Editing Kansai dialect (section)

== Background ==
Since Osaka is the largest city in the region and its speakers received the most media exposure over the last century, non-Kansai-dialect speakers tend to associate the dialect of Osaka with the entire Kansai region. However, technically, Kansai dialect is not a single dialect but a group of related dialects in the region. Each major city and prefecture has a particular dialect, and residents take some pride in their particular dialectal variations.

The common Kansai dialect is spoken in [[Keihanshin]] (the metropolitan areas of the cities of Kyoto, Osaka and [[Kobe]]) and its surroundings, a radius of about {{convert|50|km|abbr=on}} around the Osaka-Kyoto area (see [[#Regional differences|regional differences]]).<ref name="Okumura 1968">Mitsuo Okumura (1968). {{nihongo||関西弁の地理的範囲|Kansaiben no chiriteki han'i}}. {{nihongo||言語生活|Gengo seikatsu}} 202 number. Tokyo: Chikuma Shobo.</ref> This article mainly discusses variations in Keihanshin during the 20th and 21st centuries.

Even in the Kansai region, away from Keihanshin and its surrounding areas, there are dialects that differ from the characteristics generally considered to be Kansai dialect-like. [[Tajima Province|Tajima]] and [[Tango Province|Tango]] (except [[Maizuru, Kyoto|Maizuru]]) dialects in northwest Kansai are too different to be regarded as Kansai dialects and are thus usually included in the [[Chūgoku dialect]]. Dialects spoken in Southeastern [[Kii Peninsula]] including [[Totsukawa, Nara|Totsukawa]] and [[Owase, Mie|Owase]] are also far different from other Kansai dialects, and considered a [[language island]].

The [[Shikoku dialect]] and the [[Hokuriku dialect]] share many similarities with the Kansai dialects, but are classified separately.