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Kansai-ben Lesson 7 – Revival!

Posted on 08. Sep, 2006 @ 9:28 am by harvey in Language, Osaka Views: 601

The Kansai-ben language lessons are back! Now learn the usage of AHO.
Kansai-ben lesson Point 「あほ」
A-san is speaking standard Japanese
B-san is speaking Kansai Dialect

A: あら、また失敗した。
B: あほかオマエ！

A: Oops, I made a mistake again.
B: Are you stupid!?

A: あら、間違えて警察にかけちゃった！
B: オマエあほか？

A: Ah, I accidently dialed the police!
B: Are you stupid!?

「あほ」Explanation:

「あほ」is another way of saying 「ばか」which means stupid. An important point to remember, is that in Kansai, 「あほ」can be used in a joking manner, such as “oh you dummy…” in North American English. In standard Japanese, the term 「あほ」seems to carry much more weight, and is not likely to be taken as a joke. Likewise, in Kansai, the term 「ばか」 is very harsh, and rarely, if ever used lightly. These two terms have switched places in Eastern and Western Japan.

Notes:
君(きみ）for “you”, is not used often in Kansai.
Usually, in when writting Kansai-ben, オマエ is written in Katakana.
オマエ（お前） is written in Katakana here, and あほ is in Hiragana. The オマエ is written in Katakana to show emphasis. In Kansai, the word あほ is just another word, so does not need emphasis and can be written in Hiragana.

[UPDATE] If you’re interested in Kansai-ben, check out our Kansai-ben iPhone Application! Japanese 101: Kansai Dialect.

- Harvey

Check out these other Kansai-ben Lessons!

Kansai-ben Lesson 9 – Moute

Kansai-ben Lesson 8 – I don’t mind

Kansai-ben Lesson 6 – with Bonus!

Kansai-ben Lesson 5 – Honma

Kansai-ben Lesson 4 – Toke

Kansai-ben Lesson 3 – Oru

Kansai-ben Lesson 2 – eeyarouka?

Kansai-ben Lesson 1 – Sora