One of the first things I ask students at the beginning of a semester is where they are from. If they hail from a prefecture outside of Fukuoka, and particularly from one outside of the Kyūshū region, I then ask them to say something in their local dialect. Japanese can be frustratingly shy at times and unwilling to stand out so it often takes some pleading on my knees to get the kids to speak up.
Coaching them helps. I’ll say, “In Fukuoka when someone asks, ‘What are you doing?’ they often say, ‘Nan sh’yotto?’ or ‘Namba shiyottoka?’” Having lived in Fukuoka for nearly two decades, the Hakata dialect (Hakata ben) is almost second nature to me and hearing me speak it allows the students to laugh, to let their hair down a bit and volunteer a phrase or two of their own dialect.
“What are you doing?” is one of those very basic, daily, and utterly necessary phrases. It still amazes me how much variation in it can be found throughout Japan.
Tōhoku
6. Yamagata
なにしった？
Nani Shitta?
Kantō
10. Gunma
何やってるん？
Nani yatterun?
11. Saitama
なにしてんのー？ Or, なん(い)してん？
Nani shiten noh? Or, Nan(i) shiten?
Chūbu
15. Niigata
何してらん？
Nan shiteran?
16. Toyama
なんしとんが? Or, 何しとんがけ？
Nan shitonga? Or, Nan shiton gake?
17. Ishikawa
なんしとるん？ Or, なにしとるがん?
Nan Shitorun? Or, Nani shitoru gan?
なんしとん？
Nan shiton?
18. Fukui
なにしてんにゃー Or, なにやってんのー?
Nani shiten nya? Or, Nani Yatten noh?
20. Nagano
何してるだあ～？
Nani shiteru dah?
21. Gifu
なにしとるの? Or, なにしとんの?
Nani Shitoru no? Or, Nani shiton no?
22. Shizuoka
何してんの？ Or, 何しちょん？
Nani shiten no? Or, Nani shichon?
23. Aichi
なにしとんの？ Or, 何やっとんの？
Nani shiton no? Or, Nani yatton no?
Kansai
24. Mie
何しーよん？
Nani shi-yon?
26. Kyōto
何してんの？ Or, 何してるん？
Nani shiten no? Or, Nani shiterun?
何しとんねん？
Nani shiton nen?
27. Ōsaka
何してるん？ Or, 何してん？
Nani shiterun? Or, Nani shiten?
なんしよん Or, なにしよん
Nan shiyon? Or, Nani shiyon?
28. Hyōgo
In Kôbe, 何しとぉ～？
Nani shitoh?
なにしとん？ Or, 何しよんねん?
Nani shiton? Or, Nan shiyon nen?
Chūgoku
31. Tottori
何しとるだ～？ Or, なんしょ-るぅ?
Nan shitoru dah? Or, Nan shyohruu?
32. Shimane
何しちょ―？ Or, 何しよん？
Nani shichoh? Or, Nani shiyon?
33. Okayama
なにしとん？ Or, なんしょん？
Nan shiton? Or, Nan shon?
34. Hiroshima
なんしよん？ Or, なにしとん？
Nan shiyon? Or, Nani shiton?
なにしとるん？ Or, 何しちょるん？
Nani shitorun? Or, Nani shichorun?
35. Yamaguchi
何しとるん? Or, 何しとん?
Nan shitorun? Or, Nan shiton?
Shikoku
36. Tokushima
Awa-ben, なんしょん？
Nan shon?
37. Kagawa
なんにしよんの？
Nani Shiyon no?
なんしょん？
Nan Shon?
なにしてるん？
Nani Shiterun?
38. Ehime
なんしとん? Or, なんしよん？
Nan shiton? Or, Nan shiyon?
39. Kōchi
何しゆうが？ Or, 何やりゆうが？
Nani shiyuu ga? Or, Nani yariyuu ga?
Kyūshū
40. Fukuoka
なんしよ-と～?? Or, なんしよん？
Nan Shiyoh toh? Or, Nan shiyon?
なんばしよっと? Or, なんしよるー？
Nanba shiyotto? Or, Nan shiyoruu?
なんばしとっと？ Or, なんばしとると？
Nanba shitoto? Or, Nanba shitoruto?
41. Saga
なんしよると-？ Or, なんしよーと？
Nan shiyorutoh? Or, Nan shiyoh to?
42. Nagasaki
なんしよっと? Or, なんしよっとー？
Nan shiyotto? Or, Nan shiyottoh?
なんばしよっと？
Nanba shiyotto?
43. Kumamoto
なんばしよっとー？
Namba shiyottoh?
44. Oita
何しよんの？
Nani Shiyon no?
45. Miyazaki
何しちょっと？
Nan shichotto?
46. Kagoshima
Okinawa
47. Okinawa
ぬーやってるばア? Or, ヌーソーガー？
Nuu yatteru bah? Or, Nuu sohgah?