(I have to go right away) in Western Japan, with the wa lending emphasis, not femininity, to the sentence.
Although most words and phrases in this book can be used by either sex, women tend to avoid particularly rough or vulgar sounding talk, and men tend to avoid effeminate sounding talk. The ♀ and ♂ symbols are used to point out those words and phrases that should not be used by the opposite sex.
As you probably know, men and women use different pronouns in Japanese. However, in order to save space, if a sentence as said by men and women only differs in pronouns, ♂ or ♀ is not indicated. With the help of the pronoun chart that follows, it is easy to switch from women’s talk to men’s talk and vice versa. This is especially so with Western Japanese, where differences between male and female speech are less marked than in Eastern Japanese.
The many pronouns for “I,” “you,” and “he” in Japanese carry a range of nuances not found in English. However, pronouns are omitted completely when the meaning is clear from the context. Bear in mind that Japanese speakers avoid pronouns for “you,” “he,” or “she” whenever a title or name can be used instead.
MEN’S PRONOUNS
Baku (I, cordial or friendly)
Bokura, Bokutachi (We)
Ore (I, tough, atmosphere of comradery or intimacy)
Orera, Oira (We)
Washi, Wate (I, senior or patronizing, common in Western Japan)
Watashi (I, neutral, polite)
Watashidomo, Watashitachi (We)
Watakushi (I, very formal)
Watakushidomo (We, very formal)
Wagahai or Yo (I, for noblemen, archaic, heard in samurai movies)
Ware (I, for commoners, archaic, heard in samurai movies)
Wareware (We, modern, polite, but abstract as in “we Japanese”)
Temē, Kisama (You, Eastern Japan, vulgar, said when fighting or insulting someone)
Ware (You, Western Japan, like “temē”, used by gangsters, etc., to intimidate)
Omae, Omē (You, tough, intimate or insulting)
Omaera (You all, tough, intimate or insulting)
Kimi (You, cordial or patronizing, not common in Western japan, heard often in songs)
Anata (You, polite)
Anatatachi, Anatagata (You all)
Aitsu, Yatsu (He, tough, familiar, used by men to refer to men)
Koitsu (He, She, or You, meaning “the (in view) scoundrel”)
Soitsu (He or She, meaning “that guy”)
Ano hito (He or She, polite)
Ano kata (He or She, very polite)
Kare (He, polite, distant, not used for friends)
Karera (They, polite)
Kanojo (She, polite, distant, not used for friends)
WOMEN’S PRONOUNS
Atashi (I, affectedly feminine)
Atashitachi (We, affectedly feminine)
Watashi (I, polite, most commonly used pronoun)
Watakushi (I, very formal)
Warawa (I, archaic, heard in samurai movies)
Anta (You, common in Western japan, intimate or somewhat mothering, sometimes also used by men)
Anata (You, polite, a wife to her husband meaning “dear” or “darling”)
Boku (You, to little boys who call themselves boku)
Ano hito, Ano kata, Kare, Kanojo (same as Men’s above)
A LITTLE ADVICE
Although speaking Western Japanese to your friends in Ōsaka, Kyōto, or Kōbe will allow you to get closer to them, speaking Western Japanese in Tōkyō might seem as outlandish as hearing a Japanese exchange student back home speaking jive or cockney. On the other hand, speaking only perfect hyōjungo in informal situations in Western Japan would be like speaking perfect BBC English in casual occasions back home. Just like you do in English, you should adapt your style of speech to the situation and the person you are speaking to. In any case, your Japanese friends in Western Japan will absolutely love to hear you speak their dialect.
In order to become really good in a foreign language, you have to live it. Study is important, but to become fluent in Japanese you must do everything in Japanese: eating, socializing, playing sports, and working. While this is not always possible, you can at least insist on speaking Japanese to Japanese, especially to the many people who assault you with their English the second they hear you speaking Japanese with an accent. In order to avoid this, even as a beginner, you can and should say a number of things. Be polite but clear. They are the ones being inconsiderate.
Sumimasen ga, watashi wa Eigo wakarimasen.
Excuse me, I don’t speak English.
Nihongo de hanashite kudasai.
Please speak Japanese.
Nihongo de hanashite ii desu ka?
Can we speak Japanese please?
Nihongo o benkyō suru tame ni Nihon ni irun desu kara, nihongo de hanashitain desu ga.
I’m in Japan to study Japanese, so I’d like to speak Japanese.
When you don’t understand something, don’t give up! Try to control the pace of the conversation with phrases like:
Mō chotto yukkuri hanashite kudasai.
Please speak a bit slower.
Mō ichido itte kudasai.
Please say that again.
Nan ’tte?
What was that?
Setsumei shinaoshite kuremasu ka?
Could you explain that a different way?
SEVEN MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WESTERN AND EASTERN JAPANESE
Broadly speaking, the main differences between Western and Eastern Japanese can be summarized in seven points.
1. Verbal negatives end in nai in Eastern Japanese but in hen (primarily Kansai) or n (primarily Chūgoku) in Western Japanese.
| Eastern Japanese | Western Japanese | |
| doesn’t eat | tabenai | tabehen, taben |
| doesn’t know | shiranai | shirahen,
|
