Palatalization

Palatalization is when the flat of the tongue gets close to the roof of the mouth (palate). Since the い sound is pronounced more clearly in Kansai-ben than it is in standard Japanese, it affects the consonant right before い (causing palatalization). Below are some examples of palatalization in Kansai-ben, with their standard counterparts for comparison.

Sound	Word	Standard	Kansai-ben
し	四 (し)	し [↓]	しぃ [↓]
ち	血 (ち)	ち [↓]	ちぃ [↓]
に	何 (なに)	なに [↓]	なにぃ [↓]
み	紙 (かみ)	かみ [↓]	かみぃ [↓]