Where does "行かれん" come from and what are its characteristics?

Question

Thanks to Weblio, I know that it means 行ってはいけない but I don't understand well the story with 《標準語》(that is in the definition page), its level of politeness,etc

Answer 1

The page you liked is an entry of 鳥取弁辞書. 行かれん is a dialectal form, and the 標準語 section shows its equivalent in standard Japanese.

In many western dialects, 未然形 + (ら)れん expresses prohibition ("don't") or negative potential ("can't"):

• 読まれんよ。　（読むなよ／読めないよ。）
• 見られん！　（見るな／見えない！）
• 寝られん！　（寝るな／寝られない！）
• そんなん、せられん。 （そんなこと、するな／できない。）

Godan verbs take れん, ichidan verbs take られん, する becomes せられん, and くる becomes こられん. Speakers of standard Japanese can easily understand the potential meaning because it's very close to (ら)れる, but they are generally not familiar with the meaning of "Don't".

There are signboards that say 泳がれん in Tokushima prefecture. This means "Do not swim" rather than "You cannot swim".

Note that (ら)れん is not used in Osaka. Osaka people say 読まれへん ("can't read") or 読んだらあかん ("don't read").

Answer 2

The page you pulled it from is the 鳥取弁{とっとりべん}辞書{じしょ}, a Tottori-ben (dialect) dictionary, so it is not standard Japanese. I'm not sure if you already were aware of that. 標準語{ひょうじゅんご} means standard Japanese, based on the Tokyo dialect. So the entry is saying that the Tottori-ben phrase 行{い}かれん means 行{い}ってはいけない in standard Japanese.

If you look up れる in Daijisen, you will find the following definitions, which reflect standard Japanese:

１ 受{う}け身{み}の意{い}を表{あらわ}す。「満員電車{まんいんでんしゃ}で足{あし}を踏{ふ}まれた」「彼{かれ}はみんなに好{す}かれている」

２ 可能{かのう}の意{い}を表{あらわ}す。…することができる。「わかりやすい道{みち}だから子供{こども}でも行{い}かれるだろう」

３ 自発{じはつ}の意{い}を表{あらわ}す。自然{しぜん}と…られる。つい…られてくる。「故郷{ふるさと}に残{の}した両親{りょうしん}のことが思｛おも}い出{だ}される」

４ 軽{かる}い尊敬{そんけい}の意{い}を表{あらわ}す。「先生{せんせい}も山{やま}に行{い}かれたそうですね」

The meanings are as follows:

• 1. expresses passive voice
• 2. expresses potential
• 3. expresses spontaneity
• 4. expresses light reverence

The second meaning rarely applies to 五段 (godan / u) verbs anymore because in modern Japanese, their potential forms are most often made with える instead of れる.

So this 行{い}かれん is simply the ぬ-negative of 行{い}かれる, which can be interpreted as having one of the above meanings. Unfortunately, you may notice that none of them carry the meaning of 行{い}ってはいけない (mustn't go). The fact of the matter is that this phrase simply evolved differently in Tottori-ben than in standard Japanese. If I were to guess, saying "you are unable to do that" came to have the sense of "you mustn't do that" in the dialect, but I can't make any definitive claims. Dialects have a very complicated and tangled history (the evolution of language is complicated), and there aren't many in-depth resources available online that go into the etymology of phrases from less well-known dialects.

If you want to know more, perhaps someone who specializes in Tottori-ben, or knows better resources, could fill you in.