For those of you who don't know, [color=#3289c7]Kansai ben
関西弁[/color] means the Kansai dialect and there are many, many, many
dialects in Japan. There are 7 big dialects, and I believe Kansai
is the second biggest one next to [color=#3289c7]Tokyo ben[/color].
Tokyo ben is the most popular and is considered the standard
dialect ([color=#3289c7]Hyojungo[/color]).[br][br]Even if you stay
in Tokyo, you'll encounter a lot of people talking in a Kansai
dialect. In fact, you'll most likely see it most in pop culture
such as in jpop, anime, drama, and movies as it's popular to
include other dialects in entertainment. So if you didn't know you
heard it before, you most likely did. ;)[br][br]What does a dialect
mean, is it much different than the hyojungo (aka Tokyo dialect)?
Well, some can be, but Kansai is close enough to just have an
accent change, some (few) wording changes, and grammar changes.
It's not much in the sense that you would need to learn a whole new
language like some dialects around the world. It's close enough so
that you can learn the dialect if you know Tokyo ben very well
since you will understand the
context.[br][br][color=#3289c7]Nandeyanen 何でやねん[/color] pretty much
means "What the hell?", I made a post about this in the old forums
and it's a fun word to use. You may hear anime characters use this
from time to time.[br][br] Honma ni 本間に is an adverb that kind of
means "seriously" or "truly". "I'm seriously scared right now" for
example.[br][br]As you can see, Kansai can seem pretty rude or
informal and that's what a lot of drama tends to reflect upon when
they make their characters talk that way. It's like a Californian
listening to a Texan or a Texan listening to someone from Jersey.
It's the same English but with its own set of way to say things,
sometimes you can understand through context but sometimes you
can't, like Jersey, what the heck is a muff cabbage?[br][br]Here's
another example on how Kansai ben changes grammar, you know the
copula da [color=#3289c7]だ[/color]? They use ya
[color=#3289c7]や[/color] instead. If you were to say Suki da yo in
hyokungo, you would say suki ya de in kansai. Your mind just blew
up, I know...[br][br]If you want to express your opinion or ask the
listener for an agreement, you could also use the suffix
[color=#3289c7]やん (yan)[/color], and many people use this a lot
while speaking. If you were to say "isn't it cute?" it would be
[color=#3289c7]kawaiiyan かわいいやん[/color].[br][br]The list goes on
and on and on, but I hope that this micro-lesson was helpful.
Jappleng is just getting started which means that it may be months
at least before there are lessons specifically tailored for
different dialects ([i]although people are more than welcome to
write them since Jappleng is non-profit[/i]). [br][br]Thank you for
posting and I hope to see you around a lot more! :)[br]
