Kansai dialect
The Kansai dialect is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region of Japan. In Japanese, Kansai-ben is the common name and it is called Kinki dialect in technical terms. The dialects of Kyoto and Osaka, especially in the Edo period, are also called Kamigata dialect. The Kansai dialect is typified by the speech of Osaka, the major city of Kansai, which is referred to specifically as Osaka-ben. It is characterized as being both more melodic and harsher by speakers of the standard language.
Background
Since Osaka is the largest city in the region and its speakers gained the most media exposure over the last century, non-Kansai-dialect speakers tend to associate the dialect of Osaka with the entire Kansai region. However, technically, Kansai dialect is not a single dialect but a group of related dialects in the region. Each major city and prefecture has a particular dialect, and residents take some pride in their particular dialectal variations.The common Kansai dialect is spoken in Keihanshin and its surroundings, a radius of about around the Osaka-Kyoto area. In this article, it is mainly discussed about the Keihanshin version of Kansai dialect in Shōwa period and Heisei period.
Dialects of other areas have different features, some archaic, from the common Kansai dialect. Tajima and Tango dialects in northwest Kansai are too different to be regarded as Kansai dialect and are thus usually included in the Chūgoku dialect. Dialects spoken in Southeastern Kii Peninsula including Totsukawa and Owase are also far different from other Kansai dialects, and considered a language island. The Shikoku dialect and the Hokuriku dialect share many similarities with the Kansai dialects, but are classified separately.
History
The Kansai dialect has over a thousand years of history. When Kinai cities such as Nara and Kyoto were Imperial capitals, the Kinai dialect, the ancestor of the Kansai dialect, was the de facto standard Japanese. It had an influence on all of the nation including the Edo dialect, the predecessor of modern Tokyo dialect. The literature style developed by the intelligentsia in Heian-kyō became the model of Classical Japanese language.When the political and military center of Japan was moved to Edo under the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Kantō region grew in prominence, the Edo dialect took the place of the Kansai dialect. With the Meiji Restoration and the transfer of the imperial capital from Kyoto to Tokyo, the Kansai dialect became fixed in position as a provincial dialect. See also Early Modern Japanese.
As the Tokyo dialect was adopted with the advent of a national education/media standard in Japan, some features and intraregional differences of the Kansai dialect have diminished and changed. However, Kansai is the second most populated urban region in Japan after Kantō, with a population of about 20 million, so Kansai dialect is still the most widely spoken, known and influential non-standard Japanese dialect. The Kansai dialect's idioms are sometimes introduced into other dialects and even standard Japanese. Many Kansai people are attached to their own speech and have strong regional rivalry against Tokyo.
Since the Taishō period, the manzai form of Japanese comedy has been developed in Osaka, and a large number of Osaka-based comedians have appeared in Japanese media with Osaka dialect. Because of such associations, Kansai speakers are often viewed as being more funny or talkative than typical speakers of other dialects. Tokyo people even occasionally imitate Kansai dialect to provoke laughter or inject humor.
Phonology
In phonetic terms, Kansai dialect is characterized by strong vowels and contrasted with Tokyo dialect, characterized by its strong consonants, but the basis of the phonemes is similar. The specific phonetic differences between Kansai and Tokyo are as follows:Vowels
- is nearer to than to, as it is in Tokyo.
- In Standard, vowel reduction frequently occurs, but it is rare in Kansai. For example, the polite copula です desu is pronounced nearly as in standard Japanese, but Kansai speakers tend to pronounce it distinctly as or even.
- In some registers, such as informal Tokyo speech, hiatuses あい、あえ、おい often fuse into ええ, as in うめえ and すげえ instead of 旨い "yummy" and 凄い "great", but are usually pronounced distinctly in Kansai dialect. In Wakayama, えい is also pronounced distinctly, it usually fuses into ええ in standard Japanese and almost all other dialects.
- A recurring tendency to lengthen vowels at the end of monomoraic nouns. Common examples are きい for 木 "tree", かあ for 蚊 "mosquito" and めえ for 目 "eye".
- Contrarily, long vowels in Standard inflections are sometimes shortened. This is particularly noticeable in the volitional conjugation of verbs. For instance, 行こうか？ meaning "shall we go?" is shortened in Kansai to 行こか？. The common phrase of agreement, そうだ meaning "that's it", is pronounced そや or even せや in Kansai.
- When vowels and semivowel follow, they sometimes palatalize with or. For example, 好きやねん "I love you" becomes 好っきゃねん, 日曜日 "Sunday" becomes にっちょうび and 賑やか "lively, busy" becomes にんぎゃか.
Consonants
- The syllable ひ is nearer to than to, as it is in Tokyo.
- The yotsugana are two distinct syllables, as they are in Tokyo, but Kansai speakers tend to pronounce じ and ず as and in place of Standard and.
- Intervocalic is pronounced either or in free variation, but is declining now.
- In a provocative speech, becomes as well as Tokyo Shitamachi dialect.
- The use of in place of. Some debuccalization of is apparent in most Kansai speakers, but it seems to have progressed more in morphological suffixes and inflections than in core vocabulary. This process has produced はん for さん -san "Mr., Ms.", まへん for ません , and まひょ for ましょう , ひちや for 質屋 "pawnshop", among other examples.
- The change of and in some words such as さぶい for 寒い "cold".
- Especially in the rural areas, are sometimes confused. For example, でんでん for 全然 "never, not at all", かだら or からら for 体 "body". There is a joke describing these confusions: 淀川の水飲んれ腹らら下りや for 淀川の水飲んで腹だだ下りや "I drank water of Yodo River and have the trots".
