The verbal morphology of the Kagoshima dialects is heavily marked by numerous distinctive phonological processes, as well as both morphological and lexical differences. The following article deals primarily with the changes and differences affecting the verb conjugations of the central Kagoshima dialect, spoken throughout most of the mainland and especially around Kagoshima City, though notes on peripheral dialects may be added. Like standard Japanese, verbs do not inflect for person or number, and come in nine basic stems. However, contrary to the standard language, all verbs ending with the stem -ru conjugate regularly as ichidan verbs, though irregularities are present in other forms.
Most notably, the distinction and irregular conjugation pattern of the shimo nidan or "lower bigrade" ending -(y)uru, which corresponds to standard Japanese -eru, is still preserved in the dialect. However, kami nidan or "upper bigrade" verbs ending in -iru have merged with all other verbs ending in -ru, in a similar fashion to other Kyushu dialects like that of Ōita.
Imperfective Type of verbUnderlying formSurface Realization Regular う u(っ ʔ) 食う kuu (eat) 思う omou (think) 笑う waruu (laugh)買う kau (buy) 食 ku ~ kuʔ 思 omo ~ omoʔ 笑 waru ~ waruʔ買 ko ~ kaʔ く ku 書く kaku (write) 書っ kaʔ ぐ gu 稼ぐ kasegu (labour)繋ぐ tsunagu (tie) 稼っ kaseʔ繋っ tsunaʔ つ tsu 立つ tatsu (stand) 立っ taʔ る ru 見る miru (see) 見っ miʔ ぶ bu あすぶ asubu (play) あすっ asuʔ ぬ nu ケ死ぬ keshinu (die) ケ死ん keshin む mu 読む yomu (read) 読ん yon す su 出す dasu (take out) 出す das(u) Irregular ゆる yuruうる uru 見ゆる miyuru (be seen)すくる sukuru (save) 見ゆっ miyuʔすくっ sukuʔ ある aru (there is) あっ aʔ する suru (do) すっ suʔ 来る kuru (come) 来っ kuʔ
The imperfective form, also known as the plain, the dictionary or the non-past form, is primarily used to mark a generic, affirmative action and generally overlaps the present and future tenses in English. So, for instance, a statement like 彼やあそけ行っ aya asoke iʔ could mean either "he is going over there" or "he will be going over there". Typically, context will provide the meaning, though temporal adverbs such as 今日 kyu "today", 今 inma "now" or 明日 ashita "tomorrow" may be used for clarification.
With regards to its conjugation paradigm, the imperfective form ends in -u for all verbs as in standard Japanese. Notably, however, the resulting stem is reduced according to the dialect's phonological rules. Thus, for ichidan verbs, -u will either coalesce with the previous vowel of the verb or become a moraic obstruent, while for nasal stems it reduces to a moraic nasal and for obstruents, a moraic obstruent. This applies to most areas of Kagoshima with some exceptions: namely, the peripheral islands, such as Ōsumi (including Tanegashima) and Koshikijima, do not reduce the endings.
When used predicatively, verbs in their imperfective form are commonly appended particles such as ど do and が ga in order to add more emphasis to the statement being said. In this way, 俺や書っど oya kaddo "I will write (it)" adds more insistence or assertion than saying 俺や書っ oya kaʔ alone. When used attributively, the verb is simply followed directly by the word or phrase it modifies: 書っ人 kaʔ futo (or kaffuto) "a person who writes".
Perfective The perfective or completive ending -ta, and its allomorph -da, marks an action or an event as a whole, often one that has previously taken place. It is thus frequently referred to as the "past tense" in English descriptions, though this is not always the case. In Southern Tanegashima, this ending is pronounced -tō and has -dō as its allomorphic variant.
In contrast to standard Japanese, verbs ending in -u will take on the form -uta rather than -tta, as in omou → omouta → omota. Similarly, a number of verbs with the morphological ending -gu will become -uda, while others will tend towards -ida. For example, 稼ぐ kasegu "labour" becomes kaseida, which is then coalesced as kaseda, whereas 繋ぐ tsunagu "tie" becomes tsunouda, which reduces to the form tsunoda. The same phenomenon can be observed with the -ku ending: while most verbs would become -ita, such as 書く kaku "write" → kaita → kete, some also become -uta, such as 退く noku "step aside" → nouta → nota.
