From Geographical Differences to Age Differences of Dialect: Multiple Correspondence Analysis of Shonai Hamaogi Glottograms

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the data of a dialect survey conducted in the Shonai district of Yamagata Prefecture and discuss the change from a period of large regional differences to a period of large generation differences. “Hamaogi” is a dialect glossary of Tsuruoka in the Shonai district of Yamagata Prefecture, which was compiled in 1767. In 1950 and 2018, the Hamaogi Survey was conducted to examine the remnant rate of the vocabulary items in the glossary. The data consists of seven age groups at intervals of about 20 years, so the maximum difference between the youngest and eldest groups was about 140 years. The time length is large for a glottogram which is usually 60 or 70 years apart. About 370 people from 27 localities were plotted in 27 pillars by age difference in “age pillar maps”, and “simplified glottograms”.

This paper first explains the overall picture of the age and regional differences and presents eight typical glottograms. Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) was applied to 406 words from the glossary and the values of the first to fourth axes were shown in scattergrams. The difference in vocabulary by age and locality for each of the 370 informants was shown in “simplified glottograms”. Results showed the difference according to age was most significant. The significance of the length of 140 years appeared on the first axis. The second, third and fourth axes all pointed to the regional differences in the Shonai dialect, showing an overarching tendency of contrast between north and south. 250 years have passed since the compilation of Hamaogi. Rapid standardization progressed after the War, and the dialect situation shifted from a time with large regional difference to a time with large generational difference.