This is where I'll share my limited/amateur knowledge of Kansai-ben. For those new to kansai, Kansai-ben is the dialect of Japanese spoken by residents of the Kansai (Western) area of Japan. Wikipedia has an awesome-tastic article on Kansai Dialect (Kansai-ben used to be the official Japanese dialect! Who knew!?) that goes into the hardcore linguistics. And since that's already been taken care of, I thought I'd just make a list of commonly used words and phrases in kansai-ben. I'll try to explain their usage, but since I've never really formally studied Japanese, I'm basically sharing what I've picked up from my time here in kansai and around kansai-jin (kansai people).



Here's a link to all blog entries related to kansai-ben!

I've divided the list into two groups: Phrases and Words. From there on, they've been listed alphabetically.

Words

Aho あほ - Kansai for baka ばか; stupid, idiot, silly, foolish; when used in a phrase 「あほやな～」　"It's stupid.."


Akan あかん - Kansai for of Dame だめ; "no good"; when used with -na akan -なあかん it means "have to..." ex. "I have to study." 「勉強しなあかん」(benkyou shina akan)

Annen あんねん - Kansai for ある・あります; to have, to be, to exist, to be located, to happen, to come about


Chau ちゃう - Kansai for chigau ちがう "incorrect/to differ" (longer explanation here)


Honmani ほんまに - Kansai for hontou ni ほんとうに; "really?"; honmani is considered the female form by most, while honma is male, but both are often used by both sexes.


Obahan おばはん - Kansai for obasan おばさん; aunt, older woman (usually over 35); often used by little kids to make their poor English teachers feel oldﾟ(´△｀)ﾟ

Omae おまえ - Kansai for anata あなた; you; often used by men when talking to their girlfriends *younger generation*

Ossan おっさん - Kansai for ojisan おじさん; uncle, older male (usually over 35)

Seyakara せやから - Kansai for だから・ですから; so; therefore

Uttoushi うっとうしい - Kansai for mendokusai めんどくさい; troublesome, uninteresting

Commonly Used Phrases

Ariehen ありえへん - "Impossible!" or "Unbelieveable!"; Kansai for 「ありえない」.


Honde ほんで - "And then"; Kansai for sore kara 「それから」.


Ikou ka? 行こうか - "shall we go?"; Kansai for ikimashouka ｢行きましょうか」.

Iran いらん - "Don't need" or "Don't want"; Kansai for iranai 「いらない」.

Kamahen かまへん - "No problem" or "It's OK"; Kansai for daijoubu desu「大丈夫です」. *older generation*


Maido まいど - hello/thank you (used in commercial settings and by older generation), shortened for of 「毎度ありがとうございます」 .

Nandeya なんでや - "Why?"; Kansai for nande/naze 「なんで」/「なぜ」.


Naniyanen 何やねん - "What in the world", "What the hell" or "What is it?"; Kansai for nan desu ka 「なんですか」.

Naniyattake 何やったけ - "What was it.." (used when trying to remember something lol); Kansai for nani datta ne 「何だったね」.


Omoroi/Omonnai おもろい / おもんない  - "That's intersting/funny!"/""That's not funny/Boring!"; Kansai for omoshiroi/omoshirokunai 「おもしろい/おもしろくない」.

Seehen せえへん - "Don't do"; Kansai for shinai 「しない」.


Shaanai しゃあない - "It cannot be helped" or "There's no helping it"; Kansai for 「しかたがない」


Shiran しらん  - "I don't know"; Kansai for shirimasen/shiranai 「しりません / しらない」.

Souka そうか - "Is that so?"; Kansai for sou desu ka 「そうですか」.


Souyana そうやな - "That's right, isn't it?"; Kansai for sou desu ne 「そうですね」.

Wakarahen/Wakaran わからへん / わからん  - "I don't understand" or "I don't get it.."; Kansai for wakarimasen/wakannai 「わかりません / わかんない」.

Yanka/Yanke やんか/やんけ - "Isn't it?"; Kansai for jya nai ka 「じゃないか」.

Yaro やる - "I think," "I guess," I suppose" or seems; Kansai for 「だろう・でしょう」

Additional Kansai-ben resources:

Colloquial Kansai Japanese: The Dialects and Culture of the Kansai Region

Interactive Kansai Japanese Guide

Kansai-ben Iphone Application!(すっげぇ～)

WWWJDIC Online Japanese - English Dictionary