amami Islands are not considered part of the Satsugū dialect, but are rather part of the Northern Ryukyuan language branch.Shibatani (1990), pp. 192-194
Further subdivisions are possible for all areas, and a classification tree of the general Satsugū sub-dialects might look something like the following (areas in parentheses indicate approximate regions):
Satsugū (Southern Kyushu) Mainland Kagoshima Satsuma (Western Kagoshima) Hokusatsu (North-Western Satsuma) Izumi-Akune (and surrounding areas) Nagashima-Shishijima Central Satsuma (most of Kagoshima, especially in and around Kagoshima City) Southern Satsuma South Satsuma Peninsula (Makurazaki) Western Ōsumi Islands (Kuroshima, Takeshima, Iōjima) Ōsumi (Eastern Kagoshima) Morokata (South-Western Miyazaki) Koshikijima Islands North (Kami-Koshikijima) Central (Naka-Koshikijima) South (Shimo-Koshikijima) Eastern Ōsumi Islands Tanegashima Northern Tanegashima (Nishinoomote) Southern Tanegashima (Nakatane, Minamitane) Yakushima Yakushima Island Kuchinoerabu Island Tokara Islands Northern Tokara (Kuchinoshima, Nakanoshima) Central Tokara (Tairajima, Suwanosejima) Southern Tokara (Takarajima)
History Historically, Satsuma had maintained an influential control over the trading routes that bounded the Kyūshū island to the Ryukyu Islands, Mainland Japan and by extension, the rest of the world. Its commercial importance to the rest of Japan was reflected in the adoption of such terms as Satsuma imo (sweet potato), Satsuma yaki (Satsuma styled pottery), and Satsuma jisho (Japanese-English dictionary). Similar terms such as satsuma ware and satsuma (orange) were also, along with several words from the dialect itself such as soy (Satsugū: そい~しょい ), later incorporated into the English language.
During the Edo period, the Sakoku Edict of 1635 led to the strict seclusion of Japan from the outside world. However, the Satsuma Domain, which spanned the provinces of Satsuma, Ōsumi, and the southwestern part of Hyūga, maintained trade relations with neighboring countries by using the Ryukyu Islands as a conduit, and by advocating that the islands distinctively formed an independent kingdom, even though in reality the Satsuma Domain had conquered the Ryūkyū Kingdom in 1609. The invasion of Ryukyu had assured Satsuma's place as one of the most powerful feudal domains in Tokugawa Japan, and would also set a precedent for Satsuma as a vital role in later overthrowing the Tokugawa shogunate and initiating the Meiji Restoration.
In the Fall of 1729, a ship from Satsuma bound for the province of Osaka drifted off course and ended up landing at Cape Lopatka, in Russia.*
Upon arrival, the crew were attacked by a group of cossacks led by Andreï Chtinnikov. Out of seventeen members, only two survived: a trader named Soza, and the pilot's son and apprentice, Gonza. The two were sent across the country to the capital of Saint Petersburg, where they were received in audience by Empress Anna Ivanovna, and later baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church. They went on afterwards to teach Japanese, and helped establish the first Japanese-language school in Russia. Gonza, who was also fluent in Russian, wrote and edited a number of books about the Japanese language, using the Cyrillic alphabet to transliterate words. These transliterations provide not only the oldest record of the Satsugū dialect, but have also been cited for their comprehensive evidence of the history, phonology and variability of the Japanese language.
When Japan started slowly opening up to the rest of the world in the mid-19th century, Satsuma was one of the first domains to embrace Western culture and methods. However, tension quickly grew between the increasing invasiveness of Westerners in southern Japan. When the Namamugi Incident of September 14, 1862 occurred, political and ideological differences between the United Kingdom and Satsuma Province sparked outrage and quickly boiled into the Anglo-Satsuma War. Satsuma would ultimately lose, leaving way to increasing dissatisfaction with the Tokugawan government. The Meiji government would then take its place after the Tokugawan government was overthrown in the Boshin War. However, corruption in the Meiji government, which it originally helped establish, would then give birth to the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. Despite their numbers, the Satsuma Domain was rapidly overpowered, and its defeat eventually resulted in the end of its dominance in Japan's southern sphere. The Satsugū dialect, which had a predominant role in samurai affairs and equally the police hierarchy system throughout Japan, steadily declined in influence following this defeat.
In July 1871, the Japanese domain system was abolished. The region of the Satsuma Domain mostly became part of the Kagoshima Prefecture, while a small portion of its northeastern region was incorporated into the Miyazaki Prefecture. The abolition of the domain system also brought forth standardized education. However, as Kagoshima was already an uncontested part of mainland Japan, assimilation through education was not a priority as it had been in Okinawa. Though contrary to Okinawa, the Satsuma clan sought to preserve the uniqueness of its own dialect. As such, the Satsugū dialect persisted.
When the United States later took control of Japan's South in World War II, Japanese officials tactically sought to exploit Kagoshima's more northern position, its advancement in shipping technology, and most notably the Satsugū dialect's mutual unintelligibility as a method of cryptographic communication between Japan and Germany. Dozens of international phone calls had been made using the Satsugū dialect, and despite being able to eavesdrop on the conversations being sent back and forth, the United States was unable to determine the language spoken. The use of the Satsugū dialect to further obfuscate communication during both the Second World War and possibly the period of the earlier Satsuma Domain has led to a popular belief that Satsugū was created as an artificial language and promoted for the purpose of being unintelligible in order to thwart enemy spies.
Current status Like other Japanese regional dialects, the traditional dialects of Kagoshima are now being displaced by standard Japanese as a consequence of standardized education and centralized media, especially among the younger generation. As a result, many of the features that so characterize the dialects are now disappearing. In terms of phonology, for example, the palatalized variant of the vowel is now being phased out, as is the retention of the labialized consonants . More prominently, many of the phonological processes, such as vowel coalescence and high vowel deletion, as well as most grammatical constructions and words that are unique to these dialects, are being completely uprooted by their standard forms.
Despite this, many popular words and expressions continue to persist today, even among younger speakers. Examples pulled from a research survey include "please do your best", "thank you for your work", "older brother", "shy", and "exactly", among numerous others. The same research also revealed through interviews that, while people generally felt a positive vibe to hearing the traditional dialect spoken, those under the age of 40 expressed some difficulty understanding. One woman in her sixties was quoted saying: "There are now very few people who can use the true dialect".
Efforts to document the dialects or promote them through cultural means are few, though some notable dictionaries on the mainland Kagoshima dialect have been published, such as the , while others can be accessed online. A few manga written in an admixture of the dialect and standard Japanese, such as and by have also been published.
Phonology
Vowels Front Central Back Close Mid Open
All of the Kagoshima dialects contrast the following five vowels: , , , and . In terms of pronunciation, the Kagoshima dialects pattern with other far-western Honshu and Kyushu dialects, wherein the close back vowel is slightly more rounded than in Tokyo Japanese.Shibatani (1990), p.161 Additionally, the mid front unrounded vowel differs from standard Japanese in that it retains the Late Middle Japanese variation between palatalized and unpalatalized . The palatalization may spread to the previous consonant, so that the syllables might vary between and . This is similar to the palatalization observed with the vowel : . In Tanegashima, the mid back vowel still exhibits rounding in some words such as io "fish" or shio "salt".
Vowel length remains contrastive in all regional dialects, but is noticeably less prominent and sometimes ambiguous in the mainland as a result of a process of vowel length reduction. Should historically short, high vowels be shown to devoice rather than delete following sibilant consonants, then dialects of the mainland may effectively contrast the devoiced vowels and with their non-devoiced counterparts and , which arose from historically long vowels.