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(5).—Of the phraseology and choice of expressions in the dialect the most marked features are its fondness for the simple forms of the verb, and the recurrence of the suffix shi, and the words Nŭnai and Béi. The polite verb masu or masuru, behind which at Tôkiô the tyro in the language can so comfortably veil his ignorance of she simple forms, has no place in this dialect; gozaru woreover is never heard. By way of replacing them a sentence is rendered polite by tacking on to the last word the suffix shi. Thus: sayô de gozarimasu, is rendered by sô dash,’ koré desŭ ka by koré kash,’ or more often koitsu kash.’ Respecting the origin, derivation, or history of this suffix, I have been able to obtain absolutely no information. I have met with itas far south as the Takuhara Toge, some ten ri from Nikkô, and have traced it from there all through the Aidzu country and Yonézawa and have heard it also in Echigo. At Yamagata, already referred to, where the Môgami dialect is spoken, the shi is not heard, nor have I observed it on the Ôshiu kaidô along which, as far as Fukushima, I have travelled eight times.

Nŭnai meaning ‘yes’ corresponds to Hai, but is rather more decidedly affirmative. There is something inimitably comic about the pronunciation of this word, especially in the mouths of the women: the n is prolonged indefinitely and at length the vowel comes out with a jerk. For the ejaculation to denote attention while listening to a superior the most common word is ka, but hai is sometimes used.

For the formation of the future, or affirmation of probability, bei is used to the almost total exclusion of the forms in ô and de arô, thus, kuru béi, sô dambéi (for de aru béi), Béi is a contraction for the béshi of the written language, and its use in colloquial is said to be the distinctive characteristic of the dialects of Ôshiu and all the northern part of this nameless main island. It is joined to the present indicative of verbs of the first conjugation, and to the root or present indicative of those of the second.