TypePerfectiveExamplePerfective Regular う u うた -uta 食う kuu (eat) 思う omou (think) 笑う waruu (laugh)買う kau (buy) 食た kuta 思た omota 笑た warutaこた kota く ku いた -itaうた -uta 書く kaku (write)退く noku (step aside) けた ketaのた nota ぐ gu いだ -idaうだ -uda 稼ぐ kasegu (labour)繋ぐ tsunagu (tie) 稼だ kaseda 繋のだ tsunoda つ tsu った -tta 立つ tatsu (stand) 立った tatta る ru った -tta 見る miru (see) 見った mitta ぶ bu んだ -ndaうだ -uda あすぶ asubu (play) あすんだ asundaあすだ asuda ぬ nu んだ -nda ケ死ぬ keshinu (die) ケ死んだ keshinda む mu んだ -ndaうだ -uda 読む yomu (read) 読んだ yonda読だ yoda す su した -shita 出す dasu (take out) 出した dashita Irregular ゆる yuruうる uru えた eta 見ゆる miyuru (be seen)すくる sukuru (save) 見えた mietaすけた suketa ある aru (there is) あった atta する suru (do) した shita 来る kuru (come) 来た kita
Negative TypeNegativeExampleNegative Regular う u わん -wan 食う kuu (eat) 思う omou (think) 笑う waruu (laugh)買う kau (buy) 食わん kuwan 思わん omowan 笑わん waruwan買わん kawan く ku かん -kan 書く kaku (write) 書かん kakan ぐ gu がん -gan 稼ぐ kasegu (labour)繋ぐ tsunagu (tie) 稼がん kasegan繋がん tsunagan つ tsu たん -tan 立つ tatsu (stand) 立たん tatan る ru らん -ran(たん -tan)(やん -yan) 見る miru (see) 見らん miran(見たん mitan)(見やん miyan) ぶ bu ばん -ban あすぶ asubu (play) あすばん asuban ぬ nu なん -nan ケ死ぬ keshinu (die) ケ死なん keshinan む mu まん -man 読む yomu (read) 読まん yoman す su さん -sanはん -han 出す dasu (take out) 出さん dasan出はん dahan Irregular ゆる yuruうる uru えん 見ゆる miyuru (be seen)すくる sukuru (save) 見えん mienすけん suken ある aru (there is) ならん naran する suru (do) せん sen 来る kuru (come) 来ん kon
Negation is expressed by appending the suffix -n at the end of a verb in its imperfective stem form. This can be achieved by simply replacing the final -u in the underlying plain form with -a, and then tagging on the negative suffix: kaku → kakan "not write", wakaru → wakaran "not understand", etc. The two main irregularities in this form relate to verbs that stem in -ru and -su in their plain forms. Verbs with the stem -ru may take on the ending -tan instead of -ran, especially if the preceding syllable is a devoiced one. So the negative form of the verb shiru "know" is shitan rather than shiran, as the syllable shi is devoiced. The alternative ending -yan is much more rare, occurring only in a few regions, and most prominently only when the preceding syllable contains a non-devoiced . For verbs with the stem -su, the ending may be realized as either -san or -han with no rules governing its use other than speaker and dialect preference.
Verbs whose underlying imperfective form ends in -uru (-eru in standard Japanese), otherwise known as shimo nidan or "lower bigrade" verbs, are also noticeably irregular. For such verbs, the entire ending become -en when negated. For example, the underlying verb 見ゆる miyuru becomes 見えん mien "not be seen", and 投ぐる naguru becomes 投げん nagen "not give up".
Contrary to popular belief, the suffix -n does not derive from a relaxed pronunciation of the standard negative form -nai, as demonstrated through the discrepancy between such forms as minai → *miran "not see", and shinai → *sen "not do". Further, considering the phonological characteristics of the dialect, the form -ne would be expected if such were the case. Rather, the negative suffix -n derives from the older attributive suffix -nu, which can still be encountered in various literary works. And while the oldest examples showing -nai date back to the 16th century, -nu is attested as early as the 8th century in the Kojiki, and is believed to have already been reduced to its present form -n during the Edo period. The first line of the 11th century classical novel The Tale of Genji provides an example of its use: "(...) ito yamugoto-naki kifa-ni-fa ara-nu ga (...)", translated as "though (she) is not quite of a nobel birth".
