Kansai Dialect

 

Hello. Readers!

Welcome back to this blog

Today’s we talk about dialect, its definition, and its example.

 

Definition of Dialect

"A dialect is a variety of English that is associated with a particular region and/or social class. To state the obvious, speakers from different geographical regions speak English rather differently: hence we refer to 'Kansai Japanese.'

In addition to geographical variation, the social background of a speaker will also influence the variety of Japanese that person speaks.

Kansai-ben, or Kansai dialect is probably the most well-known and common Japanese dialect. You’ll often hear it on Japanese TV comedy shows and you’ll hear it all around you if you travel to the Kansai region, which is home to places like Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto. In addition to its ubiquitousness, Kansai-ben is also great fun to learn and will help you broaden your understanding of the Japanese language.

 

About Kansai dialect

Technically, Kansai-ben refers to a group of dialects spoken in the Kansai region. But, in popular usage, the term most commonly refers to the dialect spoken in Osaka, the largest city in Kansai.

The predecessor to Kansai-ben was spoken in cities like Kyoto and Nara and was considered the standard Japanese before Edo, currently known as Tokyo, became the political powerhouse of Japan from the 17th Century.

Since then, Kansai-ben has changed and developed as the Tokyo dialect became more commonplace. However, the Kansai region is still the second most-populated region in Japan and the Kansai dialect is very widely spoken.

 

Kansai-ben infographic English

Kansai dialect vs Tokyo dialect

Kansai dialect is commonly described as a more casual sounding dialect. There are several differences in pitch, tone, and stress of words when compared with the standard Japanese you learn at language school.

There are also many words that you only hear from those who speak Kansai-ben.

Some basic examples include:

おおきに

ookini

Thank you

Used in place of Arigatou.

 

なんぼ

nanbo

How much?

E.g. “Kore, nanbo?” = How much is this?

 

ほんま

honma

Really, very

E.g. “Homma tsukareta” = I’m really tired

 

めっちゃ

meccha

A word used to express the intensity of something, similar to “very”. Used colloquially.

E.g. “Meccha oishii!” = Super delicious!

 

In addition to this, many endings of sentences differ with Kansai-ben. Some examples include:

 

In a spoken statement, だ (da) becomes や (ya) e.g.

雨だ

Ame da

It’s rain

 

Becomes:

雨や

Ame ya

 

When you negate something, じゃない (janai) becomes やない (yanai) e.g.

雨じゃない

Ame janai

It’s not rain

 

Becomes:

雨やない

Ame yanai

 

Negating a verb is also different, as ない (nai) becomes verb + ん (n) or verb + へん (hen) e.g.

言わない

Iwanai

To not say

 

Becomes:

言わん or 言わへん

Iwan or iwahen

 

When you’re expressing probability or inferring something, でしょう (deshou) becomes やろ (yaro) e.g雨でしょう

Ame deshou

Rain, I guess

 

Becomes:

雨やろ

Ame yaro

 

Sources
https://www.thoughtco.com/dialect-language-term-1690446

https://gogonihon.com/en/blog/all-about-kansai-ben/