Osaka-ben

[pubju]

Whats the differences between osaka dialect / accent and that of Tokyo? and do you think it would be rude for me to use Osaka phrases to my lecturer? (she is from Osaka )

[Kagemaru]

Many differences.
Accent, tone, words a host of others.

One to one I personally feel she wouldn't find that rude. That is to say unless you are pulling out the dirtiest of Kawachi ben on her.

What do you mean by Osaka phrases anyway?

[Hatori]

Think of Japanese accents this way:
Southern accent vs. New York accent
There are differences, but you'll still be able to understand what people are saying.

[pubju]

もうかりまっか (moukarimakka) for example, is an osaka-ben phrase that I would like to say to my sensei

apparently it means like "making money?" or "how's business?" - I guess it's similiar to the british phrase "how's it hanging?"

[tanuki]

Would you use "How's it hanging?" with your teacher?

[JaySee]

Actually nobody in Osaka really uses that phrase (it's a bit over the top). It's hard to speak polite Osaka-ben because most of the differences with standard Japanese are in the informal language (except for the intonation perhaps).

[pubju]

tanuki wrote:
Would you use "How's it hanging?" with your teacher?

Depends who it is, but yeh sometimes

[Igirisu_gaz]

Osaka and Kansai-ben is very informal stuff. I don't think your teacher would be over offended but it would be hard to find an appropriate moment to throw it in. It's par for the course across all of a Kansai. If she asks how you are, saying ぼちぼちです wouldn't be offensive.

However, responding to a question with:

何でやねん？それ分からへんわ。　

Would be enitrely inappropriate. Not that you would do that, just trying to illustrate the "Handle with care" aspect of trying it out. Although she'll probably be pleased your doing your own research at least.

[Shirasagi]

Kansai-ben is entirely appropriate with teachers...if you use the right Kansai-ben. What, you don't think they have an up-down society in Kansai? B)

When referring to your teacher's actions, add "-haru" to the stem form of verbs.

Example:
先生、何書いてはるんですか？

先生、昨日本屋で見かけてんやけど、何か買いはりましたか？

「ちゃう？」 also has the polite version 「ちゃいます？」

先生、宿題なくてもええんちゃいます？

Of course, with all things Japanese, it's important to remember TPO.

[pubju]

Thanks for the replies ;D

Do you think people who are not from Kansai understand kansai-ben?

[Shirasagi]

pubju wrote:
Thanks for the replies ;D

Do you think people who are not from Kansai understand kansai-ben?

Do people not from America understand American English?

[Kagemaru]

pubju wrote:
もうかりまっか (moukarimakka) for example, is an osaka-ben phrase that I would like to say to my sensei

So what you meant is you want to drop one or two lines you know to your teacher then have it all undone by saying すごぉぉい or なぁぁんで

[Yudan Taiteki]

The problem with foreigners attempting to use dialect is that it often comes off as humorous. I know a girl from Kansai, and she told me that even when foreigners know a lot of Kansai-ben and have lived there for a while it still sounds strange because they don't get the accent and intonation right. Dialect is a lot more than just having a few different words.

Now, if all you want to do is make a little joke then that's fine; I often do that myself.

[two_heads_talking]

basically, I agree with Chris. A foreigner using any specific dialect (hogen) is apt to pull a laugh before they would be taken serious. However, if your friends know you for a time, they will understand when you are being humorous rather than serious or vice versa.

The other problem is that many comedians use kansaiben and other strong stereotype dialects to add to their comedy regime and this adds to the difficulty of foreigners tyring to mimic what they hear.

[Dehitay]

when you say foreigner trying to use a dialect, do you mean a dialect not specific to the location? I can understand why a foreigner (or even a nihonjin for that matter) would get a smirk for using Osaka-ben while in Tokyo, but do foreigners till get the same response using Osaka-ben in Osaka?