An introduction to Kansai varieties

The idea

Kansai includes several regional ways of speaking, not one uniform dialect. In some speech ええ corresponds to standard いい, なんぼ to いくら, and おおきに to ありがとう. A negative such as 食べへん can correspond to standard 食べない. The six sentences below use standard Japanese.

Examples

• 今日きょうはいい天気てんきですね。The weather is nice today, isn’t it?
• これは私わたしの本ほんです。This is my book.
• その答こたえは違ちがいます。That answer is wrong.
• この本ほんはいくらですか。How much is this book?
• 今日きょうは行いきません。I am not going today.
• 手伝てつだってくれて、ありがとうございます。Thank you for helping me.

Watch out

Pronunciation, vocabulary and register vary by speaker and place. Listen to the context; do not assume everyone in Kansai uses every form.

Try it yourself

1. Choose the Japanese form for “Kansai: good”: （ええ／なんぼ）

   Show answer or example answer

   ええ

   ええ matches “Kansai: good”; なんぼ matches “Kansai: how much”.

2. Choose the Japanese form for “Kansai: how much”: （おおきに／なんぼ）

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   なんぼ

   なんぼ matches “Kansai: how much”; おおきに matches “Kansai: thanks”.

3. Choose the Japanese form for “Kansai: thanks”: （おおきに／ええ）

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   おおきに

   おおきに matches “Kansai: thanks”; ええ matches “Kansai: good”.

Use it today

Use the reference to make two sentences of your own about this topic. Read them aloud and compare them with the examples.