Kansai Ben

[kyo_9]

haha.. I understand it and I have experienced it also.. before I came to shiga (kansai), I spent about a week at tokyo (kantou).. hence, when I using the elevator, I frequently mistaken the row we supposed to line in kansai.. hahah.. but, sometimes kyoto and tokyo people uses the same row which is the left.. when I go to Osaka, they use the right row.. I wonder why...

[MMM]

Unless you have lived for an extended period in Kansai, speaking one of the many dialects that fall under the umbrella of Kansai-ben is a little strange.

Often voice actors who play characters from Osaka aren't actually Osaka natives, and their accent can be picked up in a second from a native speaker.

But it is good info to know if you are travelling or are going to live in the Kansai area and speak Japanese. There are books written on the subject, and I was with friend from Shikoku who moved to Osaka for work, and he was considering picking up a book on Kansai-ben.

Nyororin or Nagoyankee can confirm or deny this, but I noticed men in Nagoya speak with a sort of Kansai dialect (using ~へん　and あかん）

[Nathan]

When I was living in Osaka, the only 大阪弁 word I really used was めっちゃ. Mainly because I liked how it sounded over とても. It just has more energy.

But there was a university student from NY in my area that I met frequently. He spoke amazing Japanese for a 21 year old, conversed freely with the natives. He was able to hold basic conversations in the Osaka dialect, but the bartender admitted to me later that he wasn't comfortable with a foreigner speaking exactly like a native and had been encouraging him to use standard Japanese instead, unsuccessfully.

It could be that some Japanese see it as you indirectly mocking them, like how some British people I know would hark on me for occasionally imitating their accent and varied vocab.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by MMM

Nyororin or Nagoyankee can confirm or deny this, but I noticed men in Nagoya speak with a sort of Kansai dialect (using ~へん　and あかん）

～へん is not one that I hear at all on a regular basis. あかん is fairly common, but I`d say いかん tops it.

Being between Tokyo and Osaka you get a bit of both I`d say... But definitely more Kanto. In Tokyo, I only notice a few differences (For example, 分かんない being preferred over 分からん etc) In Osaka though, people sound VERY different.

My husband is from Fukui, which is a completely different story to begin with. He himself doesn`t have an accent, but his family certainly does - and it`s not Kansai.

[Nagoyankee]

Yeah, I notice the same tendencies regarding the uses of ～へん and　あかん/いかん in Nagoya as Nyororin.

The Nagoyans who use ～へん and あかん with consistency often originally come from other parts of Aichi-ken. I've seen this in my own family. My mother and her parents　are native Nagoyans and I don't think I have ever heard them say either あかん　or ～へん.　They say いかん and "せん"　as opposed to "へん".

My father and his parents, however, say both あかん and　へん all the time. They are from only 30-40 kilometers south of Nagoya ( Chita Penninsula ), though.

So, even though I grew up hearing あかん　and ～へん, those　still sound pretty much non-Nagoyan in my own ear. I heard them at home but not really in school as I grew up in Nagoya.

But then again, the Kansai-style speech has had enormous influence via TV on the rest of the nation in the last decade. I do hear teenagers saying あかん or なんでやねん in casual speech　not only in Nagoya but also even in Tokyo these days. Just the little phrases, you know, but not long sentences.

[MMM]

Thanks for the info, guys!

[blimp]

aaaa....so many things that i need to reply to and so little time...actually i've got plenty of time.

if we start in the right order.

nagoyankee
i still after a 1½ years in tokyo stand on the wrong side if there is no one on the escalator.

nyororin,
the programme that u looking for might be 秘密の県民ショー hosted by the dreadful みのもんた who could all do us a favour and retire and the sometimes funny 久本雅美. if u can find the show having children appear, ケンミンの1年生, pls let me know, the children from osaka was hilarious.

nathan and kyo_9
as strange as it sounds, and unfortunately i can't recall that i have ever thought of that, but there might be a reason to it. the reason why in osaka u stand on the right side is due to a change thanks to the expo 1970, when osaka wanted to be a bit more international, call it an early グローバル化.

mmm
the prime examples of actors with fake accent was a show (ドラマ） perhaps a year ago about hostesses and a hostess club if i am not mistaken. does someone know the name of the show? anyway there was this one woman who sounded horrible.
the books on kansai-ben r usually not very good. my humble opinion is that they r too old and takes up things like..あきまへん and もうかりまっか。 this is however only my opinion and not be any means a fact.

now, i want everyone to know that i hate sanma. he is on par with minomonta

[anrakushi]

i have alway been encouraged by japanese to use a dialect. i have to concentrate not to mix any kansai-ben into my talking though which can be a problem at times. The thing is every japanese person i have met has been so happy i used some kansai ben, they see it as a relief as most of them hated kantou-ben. my sis (really my close friend) she was so happy once i had learnt enough kansai ben because she could use that with me. she really hated to speak in kantou ben.

I will be moving to kochi-ken in July and everyone is looking forward to meeting me in the future having learnt so tosa ben. My friend who lives in kyoto who is originally from kochi-ken is very much looking forward to being able to speak in his dialect with me.

so i guess every situation is different but in my case everyone i have met has been so happy that i have learnt bits a pieces of dialects and they are always eager to teach me, this includes young and old.


as for comparing learning putting on british accent if you are american example noted before.. if an american tried to put on an australian accent then they would surely fail and it would sound stupid since actors in movies are completely hopeless at it. i would wonder why on earth they are doing it because clearly i don't speak that way. however someone learning english tries to make sure their english is australian english and not american, than i am very very happy they were making the effort to assimilate into australia and speak the way we do. i would also be happy they were using australian words rather than american words, in fact i would be VERY happy.