Ibaraki dialect
The Ibaraki dialect (Shinjitai: , Kyujitai: ) is a Japanese dialect spoken in Ibaraki Prefecture. It is noted for its distinctive use of the sentence-ending particles べ "be" and っぺ "ppe" and an atypical intonation pattern that rises in neutral statements and falls in questions. It is also noted for its merging of certain vowels, frequent consonant voicing and a relatively fast rate of speech. Classification. Historically, the forms of Japanese spoken in the area that constitutes modern-day Ibaraki were not treated as a unified dialect until the formation of the prefecture in 1871. Conflicting opinions have existed  regarding its classification, however. Along with the Tochigi dialect, the Ibaraki dialect is considered a part of the wider North Kantō dialect, with some shared traits with traditional Tōkyō dialects. Despite this, several notable similarities with Tōhoku dialects have created debate over this status. Support for a Kantō dialect classification has come from Japanese language experts such as Misao Tōjō and Katsuo Ōhashi, who placed it as part of ‘East Kantō’ and ‘Northwest Kantō’ dialects, respectively. Other experts, such as Tsuneo Tsuzuku and Haruhiko Kindaichi, have supported its classification as a Tōhoku dialect. When assigning Ibaraki to a regional group , Tsuzuku and Kindaichi both added it to nearly identical areas that include Tochigi, Fukushima, southern Iwate and eastern Yamagata. Subdivisions Yoshio Taguchi proposed the following subdivisions in 1939, dividing it into "northern, southwest" and "southern". Phonology. The Ibaraki dialect is phonetically distinct from standard Japanese and more closely resembles other Kantō and Tōhoku dialects. Among its most characteristic phonetic traits is the tendency for speakers to voice certain syllables that are usually unvoiced in standard Japanese. Specifically, syllables beginning with a "k"- or "t"- sound. For example, か "ka" is pronounced as が "ga" and た "ta" becomes だ "da  . This means words like byōki" (病気 "illness") sound closer to "byōgi," and "watashi" (私 "I/me") becomes "wadashi". Other notable traits include the reduced distinction between い "i" and え "e" sounds and ひ "hi" and へ "he" sounds, silent じ "ji," ず "zu," び "bi" and ぶ "bu" sounds in certain situations, vowel merging and the absence of a pitch accent. Generally, differences in the spoken language are not reflected in the written language, where speakers will write in standard Japanese. Many of these traits are less common in urban areas and parts of the prefecture that are closer  to Tokyo, where speakers tend more towards standard Japanese. Syllable voicing. Voiced syllables. When occurring within or at the end of a word, syllables beginning with "k"- (か "ka," き "ki," く "ku," け "ke," こ "ko") and "t"- (た "ta", ち "chi", つ "tsu", て "te",と "to") become voiced. The "ka" at the end of "tosaka" (とさか "cockscomb") is voiced to become "ga", but the beginning "to" remains unvoiced to produce "tosaga" (とさが). Similarly, "atashi" (あたし "I/me") becomes "adashi" (あだし), "dekiru" (できる "to be able to") becomes "degiru" (でぎる) and "kaki" (かき "persimmon") becomes "kagi" (かぎ). "K-" and  t-starting syllables in particles and auxiliary verbs are also subject to voicing. "nai kara" (ないから "because there is none") becomes "nē gara" (ねぇがら) and "zureta no dewanai ka" (ずれたの ではないか "it’s slipped out of place") becomes "zureda n danē ga" (ずれだんだねぇが). Occasionally, syllables occurring at the start of a word may also be voiced. For example, "kaban" (かばん bag) is pronounced as "gaban" (がばん). In certain situations, voicing does not occur, including: Semi-voiced and unvoiced syllables. In contrast to the frequent voicing of "k"- and "t-" starting syllables, じ "ji", ず "zu", び "bi" and ぶ "bu" sounds  may become semi-voiced or unvoiced when directly proceeding a "k-" or "i-" sound. For example, the "ji" proceeding the "ka" in "sanjikan" (さんじかん) is not fully voiced, leading to a pronunciation closer to "sanchikan" (さんちかん). Other examples include "mijikai" (みじかい "short" ) becoming "michikai" (みちかい), "hazukashii" (はずかしい "embarrassed" ) becoming "hatsukashii" (はつかしい) and "zabuton" (ざぶとん "cushion" ) becoming "zaputon" (ざぷとん). Other than "ji, zu, bi" and "bu", syllables in certain words may be unvoiced. In a striking reversal of the dialects voicing tendency, the limit-indicating particle "dake" (だけ "only" ) is unvoiced in