What on Earth is Kansai-ben?

関西弁は何ですか？
What on Earth is Kansai-ben?
On the Importance and Intrigue of Dialects

Imagine the following scenario. You are an intermediate learner or somewhere around there, just having found their confidence in understanding Japanese. You have delved into short novels or news reports with the help of your trusty dictionary, you pride yourself on understanding things on kids' TV shows, and you have had your fair share of experience talking to natives by now, if not in person then over the internet. You are starting to take in more and more knowledge and be able to understand more and more when you try to listen. Then one day this all changes when you are watching your favorite movie or anime again.

"Wait a second- what on earth was that word?" "The subtitles say it means this, but that's not the way I learned how to say it??" "What on earth is that grammar?" "I've never heard it pronounced that way!"

If this mental dialogue looks familiar to you, you could be experiencing one of a few problems. There is always the fact that in any language there are different ways of phrasing things and maybe you simply haven't considered other ways, but sometimes it's a completely different variable in the language equation- dialects.

A dialect is a slight variation or version of a language based on a region or location. American English and British English are two dialects of the English language. There is a different dialect found in Australia, and in New Zealand one even different than that, etcetera. What some people don't realize however, is that dialects can take place within a country, even a small one like Japan. In most countries there are at least different accents. In America we have the east-coast accents of New York and Boston and Jersey, the different southern accents, and the midwestern accent like in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Some of these could be, in a sense, considered dialects if you think about the more prominent ones that also include different words for things, not just different accents.

In Japan, there are a few common dialects. The most common one, the one that most of you are probably learning (myself included), is known as either 東京弁 (Toukyou-ben; Tokyo Dialect) or 標準語 (hyoujun-go; standard language). No matter where you go in Japan, this will be understood. It is the standard widely understood dialect, but most common in the Tokyo area. There is also the soft-spoken Kyoto dialect, which is more soft-spoken and mostly used by women. It is seen as polite and traditional. It used to be considered standard Japanese until about around the 18th century. There are many other regional dialects, a list of more than 20, that are specific to only small regions, such as Hiroshima, Hokkaido, etc. Each has its own specific set of nuances.

Here's an example of how one word, the basic "to be," varies by region

Right now however, let's focus on a dialect most often thought of when talking about Japanese dialects in general. If you take a trip out of Tokyo and end up in Osaka or anywhere in the Kansai region, you will most likely hear a completely different and seemingly strange dialect being spoken- 関西弁 (Kansai-ben; Kansai dialect). This includes many sub-dialects that are all very similar but have some differences.

The Kansai region is highlighted in darker green in the above photo.

Besides differences in pronunciation, Kansai-ben also has differences in vocabulary, and even differences in grammar structure. At first this seemed intimidating to me. Such a popular dialect, and I thought I would have no hope of understanding it. But after I was made aware of its existence in one of my favorite anime, Lovely Complex, I decided to read up on it, and I realized it wasn't so complicated as like any other part of the language, it has its own rules. I'd like to break down a few nuances now.

Vocabulary

• 面白い (omoshiroi; interesting) becomes おもろい (omoroi; pronounced with a slight rolled r)
• 本当 (hontou; really/real) becomes ほんま (honma)
• 違う(chigau; to be wrong or different) becomes ちゃう(chau)
• ダメ／いけない (dame/ikenai; bad/ not okay) becomes あかん
• とても (totemo; very) becomes めっちゃ (meccha)
• バカ（baka; idiot/stupid) is less popular than アホ (aho)
• おはよう(ohayou: good morning) is often changed to おはようさん (ohayou-san)
• ありがとう (arigatou: thank you) can be changed to ありがとうさん (arigatou-san)

Don't get some of these mixed up like I did, it can lead to some awkward misunderstandings! The first time my Japanese friend said ありがとうさん to me, I thought she was saying ありがとう、お父さん！(arigatou, otousan: thanks Dad!) and got confused as to why she would call me her father! 

There are many more examples you can find if you search for Kansai-ben vocabulary lists online.

Grammar

• です or だ (desu/da; the formal and informal versions of "to be", roughly) becomes や (ya). For example 猫だ (neko da; it is a cat) becomes 猫や (neko ya). Or 本当ですか (hontou desu ka; is it true?/ Really?) becomes ほんまや？(honma ya).
• 〜ている verb endings (te iru verb endings; the te form of a verb + iru/imasu, which takes on the grammatical meaning of ~ing) become 〜とる (~toru) endings. For example, 食べている (Tabete iru; I'm eating) becomes 食べとる (tabetoru), and 見ている (mite iru; watching) would become 見とる (mitoru)
• 〜ない verb endings (~nai verb endings are the informal/plain form negatives, like 'tabenai' (I don't/won't eat), etc) become 〜へん (~hen) verb endings. For example, 食べない (tabenai; to not eat) would become 食べへん (tabehen) and 知らない (shiranai; I don't know) would become 知らへん. And the irregular しない (shinai; to not do) becomes せえへん (seh-hen)
• The common particle よ (yo; which adds emphasis like an exclamation point, or is used when stating something the listener didn't know before) become で (de). For example 本当だよ (hontou da yo; it's true!) would become ほんまやで！(honma ya de!)

Other General Notes

• Kansai-ben is normally used in informal cases. There aren't normally variants used of the "masu" forms of verbs.
• It is not considered a very 'girly' dialect, although girls and women in the region use it. Sometimes it is popular as a style of speech in other areas but not seen as feminine.
• You can hear it in many anime or movies, so keep an eye out for it next time you're watching something!

If you want to learn more about dialects, first look up a list of common Japanese dialects, then try searching around for "Phrases in ___ dialect", and see what you can find! If you have Japanese friends, try asking them what the dialect in their region is and see if you can pick up some common phrases. Even if you won't use them necessarily, they are a fun way to spice up your Japanese, and it will certainly help you understand television more.