- The + vowel in the verb conjugations is sometimes changed to as well as colloquial Tokyo speech. For example, 何してるねん？ "What are you doing?" often changes 何してんねん？ in fluent Kansai speech.
Pitch accent
Below is a list of simplified Kansai accent patterns. H represents a high pitch and L represents a low pitch.
- High-initial accent or Flat-straight accent
- * The high pitch appears on the first mora and the others are low: H-L, H-L-L, H-L-L-L, etc.
- * The high pitch continues for the set mora and the rest are low: H-H-L, H-H-L-L, H-H-H-L, etc.
- * The high pitch continues to the last: H-H, H-H-H, H-H-H-H, etc.
- Low-initial accent or Ascent accent
- * The pitch rises drastically the middle set mora and falls again: L-H-L, L-H-L-L, L-L-H-L, etc.
- * The pitch rises drastically the last mora: L-L-H, L-L-L-H, L-L-L-L-H, etc.
- ** If particles attach to the end of the word, all moras are low: L-L-L, L-L-L-L, L-L-L-L-L
- * With two-mora words, there are two accent patterns. Both of these tend to be realized in recent years as L-H, L-H.
- ** The second mora rises and falls quickly. If particles attach to the end of the word, the fall is sometimes not realized: L-HL, L-HL or L-H
- ** The second mora does not fall. If particles attach to the end of the word, both moras are low: L-H, L-L
| Kansai | Tokyo | English | ||
| hashi | H-L | L-H | bridge | |
| hashi | L-H | H-L | chopsticks | |
| hashi | H-H | L-H | edge | |
| Nihon | H-L-L | L-H-L | Japan | |
| nihon | L-L-H | H-L-L | 2-hon | |
| konnichi wa | L-H-L-L-H | L-H-H-H-H | good afternoon | |
| arigatō | L-L-L-H-L | L-H-L-L-L | thanks |
Grammar
Many words and grammar structures in Kansai dialect are contractions of their classical Japanese equivalents. For example, chigau becomes chau, yoku becomes yō, and omoshiroi becomes omoroi. These contractions follow similar inflection rules as their standard forms so chau is politely said chaimasu in the same way as chigau is inflected to chigaimasu.Verbs
Kansai dialect also has two types of regular verb, 五段 godan verbs and 一段 ichidan verbs, and two irregular verbs, 来る and する , but some conjugations are different from standard Japanese.The geminated consonants found in godan verbs of standard Japanese verbal inflections are usually replaced with long vowels in Kansai dialect. Thus, for the verb 言う , the past tense in standard Japanese 言った or becomes 言うた in Kansai dialect. This particular verb is a dead giveaway of a native Kansai speaker, as most will unconsciously say 言うて instead of 言って or even if well-practiced at speaking in standard Japanese. Other examples of geminate replacement are 笑った becoming 笑うた or わろた and 貰った becoming 貰うた, もろた or even もうた.
A compound verb てしまう is contracted to ちまう or ちゃう in colloquial Tokyo speech but to てまう in Kansai speech. Thus, しちまう, or しちゃう, becomes してまう. Furthermore, as the verb しまう is affected by the same sound changes as in other 五段 godan verbs, the past tense of this form is rendered as てもうた or てもた rather than ちまった or ちゃった : 忘れちまった or 忘れちゃった in Tokyo is 忘れてもうた or 忘れてもた in Kansai.
The long vowel of the volitional form is often shortened; for example, 使おう becomes 使お, 食べよう becomes 食べよ. The irregular verb する has special volitinal form しょ（う） instead of しよう. The volitinal form of another irregular verb 来る is 来よう as well as the standard Japanese, but when 来る is used as a compound verb てくる, てこよう is sometimes replaced with てこ（う） in Kansai.
The causative verb ending is usually replaced with in Kansai dialect; for example, させる changes さす, 言わせる changes 言わす. Its -te form and perfective form change to and ; they also appear in transitive ichidan verbs such as 見せる , e.g. 見して for 見せて.
The potential verb endings for 五段 godan and られる for 一段 ichidan, recently often shortened れる, are common between the standard Japanese and Kansai dialect. For making their negative forms, it is only to replace ない with ん or へん . However, mainly in Osaka, potential negative form of 五段 godan verbs is often replaced with such as 行かれへん instead of 行けない and 行けへん "can't go". This is because overlaps with Osakan negative conjugation. In western Japanese including Kansai dialect, a combination of よう and ん negative form is used as a negative form of the personal impossibility such as よう言わん "I can't say anything ".
Existence verbs
In Standard Japanese, the verb iru is used for reference to the existence of an animate object, and iru is replaced with oru in humble language and some written language. In western Japanese, oru is used not only in humble language but also in all other situations instead of iru.Kansai dialect belongs to western Japanese, but いる and its variation, いてる , are used in Osaka, Kyoto, Shiga and so on. People in these areas, especially Kyoto women, tend to consider おる an outspoken or contempt word. They usually use it for mates, inferiors and animals; avoid using for elders. In other areas such as Hyogo and Mie, いる is hardly used and おる does not have the negative usage. In parts of Wakayama, いる is replaced with ある, which is used for inanimate objects in most other dialects.
The verb おる is also used as an auxiliary verb and usually pronounced in that case. In Osaka, Kyoto, Shiga, northern Nara and parts of Mie, mainly in masculine speech, よる shows annoying or contempt feelings for a third party, usually milder than やがる. In Hyogo, southern Nara and parts of Wakayama, よる is used for progressive aspect.