the Ibaraki dialect, becoming "take" (たけ). Decreased distinction between  i and "e". A renowned characteristic of the dialect is the reduced distinction between い "i" and え "e" sounds. Instead of a clear "i" or "e", a sound somewhere in the middle is pronounced. The word "Ibaraki" (いばらき) has a clear "i" sound in standard Japanese but in the Ibaraki dialect the beginning "i" approaches an "e" sound, sounding closer to "ebaraki" to non-dialect speakers. Similarly, the "i" in "shokuin" ( しょくいん "staff member" ) changes to sound like "shokuen" (しょくえん (the standard Japanese pronunciation for "table salt" ). In contrast, the "e" in "enpitsu" (えんぴつ "pencil" ) is pronounced closer to  an "i" and sounds more like "inpitsu" (いんぴつ). Pairs like "eki" (えき "train station" ) and "iki" (いき "breath" ) lose most of their distinction. This trait is pronounced enough to occasionally cause speakers to misspell words. "i" – "e" merging is also seen in other Kantō and Tōhoku dialects, and although widespread across Ibaraki, the trait is experiencing a decline due to decreasing usage among the younger generation. Vowel merging. When occurring in succession, certain vowels have their sounds blended and lengthened. These include: Pitch accent. Except for a small area surrounding Kamisu in the southeast tip of the prefecture, the Ibaraki  dialect does not have a distinct pitch accent. This differs from standard Japanese and other western Kantō dialects, but is a trait shared with Fukushima, Miyagi and Tochigi dialects. Homophones that are usually distinguished by different pitch accents such as "hashi" (橋 "bridge") and "hashi" (箸 "chopsticks") are pronounced in a flat, identical tone. Grammar. Particle usage. Several particles rarely used in standard Japanese can be found in the Ibaraki dialect. Section::::"ppe" (っぺ) and "be" (べ). Sentence-ending particles used to express volition, persuasion or conjecture. Morphological variants of ‘"kantō bei" ’ and remnants of the literary "beshi" (べし). Sometimes spoken  as long sounds ("bē" べー and "ppē" っぺー). Although "be" usually attaches to the end of verbs without triggering inflection, the irregular verb "kuru" (来る "to come") can become either "kibē" (きべー) or "kube" (くべ) when combined with "be". Similarly, the irregular verb "suru" (為る "to do" ) conjugates to "shibe" (しべ) or "sube" (すべ) when "be" is added. For a stronger expression of emotion than "be", -"ppe" can be added to the stem form. For example: "kiru be" (切るべ "I will cut it" ) is less emotive than "kippe" (切っぺ "I will cut it" (stronger sense of volition)). Section::::"sa" (さ). Case -marking particle used to denote direction. Equivalent to へ "he" or に "ni" in standard Japanese. Used in other parts of Kantō and Tōhoku. Section::::"ke" (け) (recollection). Sentence-ending particle used to express recollection or reminiscence. Usually attaches to the end of past-tense verbs (ending in た "ta" ) but may replace the final part altogether. Section::::"ke" (け) and "ge" (げ) (inquiring). Sentence-ending particle used to indicate a question. Roughly equivalent to か "ka" in standard Japanese. Usually pronounced as げ "ge" due to syllable voicing. Compared to "ka", "ke" tends to show more intimacy with the listener as  well as being politer. Speakers also tend to omit some particles in conversation. Verb conjugation. The past-tense standard form of the auxiliary verb "shimau" (しまう), "shimatta" (-しまった), becomes "chitta" (-ちった) in the Ibaraki dialect. For example, "yonde shimatta" (よんでしまった "I read it" (expressing regret)) becomes "yonchitta" (よんちった). Words with the prefix "bu-" ぶっ, usually used to indicate forceful emphasis (e.g. "bukkowasu" ぶっこわす "to completely destroy" ), are sometimes merged with the verb they are attached to ("bukkowasu" ぶっこわす → "bukkasu" ぶっかす) and lose their original meaning. Polite speech. Polite speech is not generally used, especially towards third parties. Passive-form  auxiliary verbs used to show politeness such as "reru" (れる), "rareru" (られる), "serareru" (せられる) and "saserareru" (させられる) are rarely used. E.g. "sensei ga korareru" (先生が来られる lit. "teacher comes" (polite)) is simply said as "sensei ga kuru" (先生が来る lit. "teacher comes"). Polite verbs such as "nasaru" (なさる "to do"), "ni naru" (になる "to become, to be") and "kudasaru" (くださる (used for polite requests)) are used but often have different spoken forms as shown in the following examples.