Kansai Japanese. Peter Tse

      

      MARTIN’S POCKET DICTIONARY by Samuel E. Martin

      “This is a boon for those of us who may speak Japanese but never properly learned to read or write kanji.”

      —Donald Richie, The Japan Times

      THE MODERN READER’S JAPANESE-ENGLISH CHARACTER DICTIONARY (2nd Revised Edition) by Andrew N. Nelson

      “This new compilation offers many advantages: a larger number of characters ..., more readings still in current use ..., and a greatly expanded listing of compounds ...”

      —Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies

      A REFERENCE GRAMMAR OF JAPANESE by Samuel E. Martin

      “This grammar ...is by far the most comprehensive reference grammar of Japanese in the English language (and perhaps in any language).”

      —Journal of Linguistics

      SPEAK JAPANESE TODAY by Takeo Kamiya

      “An ideal text for busy people who want to learn Japanese quickly.”

      —Hiroo Japanese Center

      Kansai Japanese

      Learn the language as it is really spoken in Western Japan!

      Curses and the macho style of male speech

      Lover’s language

      Gangster, samurai, and other rough ways of speaking

      Osaka, Hiroshima, and Kyoto Japanese

      The polite haru style of Western Japanese speech

      Men’s and women’s speech

      Kansai

       Japanese

      The Language of Osaka, Kyoto,

       and Western Japan

      PETER TSE

      TUTTLE PUBLISHING

       Boston • Rutland, Vermont •Tokyo

      Published by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.

      © 1993 by Charles E. Tuttle Publishing Co., Inc.

       All rights reserved

      LCC Card No. 92-061820

       ISBN 0-8048-1868-1

       ISBN 978-1-4629-1807-2 (ebook)

      First printing, 1993

       Sixth printing, 2002

      Printed in Singapore

      Distributed by:

      Japan & Korea

       Tuttle Publishing Japan

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       Osaki Shinagawa-ku,

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      North America

       Tuttle Publishing USA

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       Email: [email protected] Web site: www.tuttlepublishing.com

      Asia Pacific

       Berkeley Books Pte. Ltd.

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       Singapore 534167

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       Email: [email protected] Web site: www.periplus.com

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      I studied Western Japanese for several years without the help of a decent book in English on how people actually speak in Western Japan. If this book succeeds in filling that gap, it is only because many friends took the time to explain and speak Western Japanese to me. The ones who deserve most thanks are the ones who thought up and then checked the example sentences in this book. Special thanks go to Yae Kunida, Seigo Nakazawa, Yoshio Kurokawa, Shizuko Nakazawa, Noriko Marshall, Junko Omura, and my teacher Sakiko Ogo.

      CONTENTS

	Foreword
1	An Introduction to Kansai Japanese
	A Word About Regional Names
	Western Japanese: A Short Background
	About the Format
	Pronunciation
	Men’s and Women’s Kansai Talk
	Men’s Pronouns
	Women’s Pronouns
	A Little Advice
	Seven Major Differences Between Western and Eastern Japanese
2	Standard Kansai Language
	How Much?
	Greetings
	How Are You?
	Really?!
	Food and Drink
	That’s Wrong!
	Feeling Sick
	Not Aware
	Family Talk
	Kansai Love
	Two Teenage Girls in Kōbe
	Two High School Boys in Ōsaka
3	Kyōto Style
	Polite Kyōtō Language
	Two Office Women in Kyōto
	Haru Review
4	Hiroshima Style
	Two Old Aunties in Hiroshima
5	Ōsaka Style
	Two Old Men in Ōsaka
6	Tough Talk and Kansai Curses
	Two Men Fighting over a Woman
7	Kansai Descriptions
	Super!
	Not So Super
	Brats
	Irritating People
	Teasers and Sex Fiends
	Beautiful People and Nerds
	Huge!
	This Stinks!
	Dunces and Space Cadets
	How Droll
	Old and Young
8	Kansai Grammar and Special Expressions
	Kansai Grammar
	Special Kansai Expressions

      FOREWORD

      Are you living somewhere in the western half of Honshu? Like maybe Ōsaka, Kyōto, Kōbe, Okayama, Hiroshima, or just about anywhere west of Nagoya? Are you planning a visit to either the Kinki (Ōsaka-Kyōto-Nara-Kōbe) or Chūgoku (Okayama-Hiroshima-Shimonoseki) region? Do you want to understand the gangsters, geisha, and samurai who always appear in Japanese movies? You’ll find, if it hasn’t confused or maddened you already, that the everyday Japanese spoken in Western Japan is totally unlike the Japanese you have been studying. They understand your textbook Japanese just fine but you can’t comprehend a word of what they say back to you; “they” meaning just about everybody speaking informally. They might be old people with all their stories to tell, your girlfriend or boyfriend, children, students in school uniforms, truck drivers, or just the regular people you meet at pubs, parties, or on the street. Think of all the listening practice you’re missing by not understanding the real language spoken around you all the time.

      If you really want to get to know Western Japan’s people, you’ll have to supplement your study of standard Japanese with Western Japanese. And with this book, you’ll have all you need to understand what you’re hearing in Western Japan and to communicate with friends, lovers, and foes in the language they really use.

      KINKI AREA