Essay On Japanese Dialect

Japanese dialects.

Japan is highly centralized country and Japanese is the only official language of the country. The standard Japanese established in the 19th century and based on the Tokyo dialect, which was the capital of the country at that time. However, in reality people of Japan always spoke very differently depending on the region they are come from. Sometimes different enough those native speakers of Japanese may have difficulties understanding each other.

These days Japan still has varieties of dialects, while some of these dialects are separated from others for centuries.

Generally, the most distinctive Japanese dialects divided broadly between Eastern and Western parts of the country, people then associate certain characteristics

When moving or travelling to other parts of Japan, some of Kansai people will switch to standard Japanese, however many will not, confidently revealing their home-region through their

Kyoto dialect is a variety of Kansai dialects.

Another prestige dialect of Kansai area is Kyoto dialect. For more than thousand years Kyoto was a capital of Japan (794-1869) and home of royal family and society, therefore it’s the birthplace of many of Japan’s traditions and cultural features. Kyoto dialect has seen as being more beautiful, gentle and refined than Tokyo or standard Japanese speech. For example, females in Osaka sometime speak Kyoto dialect, because its consider being softer and beautiful.

Moreover Kansai people hold linguistic diversity and traditional features of the dialect. For example, both Osaka and Kyoto dialects have their own ancient traditional polite styles, which are different from standard Kansai area dialects (Senba and Gion accordingly). However, Senba and Gion are mainly used by older generation or on local business