Editing Kansai dialect (section)

=== Particles ===
{{See also|Japanese particles}}

There is some difference in the particles between Kansai dialect and standard Japanese. In colloquial Kansai dialect, {{nihongo|case markers|格助詞|kaku-joshi}} are often left out especially the [[accusative case]] ''o'' and the quotation particles ''to'' and ''te'' (equivalent to ''tte'' in standard). The ellipsis of ''to'' and ''te'' happens only before two verbs: ''yū'' (to say) and ''omou'' (to think). For example, ''Tanaka-san to yū hito'' ("a man called Mr. Tanaka") can change to ''Tanaka-san yū hito''. And ''to yū'' is sometimes contracted to ''chū'' or ''tchū'' instead of ''te'', ''tsū'' or ''ttsū'' in Tokyo. For example, ''nanto yū koto da!'' or ''nante kotta!'' ("My goodness!") becomes ''nanchū kotcha!'' in Kansai.

The {{nihongo|interjectory particle|間投助詞|kantō-joshi}} ''na'' or ''naa'' is used very often in Kansai dialect instead of ''ne'' or ''nee'' in standard Japanese. In standard Japanese, ''naa'' is considered rough masculine style in some context, but in Kansai dialect ''naa'' is used by both men and women in many familiar situations. It is not only used as an interjectory particle (as emphasis for the imperative form, expression and admiration, and address to listeners, for example), and the meaning varies depending on context and voice intonation, so much so that ''naa'' has been called the world's third most difficult word to translate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3830521.stm|title=Congo word 'most untranslatable'|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=June 22, 2004|access-date=September 19, 2011}}</ref> Besides ''naa'' and ''nee'', ''noo'' is also used in some areas, but ''noo'' is usually considered too harsh a masculine particle in modern Keihanshin.

''Kara'' and ''node'', the {{nihongo|conjunctive particles|接続助詞|setsuzoku-joshi}} meaning "because," are replaced by ''sakai'' or ''yotte''; ''ni'' is sometimes added to the end of both, and ''sakai'' changes to ''sake'' in some areas. ''Sakai'' was so famous as the characteristic particle of Kansai dialect that a special saying was made out of it: {{nihongo|"''Sakai'' in Osaka and ''Berabō'' in Edo"|大阪さかいに江戸べらぼう|Ōsaka sakai ni Edo berabō}}". However, in recent years, the standard ''kara'' and ''node'' have become dominant.

''Kate'' or ''katte'' is also characteristic particle of Kansai dialect, transformation of ''ka tote''. ''Kate'' has two usages. When ''kate'' is used with conjugative words, mainly in the past form and the negative form, it is the equivalent of the English "even if" or "even though", such as ''Kaze hiita kate, watashi wa ryokō e iku'' ("Even if [I] catch a cold, I will go on the trip"). When ''kate'' is used with nouns, it means something like "even", "too," or "either", such as ''Ore kate shiran'' ("I don't know, either"), and is similar to the particle ''mo'' and ''datte''.

==== Sentence final particles ====
The {{nihongo|[[sentence-final particle]]s|終助詞|shū-joshi}} used in Kansai differ widely from those used in Tokyo. The most prominent to Tokyo speakers is the heavy use of ''wa'' by men. In standard Japanese, it is used exclusively by women and so is said to sound softer. In western Japanese including Kansai dialect, however, it is used equally by both men and women in many different levels of conversation. It is noted that the feminine usage of ''wa'' in Tokyo is pronounced with a rising intonation and the Kansai usage of ''wa'' is pronounced with a falling intonation.

Another difference in sentence final particles that strikes the ear of the Tokyo speaker is the ''nen'' particle such as ''nande ya nen!'', "you gotta be kidding!" or "why/what the hell?!", a stereotype [[Manzai#Boke and tsukkomi|tsukkomi]] phrase in the manzai. It comes from ''no ya'' (particle ''no'' + copula ''ya'', also ''n ya'') and much the same as the standard Japanese ''no da'' (also ''n da''). ''Nen'' has some variation, such as ''neya'' (intermediate form between ''no ya'' and ''nen''), ''ne'' (shortened form), and ''nya'' (softer form of ''neya''). When a copula precedes these particles, ''da'' + ''no da'' changes to ''na no da'' (''na n da'') and ''ya'' + ''no ya'' changes to ''na no ya'' (''na n ya''), but ''ya'' + ''nen'' does not change to ''na nen''. ''No da'' is never used with polite form, but ''no ya'' and ''nen'' can be used with formal form such as ''nande desu nen'', a formal form of ''nande ya nen''. In past tense, ''nen'' changes to ''-ten''; for example, "I love you" would be ''suki ya nen'' or ''sukkya nen'', and "I loved you" would be ''suki yatten.''

In the interrogative sentence, the use of ''nen'' and ''no ya'' is restricted to emphatic questions and involves [[interrogative word]]s. For simple questions, ''(no) ka'' is usually used and ''ka'' is often omitted as well as standard Japanese, but ''no'' is often changed ''n'' or ''non'' (somewhat feminine) in Kansai dialect. In standard Japanese, ''kai'' is generally used as a masculine variation of ''ka'', but in Kansai dialect, ''kai'' is used as an emotional question and is mainly used for rhetorical question rather than simple question and is often used in the forms as ''kaina'' (softer) and ''kaiya'' (harsher). When ''kai'' follows the negative verb ending -''n'', it means strong imperative sentence. In some areas such as Kawachi and Banshu, ''ke'' is used instead of ''ka'', but it is considered a harsh masculine particle in common Kansai dialect.

The emphatic particle ''ze'', heard often from Tokyo men, is rarely heard in Kansai. Instead, the particle ''de'' is used, arising from the replacement of ''z'' with ''d'' in words. However, despite the similarity with ''ze'', the Kansai ''de'' does not carry nearly as heavy or rude a connotation, as it is influenced by the lesser stress on formality and distance in Kansai. In Kyoto, especially feminine speech, ''de'' is sometimes replaced with ''e''. The particle ''zo'' is also replaced to ''do'' by some Kansai speakers, but ''do'' carries a rude masculine impression unlike ''de''.

The emphasis or [[tag question]] particle ''jan ka'' in the casual speech of Kanto changes to ''yan ka'' in Kansai. ''Yan ka'' has some variations, such as a masculine variation ''yan ke'' (in some areas, but ''yan ke'' is also used by women) and a shortened variation ''yan'', just like ''jan'' in Kanto. ''Jan ka'' and ''jan'' are used only in informal speech, but ''yan ka'' and ''yan'' can be used with formal forms like ''sugoi desu yan!'' ("It is great!"). Youngsters often use ''yan naa'', the combination of ''yan'' and ''naa'' for tag question.