Japanese Dialects
As in many countries, numerous dialects are spoken in Japan. An island nation, the country was isolated from the rest of the world until late in the 19th century. In addition, areas of the country were effectively isolated from each other due to the many shogunates. Hence, different dialects developed and have endured.
Japanese dialects can be divided into two principal types, the Tokyo type and the Kyoto-Osaka type. In other words, there is north-south divide.
What is standard Japanese?
What is standard Japanese?
During the era of modernisation in the late 19th century, a standard form of Japanese was promoted by both the government and the intellectuals of the day. Regional languages and dialects were suppressed and characterised as inferior. This suppression continued into the 20th century and had peaked by the 1960s. But the regional dialects survived and are now valued as both uplifting and markers of local identity.
Until the Edo period (1603 – 1867) the Kansai dialect was essentially standard Japanese. However, during the Edo period, Edo (Tokyo) became the largest city in Japan and the dialect of this region was to be adopted as hyojun-go (standard Japanese).
Kansai, also referred to as Kansai-ben is a dialect of the Kyoto-Osaka type. It is spoken in the region that guatemala mobile database includes the cities of Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe. Kansai is the best known and most widely spoken Japanese dialect. It is considered to be a more melodic and yet harsher dialect than standard Japanese.
The term Kansai-ben actually describes a group of dialects spoken in the region but is commonly used to refer to the dialect spoken in Osaka, the largest city in the Kansai region. Kansai-ben has evolved over the years as it has been impacted both by standard Japanese and overseas influences.
Kansai is notable for featuring in Japanese pop culture. Numerous entertainers, comedians and talk-show hosts hail from the Kansai region and use Kansai-ben in their performances.