Grammar point list

Aない/Aことあれへん/Aん(と)ちゃう

There are three negative forms for adjectives in Kansai-ben: Aない, Aことあれへん, and Aん(と)ちゃう.

N(と)ちゃう/Nやない

In Kansai-ben, ちゃう can be used when negating nouns, originally deriving from ちがう.
Nやない, which corresponds to the standard Nで(は)ない, can be used the same way, but is less common than N?(と)ちゃう.

Particle “な”

The standard Japanese final particle ね can become な in Kansai-ben.

Particle omission of “と” and “の”

Like standard Japanese, particles are tend to be omitted, especially in casual speech. However, there are some differences in the ways that they are dropped in Kansai-ben and standard Japanese.

Particle “や”

Standard Japanese's final particle よ can become や in Kansai-ben, often in the sense of making a demand.

Particle “わ”

The final particle わ in Kansai-ben is basically like the よ final particle in standard Japanese.

Particles “か”and “け” feeling

In Kansai-ben, when the question particles か and け are added to the end of a sentence, whereas they are often dropped in casual speech in
standard Japanese. It should be additionally noted that they are pronounced with a rising intonation.

Particles “で” and “ど”

The Kansai-ben final particles で and ど have a function that draws attention to something that the listener might not know. In addition, they can also be used for assertion, question, admonition, and occasionally warning. These final particles are like よ and ぜ in standard Japanese.

Particles “へ” and “に”

In most Japanese textbooks, the destination particle (i.e., 学校行く) can be either に or へ. However, in Kansai, most people just use へ. Similarly, while In standard Japanese the objective particle (i.e., 買い物行く) has to be に, へ can also be used in Kansai-ben. However, for the location partical (i.e., いすの下), only に can used both in standard Japanese and Kansai-ben.

Prefix “ど”

Prefix? ど can emphasize the meaning of the word, and it is more common in Kansai.
One should be warned that this prefix has a certain rude/older man feel to it and should only be used if one knows what they're doing.

Short forms of verbs

As in standard Japanese, there are many short forms for verbs in Kansai-ben.

Suffix “さん” and “ちゃん”

In Kansai-ben, the honorific title さん and ちゃん can be used for non-humans, such as for food or greetings. This usage my originate with the polite words and phrases from court language1.

  • 1. Maeda, I. (1977) Osakaben, Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha Asahisensyo
Te-form (i-adjectives)

There are some cases where the te-form? of i-adjectives in Kansai-ben is different from those in standard Japanese. Please pay attention to the sound before the final い--when it is [a], [i], [u], or [o] it may change.

Te-form and ta-form (verbs)

Looking from standard Japanese to Kansai-ben, there are some differences in the final vowels of the te-form? and ta-form? when the verb ends with [au], [ou], or [uu] sounds.

The first case is for verbs where the dictionary form? is just two characters (かう, すう, etc.). In this case the sound before the う extends (vowel extension).

The second case is for the other verbs. In this case the sound before the う can extend (vowel extension), but not necessarily.

V (stem)

The standard verb stem? form V? (stem)なさい can become just V (stem) in Kansai-ben. While this is a strong imperative or command, it can also be used as a suggestion on occasion.

Vささへん/Vさされる

There are some differences between the causative forms of standard Japanese and Kansai-ben. For su-verbs and suru-verbs, whereas the negative causative form is always long form in standard Japanese, the short form can be used in Kansai-ben. This is also true for the short causative passive form in Kansai-ben (while it should not be used in the standard). In general, the causative long form is rarely used in Kansai-ben.

Vたある

Vてある in standard Japanese, when used in the sense of preparation or state, may become Vたある in Kansai-ben

Vたげる/Vたる

The standard Vてあげる and Vてやる may become Vたげる and Vたる in Kansai-ben.

