Kansai accent

[Geoffrey Trousselot]

I want to create colorful dialogue for characters with an Osaka accent.

Any ideas?

[Motohiro Kojima]

Geoffrey Trousselot様

There are several Osaka dialect translation sites.

https://osaka.uda2.com/

 

https://www.8toch.net/translate/?lang=os

 

On Sat, 15 Feb 2025 09:51:38 +0900

Geoffrey Trousselot様 wrote:

I want to create colorful dialogue for characters with an Osaka accent.

Any ideas?

 

2025.02.15 11:20:02

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小島基弘 <mthr...@imoduru.net>

[Geoffrey Trousselot]

Just to clarify, I'm looking for suggestions to differentiate dialogue in English, so there is a clear difference in speaking patterns between native Osakans and outsiders.

For example, an off-list reply suggested:

"Try making characters sound more playful, quick-witted, or even blunt.  

   - 「そんなんアカンやろ！」(Sonnan akan yaro!) → “No way that’s gonna work!”  
   - 「なんでやねん！」(Nandeyanen!) → “What the heck!?” (A classic Osaka reaction)  
   - 「ほんま、アホちゃう？」(Honma, aho chau?) → “Seriously, are you dumb?” (Teasing tone)  "

[Tom Gally]

In E-J translation, there is, or used to be, a common practice of translating southern and black U.S. English into Tohoku-ben:

https://gendainihongo.sakura.ne.jp/gendainihongo/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/36%E5%8F%B7%E6%96%B0%E8%A8%B3%E3%81%8C%E3%81%B2%E3%81%8D%E3%81%A4%E3%81%90%E6%9D%B1%E5%8C%97%E6%96%B9%E8%A8%80%E3%82%A4%E3%83%A1%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8.pdf

At the risk of facing the same sort of criticism as in the above (「標準語を基本とする白人のことば遣いにもふれながら、白人と黒人の序列を反映するあまり、翻訳が日本語の標準語と方言の序列、ひいては日本社会の中央と地方の序列をも再生産してしまっていることを指摘したい」）, how about translating Kansai-ben as stereotypical Brooklynese if you are using American English or stereotypical Cockney if you are using British?

Tom Gally

On the Shinkansen from Hiroshima to Yokohama, having just passed through Osaka without, unfortunately, hearing any Osaka-ben

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[Bill Lise]

This whole problem of rendering dialects is a real can of worms.

The use of the expression 標準語 in above is itself could be potentially problematic, although it refers to caucasians.

It is my understanding that the expression 標準語 itself has fallen out of favor and is being replaced by 共通語, perhaps lest people think that they are being accused of being "non-standard." 

Or perhaps my understanding is wrong, and the former refers to vocabulary and latter mandates standard pronunciation. Kansai dialect can be detected in just a few seconds, way before any non-standard vocabulary is encountered.

And does the US have a "標準語" version of English.

If I remember correctly, there was a motion (referendum?) in California years ago to establish just "English" as the language of the state, but it failed. But I digress.

*********************************************

リゼ　ウィリアム

Bill Lise

wlise...@gmail.com

https://kirameki-translation.co.jp/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-lise/

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[Judy Wakabayashi]

My book Japanese-English Translation: An Advanced Guide has a chapter on translating non-standard varieties of language. In particular, pp. 161-67 focus on the translation of Japanese dialects. Sixteen different approaches are introduced. These might be helpful if you can access a copy of the book, Geoffrey.

Judy Wakabayashi

On Sat, Feb 15, 2025 at 10:51 AM Geoffrey Trousselot <geoff.tr...@gmail.com> wrote:

I want to create colorful dialogue for characters with an Osaka accent.

Any ideas?

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[Katy Bridges]

Bill,

You said:

If I remember correctly, there was a motion (referendum?) in California years ago to establish just "English" as the language of the state, but it failed. But I digress.

Proposition 63, which declared that English is the official language of California, passed in 1986. Details, should you want them, are here: https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_63,_English_as_the_Official_Language_Initiative_(1986)

Katy Bridges

[Bill Lise]

That is interesting. But I cannot imagine government offices and the like not accomodating non-English speaking people. Meanwhile, I believe in Japan there is no specific law stating that Japan is the "national language" although what's taught in schools is 国語. Sometimes the obvious is left unspoken.