Kansai-ben lesson 4

Kansai-ben Lesson Point 「とけ」

[Disclaimer: I have been told that とけ does not originate from Kansai, and may in fact just be plain old rude Japanese...]

A-san is speaking standard Japanese
B-san is speaking Kansai Dialect

「とけ」 Examples:
A: おい、このタオルくさいよ。まだ洗濯しないの？
B: 自分でやっとけ。

A: Hey, that towel is stinky. You’re not gonna wash it yet?
B: Go ahead and do it yourself.

A: 入学試験合格できるかな。
B: 文句言うてんやったら、勉強しとけよ。

A: I wonder if I can pass the entrance examination…
B: Don’t complain, go study!

A: 兄さんは最近仕事ばかりで遊んでないな。
B: この時期皆忙しいからしばらくほっとけ。二月になったらましになるから！

A: Older brother has been doing nothing but work recently and can’t play at all…
B: Everyone is busy around this time, so leave him alone for a while. In February things should be a little better!

「とけ」 Explaination:
「とけ」is the Kansai form of 「〜ておいて」 used when commanding someone to do something. For example, 言っておいて or 言ってあげて would become 言っとけ。 Translated this roughly means, “go say it for him”. In Kansai this 「とけ」form is mostly used by males, and not considered to be polite Japanese. As you can see from the example sentences, the とけ part is translated differently almost each time it seems… It’s hard to pin one English phrase on this, so be sure to learn the standard ておいて before trying to use とけ。

Another Note: All this “Kansai Dialect” I’m doing. Remember, this is based on Osaka Dialect. Also in Kansai, there are Kyoto dialects, Kobe dialects, and even Nara dialects are a bit different. For that matter, even within Osaka there are different variations of the dialect. What I have been introducing on this site, is what most people would consider to be “standard” Kansai dialect, as spoken by someone from Osaka. Most of the Kansai-ben spoken on TV comedies in Japan is from Osaka.

This is so not straight-forward…

- Harvey