But some noticeable differences might be formal negation, where the familiar -masen form of standard Japanese becomes -(a)hen (or -(a)hin) in Kansai. There are also a lot of morphological changes to the verbal and adjectival paradigms that I alone cannot explain. Typically, a sequence of /u+i/ will become /ii/, while /a+i/ or /o+i/ will become /ee/. But it's not uncommon to hear the final -i coalesce (merge) with the preceding vowel either, so さむい samui could very well become さみい samii as well. Adjectives commonly drop the final -i and extend the vowel of the last sound, as in さむー samuu rather than さむい samui "it's cold". We see, for example, the copula "to be" being reduced to じゃ ja and や ya throughout the region (including derived froms like じゃろう jarou and やろう yarou), with the polite equivalent being だす dasu or どす dosu depending on the area. Some features, however, are fairly unique to the region. It's possible that these remained in use because the dialect of the former capital was still regarded as being proper or even prestigious, and so this was reflected in its limited borrowing into the Tokyo area. Though this latter difference may seem strange, it remains preserved in the standard language in certain set expressions and forms of honorific speech, such as おはよう ohayou, whose true equivalent would technically be おはやく ohayaku, or おめでとう omedetou, instead of おめでたく omedetaku. Another popular feature, though now strongly in regression, is the adverbial form in -u (+coalescence) rather than -ku, so we would get はよう hayou (from はやう hayau), instead of はやく hayaku. So we see lots of traits shared with other Western areas, such as negation in -(a)n rather than -(a)nai: わからん wakaran, not わからない wakaranai "not know not understand". Today, the Kansai region still remains one of the most prosperous and most traveled areas of Japan.ĭialectally, Kansai falls into the Western Japanese grouping. The reason for its popularity primarily has to do with the fact that Kansai homed the capital of Japan in Kyoto until 1869, when power was shifted over to Tokyo. Kansai-ben is one of the most well-known dialects of Japan, being frequently used on television to give certain characters a more country bumpkin feel or elderly appeal.
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