1日1題 英語スピーチ講座 A dialect

A dialect is interesting. Do you know the meaning of ‘akushautu’? Of course you don’t understand it if you are not Kumamoto’s person. It means ‘getting fed of ‘. Like this there are so many dialect words. Interesting one is ‘Kotti-san, and Atti-san. The people from other prefectures ask the way in Kumamoto, and they hear ‘Katti-san and Atti-san. So they think that Kumamoto’s people are so polite because they put ‘san’ even to a direction. There are sometimes dialect words which I think are standard. For instance, ‘atozeki’ sounds standard. But I am surprised that the people from other prefectures don’t understand it. It means ‘close the door behind you’.

It is sad that dialects are disappearing gradually because young people tend not to use them. It is said that language is culture. Let’s keep them so that we can enjoy a variety of cultures.