Negative
In informal speech, the negative verb ending, which is ない in standard Japanese, is expressed with ん or へん, as in 行かん and 行かへん "not going", which is 行かない in standard Japanese. ん is a transformation of the classical Japanese negative form ぬ and is also used for some idioms in standard Japanese. へん is the result of contraction and phonological change of はせん, the emphatic form of. やへん, a transitional form between はせん and へん, is sometimes still used for 一段 ichidan verbs. The godan verbs conjugation before -hen has two varieties: the more common conjugation is like 行かへん, but -ehen like 行けへん is also used in Osaka. When the vowel before へん is, へん often changes to ひん, especially in Kyoto. The past negative form is んかった and, a mixture of ん or へん and the standard past negative form なかった. In traditional Kansai dialect, なんだ and へなんだ is used in the past negative form.- 五段 godan verbs: 使う becomes 使わん and 使わへん, 使えへん
- 上一段 kami-ichidan verbs: 起きる becomes 起きん and 起きやへん, 起きへん, 起きひん
- * one mora verbs: 見る becomes 見ん and 見やへん, 見えへん, 見いひん
- 下一段 shimo-ichidan verbs: 食べる becomes 食べん and 食べやへん, 食べへん
- * one mora verbs: 寝る becomes 寝ん and 寝やへん, 寝えへん
- s-irregular verb: する becomes せん and しやへん, せえへん, しいひん
- k-irregular verb: 来る becomes 来ん and きやへん, けえへん, きいひん
- * 来おへん, a mixture けえへん with standard 来ない, is also used lately by young people, especially in Kobe.
Imperative
Kansai dialect has two imperative forms. One is the normal imperative form, inherited from Late Middle Japanese. The ろ form for ichidan verbs in standard Japanese is much rarer and replaced by or in Kansai. The normal imperative form is often followed by よ or や. The other is a soft and somewhat feminine form which uses the adverbial, an abbreviation of adverbial +. The end of the soft imperative form is often elongated and is generally followed by や or な. In Kyoto, women often add よし to the soft imperative form.- godan verbs: 使う becomes 使え in the normal form, 使い（い） in the soft one.
- 上一段 kami-ichidan verbs: 起きる becomes 起きい in the normal form, 起き（い） in the soft one.
- 下一段 shimo-ichidan verbs: 食べる becomes 食べえ in the normal form, 食べ（え） in the soft one.
- s-irregular verb: する becomes せえ in the normal form, し（い） in the soft one.
- k-irregular verb: 来る becomes こい in the normal form, き（い） in the soft one.
- 五段 godan verbs: 使う becomes 使うな in the normal form, 使いな in the soft one.
- 上一段 kami-ichidan verbs: 起きる becomes 起きるな in the normal form, 起きな in the soft one.
- 下一段 shimo-ichidan verbs: 食べる becomes 食べるな in the normal form, 食べな in the soft one.
- s-irregular verb: する becomes するな or すな in the normal form, しな in the soft one.
- k-irregular verb: 来る becomes 来るな in the normal form, きな in the soft one.
Adjectives
The ending can be dropped and the last vowel of the adjective's stem can be stretched out for a second mora, sometimes with a tonal change for emphasis. By this process, omoroi "interesting, funny" becomes omorō and atsui "hot" becomes atsū or attsū. This use of the adjective's stem, often as an exclamation, is seen in classical literature and many dialects of modern Japanese, but is more often used in modern Kansai dialect.
There is not a special conjugated form for presumptive of adjectives in Kansai dialect, it is just addition of やろ to the plain form. For example, 安かろう is hardly used and is usually replaced with the plain form + やろ likes 安いやろ. Polite suffixes です/だす/どす and ます are also added やろ for presumptive form instead of でしょう in standard Japanese. For example, 今日は晴れでしょう is replaced with 今日は晴れですやろ .
Copulae
The standard Japanese copula da is replaced by the Kansai dialect copula ya. The inflected forms maintain this difference, resulting in yaro for darō, yatta for datta ; darō is often considered to be a masculine expression, but yaro is used by both men and women. The negative copula de wa nai or ja nai is replaced by ya nai or ya arahen/arehen in Kansai dialect. Ya originated from ja in late Edo period and is still commonly used in other parts of western Japan like Hiroshima, and is also used stereotypically by old men in fiction.Ya and ja are used only informally, analogically to the standard da, while the standard desu is by and large used for the polite copula. For polite speech, -masu, desu and gozaimasu are used in Kansai as well as in Tokyo, but traditional Kansai dialect has its own polite forms. Desu is replaced by dasu in Osaka and dosu in Kyoto. There is another unique polite form omasu and it is often replaced by osu in Kyoto. The usage of omasu/osu is same as gozaimasu, the polite form of the verb aru and also be used for polite form of adjectives, but it is more informal than gozaimasu. In Osaka, dasu and omasu are sometimes shortened to da and oma. Omasu and osu have their negative forms omahen and ohen.
| impolite | informal | polite1 | polite2 | polite formal | |
| Osaka | ja | ya | dasu | de omasu | de gozaimasu |
| Kyoto | ja | ya | dosu | de osu | de gozaimasu |
When some sentence-final particles and a presumptive inflection yaro follow -su ending polite forms, su is often combined especially in Osaka. Today, this feature is usually considered to be dated or exaggerated Kansai dialect.
- -n'na, emphasis. e.g. Bochi-bochi den'na.
- -n'nen, emphasis. e.g. Chaiman'nen.
- -ngana, emphasis. e.g. Yoroshū tanomimangana.
