Tokyo Dialect - Phonology

Phonology

The Shitamachi dialect is primarily known for its lack of distinction between some phonemes which are considered wholly distinct in standard Japanese. Most famous is the decreased distinction between and, so that shiohigari ("shellfish gathering") becomes shioshigari and shichi ("seven") becomes hichi. Another famous is that change to, so that Shinjuku becomes Shinjiku and shujutsu ("operation") becomes shijitsu.

Another notable trait is the diphthong change to in the Shitamachi dialect. For example, hidoi ("terrible") become shidee and taihen da ("It's serious") become teehen da. This feature is inherited in standard Japanese as informal masculine speech like wakan'nee (< wakaranai "I don't know") and sugee (< sugoi "great").

In addition, is realized as a trill, when conveying a vulgar nuance in Shitamachi speech. In informal speech, intervocalic is often changed or sokuon such as okaerinasai becomes okaen'nasai ("welcome back home") and sō suru to becomes sō sutto ("then, and so").