# Matagi dialect

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Matagi_dialect
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Matagi_dialect.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matagi_dialect
> Source revision: 1349058592
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Japanese dialect

Matagi dialect マタギ Native to Japan Region Akita, Aomori Extinct 2021[1] Language family Japonic Japanese Eastern Japanese Tōhoku Matagi dialect Language codes ISO 639-3 –

The **Matagi dialect** (マタギ言葉, *Matagi kotoba*) is a functionally extinct[1] [Japanese](/source/Japanese_dialects) [sociolect](/source/Sociolect) spoken by the [Matagi](/source/Matagi) people of [Akita Prefecture](/source/Akita_Prefecture) and other areas of the [Tohoku](/source/Tohoku) region in northern [Honshu](/source/Honshu), Japan. The Matagi dialect is sometimes called **Yama-kotoba** (山言葉; lit. 'mountain words').

Matagi contains various unique words relating to hunting, tools, and rituals, many of which are of [Ainu](/source/Ainu_languages) origin.[1][2]

A dictionary of Matagi was published by Yoshizo Itabashi (板橋義三) in 2008.[3]

## Vocabulary

Below are some examples of unique Matagi words. Words such as *wakka* 'water', *seta* 'dog', and *sanpe* 'heart' are of [Ainu](/source/Ainu_languages) origin.[4]

English gloss Japanese gloss Matagi (hiragana) Matagi (romanized) water; liquor 水・酒 わっか wakka gun; rifle 鉄砲・銃 するべ surube bear 熊 いたず itazu bear 熊 なびれ nabire dog 犬 せた seta dog 犬 へだ heda wolf 狼 おきゃく okyaku Japanese macaque 猿 すね sune Japanese serow カモシカ あおけら aokera Japanese serow カモシカ こしまけ koshimake cattle 牛 つのから tsunokara rice (uncooked) 米 くさのみ kusanomi Buddhist temple 寺 くし kushi heart 心臓 さんぺ sanpe non-Matagi person マタギでない人 せたぎ setagi

Yoshizo Itabashi (板橋義三) (2019) notes that many Ainu words in Matagi have undergone [semantic shifts](/source/Semantic_shift):[5]

Matagi Meaning in Matagi Ainu Meaning in Ainu kado weather (天候) kanto heaven, sky (天、空) magiri small knife, spear (小刀、槍) makiri small knife (小刀) bakke bear head (熊の頭) pake human or animal head (人の頭、動物の頭) hira net for catching bears (ケン網という熊を捕まえる網) sirar cliff (崖) hono medium-sized serow (中型のカモシカ) pon small (小さい) horo a lot (たくさん) poro big (大きい) sa(n)pe heart, gall of bear or serow (熊やカモシカの心臓、胆) sampe heart (心臓) heda, seda, seta dog (犬) seta dog (犬) wa(n)ba, washi avalanche (雪崩) upas snow (雪) wakka water (水), liquor (酒) (as part of compounds) wakka water (水)

## See also

- [Akita dialect](/source/Akita_dialect)

- [Tsugaru dialect](/source/Tsugaru_dialect)

- [Matagi](/source/Matagi)

- [Emishi](/source/Emishi)