- -kka, question. e.g. Mōkarimakka?
- -n'no, question. e.g. Nani yūteman'no?
- -sse, explain, advise. e.g. Ee toko oshiemasse!
- -ssharo, surmise, make sure. e.g. Kyō wa hare dessharo.
Aspect
In the expression to the condition of inanimate objects, -taru or -taaru form, a shortened form of -te aru. In standard Japanese, -te aru is only used with transitive verbs, but Kansai -taru or -taaru is also used with intransitive verbs. One should note that -te yaru, "to do for someone," is also contracted to -taru, so as not to confuse the two.
Other Western Japanese as Chūgoku and Shikoku dialects has the discrimination of grammatical aspect, -yoru in progressive and -toru in perfect. In Kansai, some dialects of southern Hyogo and Kii Peninsula have these discrimination, too. In parts of Wakayama, -yoru and -toru are replaced with -yaru and -taaru/chaaru.
Politeness
Historically, extensive use of keigo was a feature of the Kansai dialect, especially in Kyōto, while the Kantō dialect, from which standard Japanese developed, formerly lacked it. Keigo in standard Japanese was originally borrowed from the medieval Kansai dialect. However, keigo is no longer considered a feature of the dialect since Standard Japanese now also has it. Even today, keigo is used more often in Kansai than in the other dialects except for the standard Japanese, to which people switch in formal situations.In modern Kansai dialect, -haru is used for showing reasonable respect without formality especially in Kyōto. The conjugation before -haru has two varieties between Kyōto and Ōsaka. In Southern Hyōgo, including Kōbe, -te ya is used instead of -haru. In formal speech, -naharu and -haru connect with -masu and -te ya changes -te desu.
-Haru was originally a shortened form of -naharu, a transformation of -nasaru. -Naharu has been dying out due to the spread of -haru but its imperative form -nahare or -nahai and negative imperative form -nasan'na or -nahan'na has comparatively survived because -haru lacks an imperative form. In more honorific speech, o- yasu, a transformation of o- asobasu, is used especially in Kyōto and its original form is same to its imperative form, showing polite invitation or order. Oide yasu and okoshi yasu, meaning "welcome", are the common phrases of sightseeing areas in Kyōto. -Te okun nahare and -te okure yasu are used instead of -te kudasai in standard Japanese.
| use | see | exist | eat | do | come | -te form | |
| original | tsukau | miru | iru, oru | taberu | suru | kuru | -teru |
| o- yasu | otsukaiyasu | omiyasu | oiyasu | otabeyasu | oshiyasu | okoshiyasu, oideyasu | -toiyasu |
| -naharu | tsukainaharu | minaharu | inaharu | tabenaharu | shinaharu | kinaharu | -tenaharu |
| -haru in Kyōto | tsukawaharu | miharu | iharu iteharu | tabeharu | shiharu | kiharu | -taharu |
| -haru in Ōsaka | tsukaiharu | miharu | iharu iteharu | tabeharu | shiharu | kiharu | -teharu |
| -yaharu | miyaharu | iyaharu yaharu | tabeyaharu | shiyaharu shaharu | kiyaharu kyaharu | -teyaharu | |
| -te ya | tsukōte ya | mite ya | otte ya | tabete ya | shite ya | kite ya | -totte ya |
Particles
There is some difference in the particles between Kansai dialect and standard Japanese. In colloquial Kansai dialect, case markers are often left out especially the accusative case o and the quotation particles to and te. The ellipsis of to and te happens only before two verbs: yū and omou. For example, Tanaka-san to yū hito can change to Tanaka-san yū hito. And to yū is sometimes contracted to chū or tchū instead of te, tsū or ttsū in Tokyo. For example, nanto yū koto da! or nante kotta! becomes nanchū kotcha! in Kansai.The interjectory particle na or naa is used very often in Kansai dialect instead of ne or nee in standard Japanese. In standard Japanese, naa is considered rough masculine style in some context, but in Kansai dialect naa is used by both men and women in many familiar situations. It is not only used as interjectory particle, and the meaning varies depending on context and voice intonation, so much so that naa is called the world's third most difficult word to translate. Besides naa and nee, noo is also used in some areas, but noo is usually considered too harsh a masculine particle in modern Keihanshin.
Kara and node, the conjunctive particles meaning "because," are replaced by sakai or yotte; ni is sometimes added to the end of both, and sakai changes to sake in some areas. Sakai was so famous as the characteristic particle of Kansai dialect that a special saying was made out of it: "Sakai in Osaka and Berabō in Edo"". However, in recent years, the standard kara and node have become dominant.
Kate or katte is also characteristic particle of Kansai dialect, transformation of ka tote. Kate has two usages. When kate is used with conjugative words, mainly in the past form and the negative form, it is the equivalent of the English "even if" or "even though", such as Kaze hiita kate, watashi wa ryokō e iku. When kate is used with nouns, it means something like "even", "too," or "either", such as Ore kate shiran, and is similar to the particle mo and datte.
