Kansai Dialect
関西 (Kansai) is a region of Japan that includes some of the largest cities in Japan such as: 大阪 (Osaka), 京都 (Kyoto), and 名古屋 (Nagoya). The 関西 region has its own dialect called 関西弁 (Kansai-ben), which is probably the most widely-used dialect after standard Japanese （標準語）. As a result, somewhere along your studies, you're going to eventually have to become familiar with 関西弁.関西弁 sounds very different from standard Japanese because all the pitches are different. For instance, for the word 「ありがとう」, in the standard dialect, you would raise and lower the pitch on the 「り」 like 「ありがとう」. However, in 関西弁, you would raise the pitch on the last 「とう」 like 「ありがとう」. These specific changes in pitches create the distinct character and sound of 関西弁 and must be mastered in order to truly speak 関西弁.
In addition to differences in pitches, there are several key differences in grammar and word endings （語尾） which we will be covering in this lesson. And like most dialects, there are a number of dialect-specific vocabulary that are only used in 関西弁. For instance, Kansai people will say 「ほんま」 instead of 「本当」. It means the same thing but 「ほんま」 is the Kansai version.
In order to fully master 関西弁, you would need to train yourself on all the different pitches. This would require many, many hours of listening and training usually by living in the 関西 area or by having very close friends who speak in 関西弁. However, learning how to understand 関西弁 is much easier. One only needs to learn some of the key differences in grammar and word endings and spend some time becoming accustomed to the way 関西弁 sounds. In fact, a large portion of native Japanese speakers can only understand 関西弁 and not actually speak it. So you don't really have to learn how to speak 関西弁 unless you have a particular desire to completely master the dialect.
Negative Verbs using 「へん」
One of the biggest differences betweem 関西弁 and the standard dialect is the negative tense of verbs for casual speech. Basically, the 「ない」 ending of the verb is replaced by 「へん」. For the past tense, 「なかった」 becomes 「へんかった」. Here is a simple chart outlining the difference.| 標準語 | 関西弁 | |
| Non-Past | 食べない | 食べへん |
| Past | 食べなかった | 食べへんかった |
- For non-past, replace 「ない」 with 「へん」
例） 見る → 見るまい
例） 行く → 行くまい - For past tense, replace 「なかった」 with 「へんかった」
例） する → しまい
例） 認める→ 認めまい - This conjugation must always come last. For masu-form, attach 「まい」 to the masu-form verb.
例） なる→ なり → なります → なりますまい
Examples
（１） 相手は剣の達人だ。そう簡単には勝てまい。
- Your opponent is a master of the sword. I doubt you can win so easily.
（２） そんな無茶な手段は認めますまい！
- I won't approve of such an unreasonable method！
We already learned that you can use the volitional form to say, "lets" and to express an attempt do something. But that doesn't mean you can use the negative volitional to say "let's not". Also, while you can use it as an attempt to not do something, people just use 「ようにする」 unless they wanted to sound old-fashioned. The tone of this grammar carries a very strong determination to not do something, as you'll see in the examples.
（１） その時までは決し彼に会うまいと心に決めていた。
- Until that time, I had decided in my heart to not meet him by any means.
（２） あの人は、二度と嘘をつくまいと誓ったのです。
- That person had sworn to never lie again.
Using the volitional to express a lack of caring
で -> よ わ どってでもええで We will now learn a grammar that's actually practical for everyday use using the negative volitional grammar. Basically, we can use both volitional and negative volitional forms to say it doesn't matter whether something is going to happen or not. This is done by attaching 「が」 to both the volitional and the negative volitional form of the verb that doesn't matter.- Attach 「が」 to the volitional and negative volitional form of the verb.
例） 見る → 見よう、見まい → 見ようが見まいが
例） 食べる → 食べよう、食べるまい → 食べようが食べるまいが
Examples
（１） あいつが大学に入ろうが入るまいが、俺とは関係ないよ。
- Whether that guy is going to college or not, it has nothing to do with me.
（２） 時間があろうがあるまいが、間に合わせるしかない。
- Whether there is time or not, there's nothing to do but make it on time.
（３） 最近のウィルスは強力で、プログラムを実行しようがしまいが、ページを見るだけで感染するらしい。
- The viruses lately have been strong and whether you run a program or not, I hear it will spread just by looking at the page.
Using 「であろう」 to express likelihood
いい -> ええ 本当 -> ほんま 違う -> ちゃう 面白い -> おもろい しんどい http://www.shurey.com/Kansai/ We already found out that the negative volitional can be used as kind of a formal version of 「でしょう」 and 「だろう」. You may wonder, how would you do the same thing for the volitional? The answer is to conjugate the verb 「ある」 from the formal state of being 「である」 to the volitional to produce 「であろう」. Remember 「でしょう」 can already be used as a polite form, so this form is even a step above that in formality. We'll see what kind of language uses this form in the examples.- Attach 「であろう」 to the noun, adjective, or verb.
例） 困難 → 困難であろう
例） する → するであろう
Examples
（１） 今後50年、人間が直面するであろう問題に正面から向き合って、自ら解決をはかりつつ、そのノウハウが次の産業となるシナリオを考えたい。(from www.jkokuryo.com)
- I would like to directly approach problems that humans have likely encounter the next 50 years and while measuring solutions, take that knowledge and think about scenarios that will become the next industry.
（２） もちろん、生徒数減少の現在、学科の新設は困難であろうが、職業科の統廃合や科内コースの改編などで時代に合わせた変革が求められているはずである。(from www1.normanet.ne.jp)
- Of course, new educational facilities will likely be difficult with this period of decreasing student population but with reorganizations of subjects and courses within subjects, there is supposed to be demand for reform fit for this period.
Using 「かろう」 as volitional for 「い」 endings
We learned in the lesson about formal grammar that 「ではない」 was the negative of 「である」. So how would we say something like 「であろう」 but for the negative tense? The answer is to use yet another type of volitional for negative tenses and i-adjectives used only in formal and literary contexts. You may remember that 「だろう」 could only be used for nouns and na-adjectives. You can think of this grammar as a very old-fashioned version for i-adjectives and negative 「い」 endings.The conjugation rule is simple: remove the last 「い」 and attach 「かろう」. You can use it for negative tenses and i-adjectives just like the 「かった」 past conjugation form.
- Drop the last 「い」 and attach 「かろう」
例） ではない→ ではなかろう
例） 早い→ 早かろう
Examples
（１） どんな商品でもネットで販売するだけで売上が伸びるというものではなかろう。(from www.kojii.net)
- It's not necessarily the case that sales go up just by selling any type of product on the net.
（２） 運動を始めるのが早かろうが遅かろうが、健康にいいというのは変わりません。
- Whether you start exercising early or late, the fact that it's good for you health doesn't change.
（３） 休日であろうが、なかろうが、この仕事では関係ないみたい。
- Whether it's a holiday or not, it looks like it doesn't matter for this job.