- [Kyōsuke Kindaichi](/source/Ky%C5%8Dsuke_Kindaichi)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-IGI_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-IGI_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-IGI_1-2) Itabashi, Yoshizo (2021). "The Origin and History of the Extinct Contact-Induced Language, Matagi". *Advances in Religious and Cultural Studies*. IGI Global. pp. 245–264. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.4018/978-1-7998-2959-1.ch011](https://doi.org/10.4018%2F978-1-7998-2959-1.ch011). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-7998-2959-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-7998-2959-1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Versluis, Mirjam (2014). [*The Matagi language and its relation to the Ainu and Japanese languages*](https://studenttheses.universiteitleiden.nl/handle/1887/29952) (MA thesis). Leiden University. Retrieved 2024-12-26.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Itabashi, Yoshizo (2008). [*マタギ語辞典 (A Dictionary of the Matagi Language)*](https://www.gendaitosho.co.jp/isbn/isbn978-4-434-11304-8.html) (in Japanese). 東京: 現代図書 (Gendai Tosho). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-4-434-11304-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-4-434-11304-8).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["マタギことば・やまことば"](http://gari2.tuzikaze.com/kotoba_uta/yamakotoba.htm). *gari2.tuzikaze.com* (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-12-26.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** 板橋義三 (2019). ["マタギ語とアイヌ語の言語接触とマタギ語の起源と歴史"](https://glim-re.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/4960/files/toyobunka_22_235_256.pdf) (PDF). *東洋文化講座一〇〇回記念講演「東アジアにおける危機言語」* (in Japanese).

v t e Japanese language Earlier forms Old Early Middle Late Middle Early Modern Dialects Eastern Hokkaidō Tōhoku Northern Nanbu Tsugaru Akita Matagi Southern Kesen Nairiku Kantō Western Gunma Kanagawa Tokyo Eastern Ibaraki Tochigi Northern Izu Islands Tōkai–Tōsan Nagano-Yamanashi-Shizuoka Shizuoka Narada Echigo Nagaoka Gifu-Aichi Nagoya Mikawa Mino Hida Western Hokuriku Kaga Kanazawa Shiramine Kansai Awaji Banshū Kishū Okuyoshino Shikoku Iyo Tosa Sanuki Chūgoku San'yō Bingo East San'in Inshū Umpaku Kyūshū Hōnichi Ōita Hichiku Chikuzen Hakata Kumamoto Nagasaki Saga Tsushima Satsugū Other Amami Japanese Okinawan Japanese Pidgins and creoles Bamboo English Bonin English Hawaiian Creole Kyowa-go Pseudo-Chinese Yilan Creole Japanese Yokohama Pidgin Japanese Japonic languages Eastern Old Japanese Hachijō grammar Ryukyuan Northern Amami Ōshima Southern Amami Ōshima Kikai Kunigami Okinawan Okinoerabu Tokunoshima Yoron Southern Miyako Tarama Yaeyama Yonaguni Writing system Logograms Script reform Kanbun Kanji by stroke count Kanji radicals by frequency by stroke count Kokuji Ryakuji Ateji Kana Hiragana Katakana Furigana Okurigana Gojūon Man'yōgana Hentaigana Sōgana Kana ligature Orthography Braille Kanji Punctuation Kanazukai Historical kana Modern kana Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai Yotsugana Transcription into Japanese Encoding EUC EUC-JP ISO/IEC 2022 JIS 0201 0208 0211 0212 0213 Shift JIS Unicode Hiragana Kana Extended-A Kana Extended-B Kana Supplement Small Kana Extension Katakana Katakana Phonetic Extensions Other ARIB STD B24 Enclosed EIS Extended shinjitai Half/full Grammar and vocabulary Japanese grammar Verb conjugations Kagoshima verb conjugations Godan and ichidan verbs Irregular verbs Pronouns Adjectives Possessives Particles Kagoshima Nagasaki Kinki Topic marker Counter words Numerals Native words (yamato kotoba) Sino-Japanese vocabulary Loan words (gairaigo) from Dutch from Portuguese Wasei-eigo Wasei-kango Engrish Honorific speech Honorifics Court lady language (nyōbō kotoba) Role language (yakuwarigo) Gender differences Dictionaries Phonology Pitch accent Rendaku Sound symbolism Kanji pronunciation sources on'yomi go-on kan-on tō-on kun'yomi Transliteration Romanization Hepburn Nihon-shiki Kunrei-shiki JSL Wāpuro rōmaji In Esperanto Cyrillization Polivanov system Literature Books Poetry Writers Speculative fiction writers Classical Japanese texts

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Matagi dialect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matagi_dialect) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matagi_dialect?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.