Quote:
Originally Posted by steven
Wow! I was hoping you would reply. I appreciate it.
Ok, that's kind of the idea that I had. I don't know if it's my ears getting better but I feel like I've been hearing it more than ever lately... although I can't think of a reason why that'd be.
It's interesting because with Hokuriku having a lot of Kansai influence I sometimes hear about old words from Kansai that current Kansai speakers wouldn't understand. I love this kind of stuff though-- it makes me want to study Japanese history and how different dialects flowed and "fossilization" in different regions.
Just out of curiosity, does the (loose) rule that I presented apply to all words? Could a word like さがす become さごす, could さがる become すごる？ There are certain words that seem like they can naturally be pronounced that way and words that seem like it just wouldn't work with. (すごる seems weird... さごす seems possible).
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The phenomenon in question doesn't occur with every word, obviously. It happens to verbs with a certain sound combination towards the end of the word. Let me use romaji so that my point could be explained more visibly.
tsukau
morau
warau
kau
shimau
The verb must end in an "a-syllable + u" combo. This is the condition; therefore, the verb you mentioned さがる does not apply.
使う was originally both written and pronounced つかふ. Then the pronunciation changed to つかう over time. The present tense つかう is used all over Japan with the same pronunciation.
Let's examine the past tense as it's much more interesting. Originally, it was つかふた and then changed to つかうた, then to つこうた. Then the pronunciation got even sloppier to つこーた. There you go, that's the present-day Kansai (and areas around it) past tense.
For the rest of the country, or very roughly its Eastern half (or Nagoya east), the pronunciation changed one more time to arrive at つかった, which all of you are familiar with.