I have heard on various occasions that modern day keigo was borrowed from
Kansai-ben. It states this on
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansai_dialect#Politeness):

> Historically, extensive use of keigo (honorific speech) was a feature of
> Kansai-ben, especially Kyoto-ben, while Kantō-ben, from which standard
> Japanese developed, formerly lacked it. **Keigo in standard Japanese was
> originally borrowed from Kansai-ben.** However, keigo is no longer
> considered a feature of the dialect since Standard Japanese now also has it.
> Even today, keigo is used more often in Kansai-ben than in the other
> dialects except for the standard Japanese, to which people switch in formal
> situations.

but I can't seem to find any credible sources. Does anyone know of any
credible sources or more info on this?
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2015-07-04T16:16:20.053
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question
history keigo linguistics kansai-ben
Is modern day keigo borrowed from kansai-ben? Sources?
I'm saying this not as a specialist but based on my studies of bungo (literary
Japanese) and as someone who lived in Kansai for 4 years, but as far as I know
there is nothing particularly _Kansai-ben-ish_ about the concept of keigo in
itself.

What you've heard may have to do with particular forms that keigo uses
nowadays, by judging from my own exposure to Kansai-ben, I don't know that
this is actually the case.

Keigo itself has always existed in Japanese and was far more elaborate in the
older language, the one that is now called bungo or kogo. Some particular
forms have there all along, such as using the passive form as an honorific, so
even in this sense, keigo is hardly derived from Kansai-ben.

Having said that, Kansai was the cradle of the Japanese civilization that we
know today, so in a way, everything related to the high culture started there
and spread to the rest of the land.

So I think it's really the other way around - Kansai-ben could be the dialect
that preserves the old language the most in terms of structures, vocabulary
etc.
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answer