d. Conjugation

d. Conjugation (Morpho-Syntactic Feature)

Here the major grammatical differences of the Kansai dialect are described (For detailed explanation and examples, please refer to Chapter 3. Basic Grammar and Chapter 4. Functional Grammar sections). What we are dealing with here is the grammar pattern in direct style (casual speech) used among family, friends and close acquaintances. We will also see the use of speech style and the characteristics in distal style (polite speech) in h. Speech Style. In addition, there are a wide variety of minor differences even among Kansai dialect speakers depending on region, gender and age. We will focus on the most noticeable features observed in Kyoto and Osaka.

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1) Verbs (Verbals)

< Verbal conjugation example on 買(か)う “to buy” >

	Tokyo	Kansai (Listen all)
Imperative (Non-past)	かう	かう
Negative	かわない	かわへん(Kyoto) かえへん(Osaka)
Perfective (Past)	かった	こうた
Perfective-Negative (Past-Negative)	かわなかった	かわへんかった
Provisional; Conditional	かえば；かったら	こうたら
Gerund (TE-form)	かって	こうて
Imperative	かえ	かい（い）
Consultative	かおう	かお

As seen in the example above, negative endings of verbs take the forms of –n or –hen instead of the standard –nai.  Even the negative form of ある comes to あらへん, strictly following the formation rule.

The euphonic change is observed in some verbs of the Kansai dialect as in the perfective form こうた instead of かった, and gerund form こうて instead of かって.  Imperative forms also tend to have a euphonic feature as in かい（い）instead of かえ.  Also provisional (-ba form) is rarely used in the Kansai dialect, and instead, conditional (~tara form) is widely used for most of the occasion.

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2) Adjectives (Adjectivals)

< Adjectival conjugation example on 早(はや)い／速(はや)い "fast, quick” >

	Tokyo	Kansai (Listen all)
Imperfective (Non-past)	はやい	はやい
Negative	はやくない	はよ（う）ない はよ（う）あらへん
Perfective (Past)	はやかった	はやかった
Perfective-Negative (Past-Negative)	はやくなかった	はよ（う）なかった はよ（う）あらへんかった
Provisional; Conditional	はやければ；はやかったら	はやかったら
Gerund (TE-form)	はやくて	はよ（う）て (or はやかって)
Adverbial	はやく	はよ（う）

*Refer to 3) Copula conjugation for な Adjectives.

As you can see in the example above, a euphonic change is observed in -Ku form, as in はよ（う）instead of はやく.  Other examples are;

高(たか)く→たこ（う）
よく→よう
小(ちい)さく→ちいそ（う）
大(おお)きく→おおき（ゅう）
悪(わる)く→わる（う）

ない in negative form is replaced withあらへん; however, the use of ない is also common among young people who speak "neo-dialect".

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3) Noun (Nominal) & な Adjectives (な Nominal) + Copula

< Copula Conjugation example on 雨(あめ)だ  “It’s rain/rainy.” >

	Tokyo	Kansai (Listen all)
Imperfective (Past)	雨だ	雨や
Negative	雨じゃない	雨やあらへん 雨やない 雨 (と)ちゃう
Perfective (Past)	雨だった	雨やった
Perfective-Negative (Past-Negative)	雨じゃなかった	雨やあらへんかった 雨やなかった 雨（と)ちごた 雨（と） ちゃうかった
Providional; Conditional	雨なら；雨であれば；雨だったら	雨やったら
Tentative	雨だろう	雨やろ（う）
Gerund (TE-form)	雨で	雨で (or 雨やって)

As seen above, the copula だ in the Standard Japanese is replaced with や in the Kansai dialect. N(と)ちゃう  "different from N" , and N(と)ちごた  "was different from N" are widely used as replacements of Nやあらへん and Nやあらへんかった respectively.