Vたらあかん/Vんといて/Vんとって

The prohibition expression Vてはいけない can become Vたらあかん in Kansai-ben. Similarly, the Vないで in standard Japanese can become either Vんといて or Vんとって in Kansai-ben. Paralleling standard Japanese, Vたらあかん expresses strong prohibition while Vんといて and Vんとって express a request for prohibition.

Vてくれへん/Vてんか

The standard Vてくれない, when used as a request, may become Vてくれへん and Vてんか in Kansai-ben. Vてんか is a shortened form of Vてくれへん, and may be used more by older people.

Vてしもた/Vても(う)た

The Vてしまった of standard Japanese, when used as an expression of completion and/or regret, can become Vてしもた or Vても(う)た in Kansai-ben. As the have very much the same feel, the word choice is left to the speaker.

Vてまう

The Vてしまう of standard Japanese, when used to indicate completion, can become Vてまう in Kansai-ben

Vてみ(ぃ)

The standard Japanese Vてみなさい, when used as an imperative, may become Vてみ in Kansai-ben. Vてみ can be also used to make a suggestion.

Vてもええ/Vてもかめへん/Vてもかまへん/Vてもかまん

The standard Japanese expression to give or ask for permission, Vてもいい, can become Vてもええ in Kansai-ben. Similarly, The standard Japanese Vてもかまわない can become either Vてもかめへん, Vてもかまへん, or Vてもかまん in Kansai-ben. For the differences between the three, please see the usage notes for かめへん, かまへん, and かまん.

Vてもろた/Vてもうた

Vてもらう in Kansai-ben is the same as standard Japanese, but the past tense from the dictionary form? is different. The standard Japanese Vてもらった becomes Vてもろた or Vてもうた in Kansai-ben. もろた is the base for in Kansai-ben, but may become もうた in use.

Please be aware that there is another, completely separate, Vてもうた that expresses repentance and regret.

Vてる/Vとる

The standard progressive, conditional, or stative Vている may become Vてる or Vとる in Kansai-ben. Vてる obviously derives from Vている, while Vとる derives from Vておる. While originally the latter may have been considered more polite, it is now more about personal taste.

It should be noted that in casual speech, even standard Japanese may drop the い form いる in the Vている form.

Vとく/Vんとく

The standard Vておく, when used in a sentence to indicate preparation, may become Vとく in Kansai-ben. Similarly, Vないでおく may become Vんとく.

It should be noted that Vんとく may be also used as a suggestion and warning, in addition its usual "preparation" meaning.

Vな

Like standard Japanese, Vな is also used in Kansai-ben for strong prohibition. However, instead of the dictionary form? as in standard Japanese, the stem? form is used.

Vなあかん/Vんとあかん/Vんならん

The standard Japanese expressions for obligation and necessity (see the table below) mostly become Vなあかん in Kansai-ben. However, there are two exceptions that need to be mentioned.

The first exception is Vんとあかん, coming from the standard Japanese Vないといけない. Vなあかん and Vんとあかん have pretty much the same meaning.

The second exception is Vんなららん, coming from the standard Japanese Vなくてはならない. It is an expression that is very similar to Vなあかん, but it is only used for the speaker's own actions. In addition, Vんならん is somewhat softer than Vなあかん and may have a somewhat older feeling.

Vはる

While there are several ways to express honorifics in standard Japanese (such as using おVになる/なさる, Vれる/られる, and special honorific words like めしあがる), just adding はる to the verb can be used as an honorific in Kansai-ben.

Vへん/Vん

The Vへん verb ending may be the single most distinctive and recognizable piece of grammar in Kansai-ben. It is the plain non-past negative verb conjugation, analogous to Vない in standard Japanese. In addition, there is also a shortened form: Vん. Thus, standard Japanese's 行かない could be rendered as 行かへん or 行かん in Kansai-ben.

There are a variety of verb negations within the umbrella of Kansai-ben that use these two basic verb negations as a base, with variations depending on region or speaker preference.

Vやる/Vよる

Vやる and Vよる are used to express a speaker's strong feelings, such as surprise or contempt, when the subject is neither the speaker nor the listener (a third-person subject). There is no such a grammar point in standard Japanese.

