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Dialect comparison

Kansai-ben vs Tōhoku-ben

Compare two dialects of Japanese side by side — where they're spoken, what they're called, and how they relate.

Kansai-ben

Kansai dialect · Kinki dialect · Osaka-ben

The major dialect group of the Kansai region, with Osaka as its modern centre. Strongly distinct from Tokyo Japanese in pitch accent, copula forms, and idiom. Kyoto-ben is treated separately here.

Spoken in
Approximate centre
34.69°, 135.50°
Tōhoku-ben

Tōhoku dialect · Zūzū-ben

The dialects of north-eastern Honshu around Sendai. Distinguished by reduced vowel contrasts and merged sibilants — historically caricatured as "zūzū-ben".

Spoken in
Approximate centre
38.27°, 140.87°

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