Sentence final particles
The sentence-final particles used in Kansai differ widely from those used in Tokyo. The most prominent to Tokyo speakers is the heavy use of wa by men. In standard Japanese, it is used exclusively by women and so is said to sound softer. In western Japanese including Kansai dialect, however, it is used equally by both men and women in many different levels of conversation. It is noted that the feminine usage of wa in Tokyo is pronounced with a rising intonation and the Kansai usage of wa is pronounced with a falling intonation.Another difference in sentence final particles that strikes the ear of the Tokyo speaker is the nen particle such as nande ya nen!, "you gotta be kidding!" or "why/what the hell?!", a stereotype tsukkomi phrase in the manzai. It comes from no ya and much the same as the standard Japanese no da. Nen has some variation, such as neya, ne, and nya. When a copula precedes these particles, da + no da changes to na no da and ya + no ya changes to na no ya, but ya + nen does not change to na nen. No da is never used with polite form, but no ya and nen can be used with formal form such as nande desu nen, a formal form of nande ya nen. In past tense, nen changes to -ten; for example, "I love you" would be suki ya nen or sukkya nen, and "I loved you" would be suki yatten.
In the interrogative sentence, the use of nen and no ya is restricted to emphatic questions and involves interrogative words. For simple questions, ka is usually used and ka is often omitted as well as standard Japanese, but no is often changed n or non in Kansai dialect. In standard Japanese, kai is generally used as a masculine variation of ka, but in Kansai dialect, kai is used as an emotional question and is mainly used for rhetorical question rather than simple question and is often used in the forms as kaina and kaiya. When kai follows the negative verb ending -n, it means strong imperative sentence. In some areas such as Kawachi and Banshu, ke is used instead of ka, but it is considered a harsh masculine particle in common Kansai dialect.
The emphatic particle ze, heard often from Tokyo men, is rarely heard in Kansai. Instead, the particle de is used, arising from the replacement of z with d in words. However, despite the similarity with ze, the Kansai de does not carry nearly as heavy or rude a connotation, as it is influenced by the lesser stress on formality and distance in Kansai. In Kyoto, especially feminine speech, de is sometimes replaced with e. The particle zo is also replaced to do by some Kansai speakers, but do carries a rude masculine impression unlike de.
The emphasis or tag question particle jan ka in the casual speech of Kanto changes to yan ka in Kansai. Yan ka has some variations, such as a masculine variation yan ke and a shortened variation yan, just like jan in Kanto. Jan ka and jan are used only in informal speech, but yan ka and yan can be used with formal forms like sugoi desu yan!. Youngsters often use yan naa, the combination of yan and naa for tag question.
Vocabulary
In some cases, Kansai dialect uses entirely different words. The verb hokasu corresponds to standard Japanese suteru "to throw away", and metcha corresponds to the standard Japanese slang chō "very". Chō, in Kansai dialect, means "a little" and is a contracted form of chotto. Thus the phrase chō matte "wait a minute" by a Kansai person sounds strange to a Tokyo person.Some Japanese words gain entirely different meanings or are used in different ways when used in Kansai dialect. One such usage is of the word naosu in the sense of "put away" or "put back." For example, kono jitensha naoshite means "please put back this bicycle" in Kansai, but many standard speakers are bewildered since in standard Japanese it would mean "please repair this bicycle".
Another widely recognized Kansai-specific usage is of aho. Basically equivalent to the standard baka "idiot, fool", aho is both a term of reproach and a term of endearment to the Kansai speaker, somewhat like English twit or silly. Baka, which is used as "idiot" in most regions, becomes "complete moron" and a stronger insult than aho. Where a Tokyo citizen would almost certainly object to being called baka, being called aho by a Kansai person is not necessarily much of an insult. Being called baka by a Kansai speaker is however a much more severe criticism than it would be by a Tokyo speaker. Most Kansai speakers cannot stand being called baka but don't mind being called aho.
Well-known words
Here are some words and phrases famous as part of the Kansai dialect:| Kansai dialect | accent | Standard Japanese | English | Note | Example |
| ' or akahen | H-H-H, H-L-L-L | dame, ikemasen, shimatta | wrong, no good, must, oh no! | abbreviation of "'"; akimasen or akimahen for polite speech; -ta akan means "must not..."; -na akan and -nto akan means "must...". | Tabetara akan. = "You must not eat." : Tabena/Tabento akan = "You must eat." |
| ', ahō | L-HL, L-H-L | baka | silly, idiot, fool | sometimes used friendly with a joke; this accompanies a stereotype that baka is considered a much more serious insult in Kansai; Ahondara is strong abusive form; Ahokusai and Ahorashii are adjective form; originally ahau and said to derive from a Chinese word in Muromachi period. | Honma aho ya naa. = "You are really silly." |
| ' | H-H-H | bijin | beautiful woman | Originally written 別品, meaning a product of exceptional quality; extrapolated to apply to women of exceptional beauty, rewritten as 別嬪. Often appended with -san. | Beppin-san ya na. = "You are a pretty woman." |
