f. Speech Style

As you know, the style switching between polite style (distal style) and casual style (direct style) is very important in maintaining the human relationships in Japanese society.  The grammatical characteristics described so far have been those of the casual style. How do Kansai people talk on formal occasions?  People nowadays, especially younger generation, most likely adapt standard-like structures as polite speech（です／ます style) with a dash of Kansai-peculiar structure and heavy Kansai accentual features, as a result of influence from the standard. For example, euphonic changes seen in adjectives and verbs, and Kansai-peculiar expressions such as ちゃう "different" and あかん "no good" usually remain even inです／ます style, such as;

*Move the mouse over the speaker icon for sound

この電車(でんしゃ)、はよないですねえ。 
（ST 速(はや)くないです ねえ）

おかしは買(こ)うてきませんでしたわ。 
（ST 買(か)ってきません でしたよ）

パーティーは今日(きょう)ちゃいますかあ？ 
（ST 今日じゃないですか？）

水曜日(すいようび)はあきませんか？ 
（ST 水曜日はだめですか ／いけませんか？）

However, the Kansai dialect has its own polite style different from the standard です／ますstyle, as in 船場(せんば)ことば (Senba dialect), a kind of Osaka dialect, and 祇園(ぎおん)ことば (Gion dialect) of Kyoto dialect.

Expressions in Senba and Gion dialect

Standard (listen all)	Senba (listen all)	Gion (listen all)	(Kansai audio)
Xです	Xだす；Xだっ	Xどす
Xですよ	Xでっせ；Xだっせ	Xどすえ；Xどっせ
Xですね	Xでんな；Xだんな	Xどすな；Xどんな
します	しまっ	します（ぅ）
しますか	しまっか	しはりまっか
しますよ	しまっせ	しますえ
しますね	しまんな	しはりまんな
しません	しまへん	しまへん
してください	しとくんなはれ	しとくれやす
はやいです	はよおます	はよおす

In general, polite speech by the older generation holds the traditional features of the Kansai dialect observed in Senba dialect and Gion dialect. Senba type dialect is spoken by elderly people in the Osaka area as well as in the entertainment field and on local business occasions, whereas Gion type dialect is spoken in the Gion district, and by elderly people in the Kyoto area.

However, these features tend to be over emphasized in media and among people outside the Kansai area, which result in some people believing “every Osaka person speaks like an Osaka businessman and Kyoto people speak like geishas in the Gion district!” Please keep in mind that this is not the case.