Dialect Vocabulary Change and Railway Traffic: The Remnant Rate of the Dialect Vocabulary of Shonai Hamaogi

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the data of two dialect surveys conducted in the Shonai district of Yamagata Prefecture and discuss changes in the role of transportation. The starting point is Hamaogi, a dialect glossary edited in 1767. The two dialect surveys, in 1950 and 2018, revealed generational differences over 140 years. The data consisted of 406 items collected from 370 individuals at 27 locations. The regional differences were represented by the walking distance from the central city. The seven generations were divided into three groups. The results indicated that for the first group in 1950, regional differences and the walking distances were significant. In the second group of older generations in 1980, differences in age and a rapid decline in dialect at railway station locations were observed. For the third group of the younger generations in 2018, a relationship with distance from the central city was observed. Walking distance may have become relevant again due to automobile traffic. The 406 words were also divided into four states similar to those used for the vitality of endangered languages. The order of critical, serious, unstable, and stable can be interpreted to reproduce the process of dialect decay. This study showed that changes in rail traffic environment were influential.