| charinko, chari | jitensha | bicycle | said to derive either from onomatopoeia of the bell, or corrupted from jajeongeo, a Korean word for "bicycle" used by Osaka-born Koreans. Has spread out to most of Japan in recent decades. | Eki made aruite ikun? Uun, chari de iku wa. | |
| ' | H-H | chigau, de wa nai, janai | that isn't it, that isn't good, nope, wrong | reduplication chau chau is often used for informal negative phrase | Are, chauchau chau? Chau chau, chauchau chau n chau? = "It is a Chow Chow, isn't it?" "No, it isn't a Chow Chow, is it?" |
| dabo | L-HL | baka | silly, idiot, fool | used in Kobe and Banshu; harsher than aho | |
| donai | H-H-H | donna, dō | how | konai means konna ; sonai means sonna ; anai means anna | Donai yatta? = "How was it?" |
| do | excessively | often used with bad meanings; also used in several dialects and recently standard Japanese | do-aho = "terribly fool" do-kechi = "terribly miser" | ||
| dotsuku | H-H-H | naguru | to clobber somebody | do + tsuku ; also dozuku | Anta, dotsuku de! = "Hey, I'll clobber you!" |
| donkusai | L-L-H-L-L | manuke, nibui | stupid, clumsy, inefficient, lazy | literally "slow-smelling" | |
| ee | L-H | yoi, ii | good, proper, all right | used only in Plain form; other conjugations are same as yoi ; also used in other western Japan and Tohoku | Kakko ee de. = "You look cool." |
| egetsunai | H-H-H-L-L | akudoi, iyarashii, rokotsu-na | indecent, vicious, obnoxious | Egetsunai yarikata = "Indecent way" | |
| erai | H-L-L | erai, taihen | great, high-status, terrible, terribly | the usage as meaning "terrible" and "terribly" is more often in Kansai than in Tokyo; also sometimes used as meaning "tired" as shindoi in Chubu and western Japan | Erai kotcha! = "It is a terrible/difficult thing/matter!" |
| gotsui | H-L-L | ikatsui, sugoi | rough, huge | a variation of the adjective form gottsu is used as "very" or "terribly" like metcha | Gottsu ee kanji = "feelin' real good" |
| gyōsan | H-L-L-L or L-L-H-L | takusan | a lot of, many | also yōsan, may be a mixture of gyōsan and yōke; also used in other western Japan; in kanji | Gyōsan tabe ya. = "Eat heartily." |
| hannari | H-L-L-L or L-L-H-L | hanayaka, jōhin | elegant, splendid, graceful | mainly used in Kyoto | Hannari-shita kimono = "Elegant kimono" |
| hiku | H-H | shiku | to spread on a flat surface | A result of the palatalization of "s" occurring elsewhere in the dialect. | Futon hiitoite ya. = "Lay out the futons, will you?" |
| hokasu | H-H-H | suteru | to throw away, to dump | also horu. Note particularly that the phrase "gomi hottoite" means "throw out the garbage" in Kansai dialect, but "let the garbage be" in standard Japanese. | Sore hokashitoite. = "Dump it." |
| honde | H-H-H | sorede | and so, so that | Honde na, kinō na, watashi na... = "And, in yesterday, I..." | |
| honnara, hona | H-H-L-L, H-L | dewa, ja, nara | then, in that case, if that's true | often used for informal good-by. | Hona mata. = "Well then." |
| ' | L-L-H, H-H-H | hontō | true, real | honma-mon, equivalent to Standard honmono, means "genuine thing"; also used in other western Japan; in kanji | Sore honma? = "Is that true?" |
| ikezu | L-H-L | ijiwaru | spiteful, ill-natured | Ikezu sentoitee na. = "Don't be spiteful to me." | |
| itemau, itekomasu | H-H-H-H, H-H-H-H-H | yattsukeru, yatchimau | to beat, to finish off | Itemau do, ware! = "I'll finish you off!" | |
| kamahen or kamehen | H-L-L-L | kamawanai | never mind; it doesn't matter | abbreviation of "kamawahen" | Kamahen, kamahen. = "It doesn't matter: it's OK." |
| kanawan | H-H-L-L | iya da, tamaranai | can't stand it; unpleasant; unwelcome | also kanan | Kō atsui to kanawan naa. = "I can't stand this hot weather." |
| kashiwa | L-H-L | toriniku | chicken | compared the colour of plumage of chickens to the colour of leaves of the kashiwa; also used in other western Japan and Nagoya | Kashiwa hito-kire chōdai. = "Give me a cut of chicken." |
| kattaa shatsu, kattā | H-H-H L-L, H-L-L | wai shatsu | dress shirt | wasei-eigo. originally a brand of Mizuno, a sportswear company in Osaka. kattaa is a pun of "cutter" and "katta". | |
| kettai-na | H-L-L-L | kimyō-na, hen-na, okashi-na, fushigi-na | strange | Kettai-na fuku ya na. = "They are strange clothes." | |
| kettakuso warui | H-H-H-H H-L-L | imaimashii, haradatashii | damned, stupid, irritating | kettai + kuso "shit" + warui "bad" | |
| kii warui | H-H H-L-L | kanji ga warui, iyana kanji | be not in a good feeling | kii is a lengthened vowel form of ki. | |
| kosobai or koshobai | H-H-L-L | kusuguttai | ticklish | shortened form of kosobayui; also used in other western Japan | |
| maido | L-H-L | dōmo | commercial greeting | the original meaning is "Thank you always". in kanji. | Maido, irasshai! = "Hi, may I help you?" |
| makudo | L-H-L | makku | McDonald's | abbreviation of makudonarudo | Makudo iko. = "Let's go to McDonald's." |
| mebachiko | L-H-L-L | monomorai | stye | meibo in Kyoto and Shiga. | |
| metcha or messa or mutcha | L-H | totemo, chō | very | mostly used by younger people. also bari in southern Hyogo, adopted from Chugoku dialect. | Metcha omoroi mise shitteru de. = "I know a really interesting shop." |
| nanbo | L-L-H | ikura, ikutsu | how much, no matter how, how old, how many | transformation of nanihodo ; also used in other western Japan, Tohoku and Hokkaido. | Sore nanbo de kōta n? = "How much did you pay for it?" |
| nukui | H-L-L | atatakai, attakai | warm | also used in other western Japan | |
| ochokuru | H-H-H-H | karakau, chakasu | to make fun of, to tease | Ore ochokuru no mo eekagen ni see! = "That's enough to tease me!" | |
| okan, oton | L-H-L, L-H-L | okaasan, otōsan | mother, father | very casual form | |