Vよ

In Kansai-ben, the final う sound of the volitional form? is often omitted (Dropping "う"), so the volitional form may become V?(よ).

Vんと

Although Kansai-ben has the conditional clause __と__ like in standard Japanese, the negative form Vんと can have a different function depending on the intonation.

While Vんと without a downstep? is the normal conditional clause, Vんと with a downstep can mean "do not V?" or "without doing V", similar to Vないで(ください) and Vせずに in standard Japanese.

いっこも/なんも

The standard Japanese 全然 and なにも (please see your favorite textbook or teaching resource), when used for complete negation, may become いっこも and なんも respectively in Kansai-ben.

かいな

The standard Japanese sentence ending か(な), used in questions and strong negatives, may become かい(な) in Kansai-ben. かいな is also used as in back-channel? communication (aizuchi) and imperatives.

かて/かって

The standard particle も, when used as a marker for supplements (e.g., "I'd also like an apple.") or surprise, may become かて and かって in Kansai-ben.

たら

In Kansai-ben, the conditional clause (れ)ば is rarely used. Instead, the conditional clause たら is heavily used--to the extent that it is often used in cases where it would be not consider appropriate in standard Japanese.

どっこも/だぁれも/いっつも

The standard Japanese どこ(へ)も, だれも, and いつも can become どっこも, だぁれも, and いっつも respectively in Kansai-ben. The usage is the same as standard Japanese.

ねん/てん/ん/のん/たん

In Kansai-ben, ねん, てん, ん, のん, and たん are used in queries, asking for reasons, and giving explanations.

The standard sentence endings のだ and んだ may become ねん and てん in Kansai-ben. The main difference between the two is that while ねん is mainly used in the non-past tense, てん is always used in the past tense.

Similarly, the standard sentence ending の may become ん, のん, or たん in Kansai-ben. It should be noted that ん and のん have essentially the same meaning, with the difference decided by region or speaker preference. Again, similar to the above, while ん and のん are used in the non-past tense, たん is only used in the past-tense (the た in たん is considered to be a part in ta-form? of the verbs, adjectives, and nouns that comes in front of たん).

It should be highlighted that just like their counterparts in standard Japanese, ねん and てん are used to express a more emphatic feeling than ん, のん, and たん.

It should also be noted that the てん mentioned here is not related to the てる/てん of verb conjugation.

ほんで/ほいで

The standard conjunctive particle for connecting a reason and a consequence, それで, may become ほんで in Kansai-ben.
In some regions, especially with older people, use ほいで instead.

やん/やんか/やんけ/がな

The standard Japanese endings __じゃないか, __ではないか, and __じゃん can become __やん, __やんか/やんけ, and __がな respectively in Kansai-ben.
These Kansai sentence endings can also be used in the same way as __んだよ in standard Japanese.
There are many uses for these sentence endings; common ones are confirmation, excuses, accusation, notification, and persuasion. The function changes depending on the situation and tone. The __がな ending is used more often by older people.

や/やろ(う)/やったら

The standard Japanese だ, when used as an assertion, may become や in Kansai-ben. With this, the standard Japanese conditional だったら may become やったら in Kansai-ben, and similarly the conjecture だろう may become やろ(う).

ようV/ようVへん/ようVん

Unlike standard Japanese, there are two types of potential form? depending on the situation: ability potential and situational potential. The ability potential, ようV, is often used with question and negative (the negative form is ようVへん and ようV). The situational potential is the same as in standard Japanese.

よって/さかい

The standard Japanese conjunctions for providing a reason, から and ので, may become よって and さかい in Kansai-ben (with the choice depending on the area or personal background such as age).

よって is mostly used by older people while さかい is used by a wider range of ages. In addition, younger people may opt to just use から and ので with a Kansai-ben intonation.

It should also be noted that さかい may become さかいに, さかいで, or さけ, with the difference depending on the region or speaker preference.