CHANGES IN GEOGRAPHICAL DIALECT CREATED BY "SHIMANAMI" BRIDGE

“岛上沿海高速公路”(Nishi-Seto Express)于1999年5月建成，是连接广岛县大名市和爱亨县今野市的滨海内海横贯大陆高速公路。由于这条高速公路的建设，中部地区和四国地区通过7座桥梁连接在一起，途经泽东内海的稻野岛等6个岛屿。据预测，岛上沿海高速公路的开通将给这一地区带来重大的直接变化。由于广岛县和爱美县方言之间的直接接触和冲突。3年的调查研究结果表明，上述预测只有50%的准确率。变化进展不够，因为高速公路开通只有几年时间，高速公路还没有成为居民之间的“居民路”。此外，这一地区语言从语言冲突中的微小变化被大众传播的语言标准化和关西方言的普及所超越。这使得直接接触和冲突的实际效果很难看到。然而，在各地出现了一些新的趋势。越来越多的人通过桥梁而不是乘船来上班或上学，基于这种情况，我们觉得未来通过直接接触来改变方言的情况将会逐渐发生。这种变化看起来很快，但实际上，它正在以较慢的速度发生。

"Shimanami coastal highway" (Nishi-seto Express way) was completed in May of 1999 as the Seto inland sea transcontinental highway connecting Onomichi city in Hiroshima prefecture and Imabari city in Ehime prefecture.Due to that highway construction, Chugoku region and Shikoku region is connected by 7 bridges via 6 islands, such as Inno island and others in the Seto Inland Sea.It was predicted that the opening of Shimanami coastal highway would result in major direct changes in this region, due to direct contact and conflict between the dialects of Hiroshima prefecture and Ehime prefecture.The result of 3 years investigation and research is the conclusion that the above predictions were only 50% precise.The changes has not progressed enough, because only a few years have passed since the highway opening, and the highway has not yet became a "residential road" among the residents.Moreover, the minor change of language in this region from linguistic conflict is surpassed by the standardization of language by mass communication, as well as by the popularization of Kansai dialect.This makes it difficult to see actual results from direct contact and conflict.However, some new trends have appeared in various places. There have been increases in the number of people who commute to work or school by bridge instead of by ship.Because of this situation, we feel that the dialect change by direct contact will occur gradually in the future. This kind of change seems quick, but in fact, it is happening at a slower pace.