| ' | H-L-H-L or L-L-H-L | arigatō | thanks | abbreviation of "ōki ni arigatō" ; of course, arigatō is also used; sometimes, it is used ironically to mean "No thank you"; also ōkeni | Maido ōkini! = "Thanks always!" |
| otchan | H-H-H | ojisan | uncle, older man | a familiar term of address for a middle-aged man; also used as a first personal pronoun; the antonym "aunt, older woman" is obachan ; also ossan and obahan, but ruder than otchan and obachan | Otchan, takoyaki futatsu! Aiyo! = "Two takoyaki please, mister!" "All right!" |
| shaanai | H-H-L-L | shōganai, shikata ga nai | it can't be helped | also used some other dialects | |
| shibaku | H-H-H | naguru, tataku | to beat somebody | sometimes used as a vulgar word meaning "to go" or "to eat" such as Chaa shibakehen? "Why don't you go to cafe?" | Shibaitaro ka! = "Do you want me to give you a beating?" |
| shindoi | L-L-H-L | tsukareru, tsurai, kurushii | tired, exhausted | change from shinrō ; shindoi has come to be used throughout Japan in recent years. | Aa shindo. = "Ah, I'm tired." |
| shōmonai | L-L-H-L-L | tsumaranai, omoshirokunai, kudaranai | dull, unimportant, uninteresting | change from shiyō mo nai ; also used some other dialects | |
| sunmasen or sunmahen | L-L-L-L-H | sumimasen, gomen nasai | I'm sorry, excuse me, thanks | suman in casual speech; also kan'nin for informal apology instead of standard kanben | Erai sunmahen. = "I'm so sorry." |
| H-H | niru | to boil, to simmer | in standard Japanese, taku is used only for cooking rice; also used in other western Japan | Daikon yō taketa. = "The daikon was boiled well." | |
| waya | H-L | mucha-kucha, dainashi, dame | going for nothing, fruitless | also used in other western Japan, Nagoya and Hokkaido | Sappari waya ya wa. = "It's no good at all." |
| yaru | H-H | yaru, ageru | to give | used more widely than in standard Japanese towards equals as well as inferiors; when used as helper auxiliaries, -te yaru usually shortened -taru | |
| yome | H-H | tsuma, okusan, kamisan, kanai | wife | originally means "bride" and "daughter-in-law" in standard, but an additional meaning "wife" is spread from Kansai; often used as yome-san or yome-han | anta toko no yome-han = "your wife" |
| yōke' | H-L-L | takusan | a lot of, many | change from yokei ; a synonymous with gyōsan'' |
Pronouns and honorifics
Standard first-person pronouns such as watashi, boku and ore are also generally used in Kansai, but there are some local pronoun words. Watashi has many variations: watai, wate, ate, and wai. These variations are now archaic, but are still widely used in fictitious creations to represent stereotypical Kansai speakers especially wate and wai. Elderly Kansai men frequent use washi as well as other western Japan. Uchi is famous for the typical feminine first-person pronoun of Kansai dialect and it is still popular among Kansai girls.In Kansai, omae and anta are often used for the informal second-person pronoun. Anata is hardly used. Traditional local second-person pronouns include omahan, anta-han and ansan. An archaic first-person pronoun, ware, is used as a hostile and impolite second-person pronoun in Kansai. Jibun is a Japanese word meaning "oneself" and sometimes "I," but it has an additional usage in Kansai as a casual second-person pronoun.
In traditional Kansai dialect, the honorific suffix -san is sometimes pronounced -han when -san follows a, e and o; for example, okaasan becomes okaahan, and Satō-san becomes Satō-han. It is also the characteristic of Kansai usage of honorific suffixes that they can be used for some familiar inanimate objects as well, especially in Kyoto. In standard Japanese, the usage is usually considered childish, but in Kansai, o-imo-san, o-mame-san and ame-chan are often heard not only in children's speech but also in adults' speech. The suffix -san is also added to some familiar greeting phrases; for example, ohayō-san and omedetō-san.
Regional differences
Since Kansai dialect is actually a group of related dialects, not all share the same vocabulary, pronunciation, or grammatical features. Each dialect has its own specific features discussed individually here.Here is a division theory of Kansai dialects proposed by Mitsuo Okumura in 1968; ■ shows dialects influenced by Kyoto dialect and □ shows dialects influenced by Osaka dialect, proposed by Minoru Umegaki in 1962.
- Inner Kansai dialect
- * ■Kyoto dialect
- ** Gosho dialect
- ** Machikata dialect
- ** Tanba dialect
- ** Southern Yamashiro dialect
- * □Osaka dialect
- ** Settsu dialect
- *** Senba dialect
- ** Kawachi dialect
- ** Senshū dialect
- * □Kobe dialect
- * □Northern Nara dialect
- * ■Shiga dialect
- * ■Iga dialect
- Outer Kansai dialect
- * Northern Kansai dialect
- ** ■Tanba dialect
- ** ■Southern Fukui dialect
- ** ■Kohoku dialect
- * Western Kansai dialect
- ** □Banshū dialect
- ** ■Tanba dialect
- * Eastern Kansai dialect
- ** ■Ise dialect
- * Southern Kansai dialect
- ** Kishū dialect
- ** Shima dialect
- ** □Awaji dialect
- Totsukawa-Kumano dialect
Osaka
The idea behind mōkarimakka is that Osaka was historically the center of the merchant culture. The phrase developed among low-class shopkeepers and can be used today to greet a business proprietor in a friendly and familiar way but is not a universal greeting. The latter phrase is also specific to Osaka, in particular the term bochi bochi. This means essentially "so-so": getting better little by little or not getting any worse. Unlike mōkarimakka, bochi bochi is used in many situations to indicate gradual improvement or lack of negative change. Also, bochi bochi can be used in place of the standard Japanese soro soro, for instance bochi bochi iko ka "it is about time to be going".
