KANSAI DIALECT
The commonly spoken dialect of this area is Osaka-ben, a form of Kansai-ben. Of the many other particularities that characterize Osaka-ben, examples include using the copula ya instead of da, and the suffix -hen instead of -nai in the negative of verbs.
The Kansai dialect (関西弁, 関西方言 Kansai-ben, Kansai hōgen?) is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region (Kinki region) of Japan. In Japanese, Kansai-ben is the common name and it is called Kinki dialect (近畿方言 Kinki hōgen?) in technical terms. Dialects of Kyoto and Osaka, especially in Edo period, are also called Kamigata dialect (上方言葉, 上方語 Kamigata kotoba, Kamigata-go?). 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.
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 dialectical variations.
The common Kansai dialect is spoken in Keihanshin (the metropolitan areas of the cities of Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe) and its surroundings, a radius of about 50 km around the Osaka-Kyoto area (See also #Regional differences). 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 (except Maizuru) 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.
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 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. Literature style developed in the elite of Heian-kyō became the model of Classical Japanese language.
When political and military center of Japan was moved to Edo under the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Kantō region grew in prominence, Edo dialect took the place of Kansai dialect. With Meiji Restoration and the transfer of the imperial capital from Kyoto to Tokyo, Kansai dialect became fixed in position as a non-standard local dialect.
As the Tokyo dialect was adopted with the advent of a national education/media standard in Japan, some features and intraregional differences of 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. Kansai dialect's vocabulary is 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 (See also Yoshimoto Kogyo). Because of such associations, Kansai speakers are often viewed as being more amusing or talkative than typical speakers of other dialects. Tokyo people even occasionally imitate Kansai dialect to provoke laughter or inject humor.
The Kansai dialect (関西弁, 関西方言 Kansai-ben, Kansai hōgen?) is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region (Kinki region) of Japan. In Japanese, Kansai-ben is the common name and it is called Kinki dialect (近畿方言 Kinki hōgen?) in technical terms. Dialects of Kyoto and Osaka, especially in Edo period, are also called Kamigata dialect (上方言葉, 上方語 Kamigata kotoba, Kamigata-go?). 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.
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 dialectical variations.
The common Kansai dialect is spoken in Keihanshin (the metropolitan areas of the cities of Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe) and its surroundings, a radius of about 50 km around the Osaka-Kyoto area (See also #Regional differences). 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 (except Maizuru) 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.
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 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. Literature style developed in the elite of Heian-kyō became the model of Classical Japanese language.
When political and military center of Japan was moved to Edo under the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Kantō region grew in prominence, Edo dialect took the place of Kansai dialect. With Meiji Restoration and the transfer of the imperial capital from Kyoto to Tokyo, Kansai dialect became fixed in position as a non-standard local dialect.
As the Tokyo dialect was adopted with the advent of a national education/media standard in Japan, some features and intraregional differences of 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. Kansai dialect's vocabulary is 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 (See also Yoshimoto Kogyo). Because of such associations, Kansai speakers are often viewed as being more amusing or talkative than typical speakers of other dialects. Tokyo people even occasionally imitate Kansai dialect to provoke laughter or inject humor.