What makes the Kansai dialect distinct is its characteristic pitch
pattern. You will see the actual pitch pattern difference when
comparing the Kansai dialect with the Standard in the conversation
video clips in the following chapter. However, the most particular
characteristic feature of the Kansai dialect pitch pattern is the H-H
(plain high/flat high) pitch pattern. In the Standard, the first mora
and the second mora of a word should have different pitch levels;
however, this is not the case in the Kansai dialect. The following
difference between the Standard and the Kansai dialect illustrates the
point. (H: high pitch, L: low pitch)
*Mouse over or click on the speaker icon for sound
Tokyo
Kansai
箸 (はし: chopsticks)
HL
LH
橋 (はし: bridge)
LH
HL
端 (はし: edge)
LH
HH
In this way, the Kansai dialect has a three-way distinction with a
variety of H-H pitch patterns while the standard has a two-way
distinction. Even sentences with all-high flat pitch pattern occur such
as;
Tokyo
Kansai
買ってあげようか？(Shall I buy it for
you?)
こ
うたろかあ。
邪魔しないで。(Don't disturb me!}
じゃ
ませんといてぇ。
Note
Professor Yoshitaka Yamashita in Hokkaido University
claims that these sound / pitch characteristics (such as the high flat
pitch pattern and tones in one-mora words in Kansai dialect) are
inherited characteristics from the Chinese language that was brought
thousands of years ago. According to Professor Yamashita, the ancient
Japanese language had been very monotonous with no accent, tone or
pitch, until some Chinese migrated to the Kansai area, which is
believed to have been the center of Japan at that time. Only the
accentual characteristics spread to the Eastern Japan; however, the
tonal characteristics continued to affect the language in the Kansai
area. This might be the reason why the sound of Kansai dialect
resembles that of Chinese!
Experiment
Let’s examine how Kansai people count one to ten! What do you think
makes the Kansai-ben versions different from Tokyo version? When
counting numbers, one-mora numbers such as 'two (に) ' and 'five (ご)'
are lengthened even in standard, but can you find any difference in
tones between Tokyo version and Kansai versions? Also, pay attention to
the pitch patterns and the
sound characteristics (how they pronounce vowels such as
い and う, how they pronounce 'seven (しち)' etc.). Lastly, can you find a
common 'musical' pitch pattern in Kansai heavy version?