In the Edo period, Senba-kotoba, a social dialect of the wealthy merchants in the central business district of Osaka, was considered the standard Osaka-ben. It was characterized by the polite speech based on Kyoto-ben and the subtle differences depending on the business type, class, post etc. It was handed down in Meiji, Taishō and Shōwa periods with some changes, but after the Pacific War, Senba-kotoba became nearly an obsolete dialect due to the modernization of business practices. Senba-kotoba was famous for a polite copula gowasu or goasu instead of common Osakan copula omasu and characteristic forms for shopkeeper family mentioned below.
Southern branches of Osaka-ben, such as Senshū-ben and Kawachi-ben, are famous for their harsh locution, characterized by trilled "r", the question particle ke, and the second person ware. The farther south in Osaka one goes, the cruder the language is considered to be, with the local Senshū-ben of Kishiwada said to represent the peak of harshness.
Kyoto
Kyōto-ben or Kyō-kotoba is characterized by development of politeness and indirectness expressions. Kyoto-ben is often regarded as elegant and feminine dialect because of its characters and the image of Gion's geisha, the most conspicuous speakers of traditional Kyoto-ben. Kyoto-ben is divided into the court dialect called Gosho kotoba and the citizens dialect called Machikata kotoba. The former was spoken by court noble before moving the Emperor to Tokyo, and some phrases inherit at a few monzeki. The latter has subtle difference at each social class such as old merchant families at Nakagyo, craftsmen at Nishijin and geiko at HanamachiKyoto-ben was the de facto standard Japanese from 794 until the 18th century and some Kyoto people are still proud of their accent; they get angry when Tokyo people treat Kyoto-ben as a provincial accent. However, traditional Kyoto-ben is gradually declining except in the world of geisha, which prizes the inheritance of traditional Kyoto customs. For example, a famous Kyoto copula dosu, instead of standard desu, is used by a few elders and geisha now.
The verb inflection -haru is an essential part of casual speech in modern Kyoto. In Osaka and its environs, -haru has a certain level of politeness above the base form of the verb, putting it somewhere between the informal and the more polite -masu conjugations. However, in Kyoto, its position is much closer to the informal than it is to the polite mood, owing to its widespread use. Kyoto people, especially elderly women, often use -haru for their family and even for animals and weather.
Tango-ben spoken in northernmost Kyoto Prefecture, is too different to be regarded as Kansai dialect and usually included in Chūgoku dialect. For example, the copula da, the Tokyo-type accent, the honorific verb ending -naru instead of -haru and the peculiarly diphthong such as for akai "red".
Hyogo
is the largest prefecture in Kansai, and there are some different dialects in the prefecture. As mentioned above, Tajima-ben spoken in northern Hyōgo, former Tajima Province, is included in Chūgoku dialect as well as Tango-ben. Ancient vowel sequence /au/ changed in many Japanese dialects, but in Tajima, Tottori and Izumo dialects, /au/ changed. Accordingly, Kansai word ahō "idiot" is pronounced ahaa in Tajima-ben.The dialect spoken in southwestern Hyōgo, former Harima Province alias Banshū, is called Banshū-ben. As well as Chūgoku dialect, it has the discrimination of aspect, -yoru in progressive and -toru in perfect. Banshū-ben is notable for transformation of -yoru and -toru into -yō and -tō, sometimes -yon and -ton. Another feature is the honorific copula -te ya, common in Tanba, Maizuru and San'yō dialects. In addition, Banshū-ben is famous for an emphatic final particle doi or doiya and a question particle ke or ko, but they often sound violent to other Kansai speakers, as well as Kawachi-ben. Kōbe-ben spoken in Kobe, the largest city of Hyogo, is the intermediate dialect between Banshū-ben and Osaka-ben and is well known for conjugating -yō and -tō as well as Banshū-ben.
Awaji-ben spoken in Awaji Island, is different from Banshū/Kōbe-ben and mixed with dialects of Osaka, Wakayama and Tokushima Prefectures due to the intersecting location of sea routes in the Seto Inland Sea and the Tokushima Domain rule in Edo period.
Mie
The dialect in Mie Prefecture, sometimes called Mie-ben, is made up of Ise-ben spoken in mid-northern Mie, Shima-ben spoken in southeastern Mie and Iga-ben spoken in western Mie. Ise-ben is famous for a sentence final particle ni as well as de. Shima-ben is close to Ise-ben, but its vocabulary includes many archaic words. Iga-ben has a unique request expression -te daako instead of standard -te kudasai.They use the normal Kansai accent and basic grammar, but some of the vocabulary is common to the Nagoya dialect. For example, instead of -te haru, they have the Nagoya-style -te mieru. Conjunctive particles de and monde "because" is widely used instead of sakai and yotte. The similarity to Nagoya-ben becomes more pronounced in the northernmost parts of the prefecture; the dialect of Nagashima and Kisosaki, for instance, could be considered far closer to Nagoya-ben than to Ise-ben.
In and around Ise city, some variations on typical Kansai vocabulary can be found, mostly used by older residents. For instance, the typical expression ōkini is sometimes pronounced ōkina in Ise. Near the Isuzu River and Naikū shrine, some old men use the first-person pronoun otai.