The past negative form can be accomplished by compounding the regular negative verb form with the past form of the copula, yielding such constructions as kakanjatta, kakannyatta, or, more rarely, kakannatta "did not write" depending on the region's preferred variant. The form -nkatta, as in kakankatta, has also been observed in the Ōsumi and Morokata regions, as well as the city of Kagoshima itself.
Negative commands or orders are informally marked by tagging on the suffix -na to the plain form: 行く iku "to go" → 行っな inna, iʔna (most regions), 行くな ikuna (Tanegashima, Koshikijima), 行っだ idda (Yakushima) "don't go". In western Ōsumi, the -na suffix commonly co-occurs with the auxiliary verb yaru, which is then combined to the continuative i form of a verb: 行く iku → 行っきゃっな ikkyanna. Formally, negative commands are marked by appending -ji(n) either directly to the imperfective ending or to the negative form: 行く iku → 行かぢ ikaji, or 行かんじ ikanji "do not go".
Lastly, the negative form can also be used as a suggestive or light imperative when followed by the particle か ka. Thus, for the verb "eat", 食わんか kuwan ka would effectively mean along the lines of "go ahead and eat" or simply "(please) eat". Note that this form is not the same as the standard Japanese construction -nai ka?, as it functions more as an imperative than a negative question. So a sentence like ゆっくい行かんか yukkui ikan ka would mean "(please) go slowly" and not "won't you go slowly?", unless the intonation is explicitly rising.
i form Typei formExampleUnderlying i formSurface Realization Regular う u い -i 食う kuu (eat) 思う omou (think) 笑う waruu (laugh)買う kau (buy) 食い kui 思い omoi 笑い warui買い kai き ki おめ ome わり wariけ ke く ku き -ki 書く kaku (write) 書き kaki 書っ kaʔ ぐ gu ぎ -gi 稼ぐ kasegu (labour)繋ぐ tsunagu (tie) 稼ぎ kasegi繋ぎ tsunagi 稼っ kaseʔ繋っ tsunaʔ つ tsu ち -chi 立つ tatsu (stand) 立ち tachi 立っ taʔ る ru り -riっ -ʔ 見る miru (see) 見り miri 見い mi(i)見っ miʔ ぶ bu び -bi あすぶ asubu (play) あすび asubi あすっ asuʔ ぬ nu に -ni ケ死ぬ keshinu (die) ケ死に keshini ケ死ん keshin む mu み -mi 読む yomu (read) 読み yomi 読ん yon す su し -shi 出す dasu (take out) 出し dashi 出し dash(i) Irregular ゆる yuruうる uru え -e 見ゆる miyuru (be seen)すくる sukuru (save) 見え mieすけ suke ある aru (there is) あい ai する suru (do) し shi 来る kuru (come) き ki
The i form, also called the conjunctive, the continuative, the infinitive, the nominative or the ren'yōkei form, may be used for two main purposes: deriving nouns from verbs and creating compound constructions. This form can be achieved by simply changing the vowel -u of the underlying plain form to -i, and then applying the necessary sound changes afterwards. Contrary to the standard Japanese language, this form is completely regular for verbs ending with the plain stem -ru. Thus, the underlying verb 食もる tamoru "eat" would become 食もい tamoi (< tamori), instead of just reducing to the root as in standard Japanese.
There may, however, be some irregularity when deriving nouns or compounds, as verbs ending with the plain stems -u and -ru may become a moraic obstruent as opposed to the vowel . For example, the underlying verb 買う kau "buy" could become in its nominal form rather than "buying", also creating a doublet between かっもん and けもん "shopping". Similarly, the underlying verb 知る shiru "know" could become rather than , leading to the polite construction 知っもさん "not know" rather than .
Further, when the i form is used in a compound construction and the second verb begins with a vowel or a palatal consonant, the underlying stem may:
Glide directly into the following vowel, especially with verbs whose base stem is ru (e.g. 取る toru + 上ぐる aguru: とり tori + あぐる aguru → とやぐっ toyaguʔ "pick up"); Be doubled, especially with verbs whose underlying stem is a nasal consonant (e.g. 読む yomu + やる yaru: よみ yomi + やる yaru → よっみゃっ yommyaʔ "(formal) read"); Be doubled and glided to avoid a hiatus, especially with verbs whose underlying stem is a plosive consonant (e.g. 打つ utsu + 置く oku: うち uchi + おく oku → うっちょっ utchoʔ "leave things as is").