 Kansai dialect (関西弁, Kansai-ben) - A distinct group
of related Japanese dialects found in the Kansai region of
Japan. They are typified by the speech of Osaka, which is
referred to specifically as Osaka-ben. It is characterized
as being both more melodic and "harsher" by speakers of the
standard language.
Technically, Kansai-ben is not a single dialect, but a group
of related dialects of the region. Each major city
represents a particular dialect, such as Kyoto-ben, Kobe-ben,
Nara-ben, Wakayama-ben, etc. Kansai-ben has over one
thousand years of history. Since Osaka is the largest city
of the region, and since its speakers have gained the most
media exposure in the last century, non-Kansai-ben Japanese
speakers tend to associate the dialect of Osaka with the
entire Kansai region. Thus anyone habitually saying akan or
honma to a Tokyo-jin (someone from Tokyo) is probably going
to be labelled as an Osaka-ben speaker and probably an
Osaka-jin (someone from Osaka) whether they are from Osaka
or not.
Since Kansai-ben is the most widely known nonstandard
dialect of Japanese, it has become a favorite with Japanese
authors, manga and anime artists, and the like, as the
choice for representing a somewhat "different" character
from the norm. The use of Kansai-ben is closely associated
with manzai and comedy in general throughout most of
non-Kansai Japan. This is due both to the prevalence of
comedians from Osaka in Japanese media as compared to people
from other cities and regions (which is in turn due at least
in part to the Yoshimoto Kogyo agency, based in Osaka), and
to the willingness of Osaka comedians to use their own
dialect while on stage. Because of this association,
speakers of Kansai-ben are often viewed as being more
humorous or wittier than the average Tokyo-jin. Tokyo people
even occasionally imitate Kansai-ben to provoke laughter or
inject humor into a situation.
Historically, nearly every village in the Kansai area had a
style of speech which differed somewhat from its neighbors;
it was once possible for well-travelled people to identify
the particular area from which a speaker came. Due to the
increasing influence of the Tokyo and Kantō dialects over
the last four hundred years, the intraregional differences
have been declining across all of Kansai. Nevertheless,
citizens of each major city and prefecture still take some
pride in their particular dialectical variation, and this
pride has preserved a number of differences between each
area in the region.
The primary dialects of Kansai-ben can be roughly divided
into cities. There is Osaka-ben, the most famous and well
known. Following it are Kyoto-ben, known for its
indirectness and politeness, and Kobe-ben known for its -tō/-ton
verb conjugation. Others include Nara-ben, Wakayama-ben,
Shiga-ben, Mie-ben, Banshu-ben and so on.
Information source: “Kansai dialect.” wikipedia.org. Article
date: 1 Feb. 2008. Retrieved: Wikipedia. 4 Feb. 2008 <Kansai
dialect>.
Video - The following videos are good
examples of Kansai-ben. In the first video a few comedians get together for a pretty typical Kansai area
sketch on a famous comedy show (吉本新喜劇, よしもとしんきげき,
Yoshimoto shinkigeki) in Japan. The second video is a couple fighting in Kansai-ben.
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