gender differences in spoken Japanese

The Japanese language has some words and some grammatical constructions associated with men or boys, while others are associated with women or girls. Such differences are sometimes called "gendered language". In Japanese, speech patterns associated with women are referred to as or , and those associated with men are referred to as .

In general, the words and speech patterns associated with men are perceived as rough, vulgar, or abrupt, while those associated with women are considered more polite, more deferential, or "softer". Some linguists consider the description of "rough–soft continuum" more accurate than the description of "male–female continuum". For example, Eleanor Harz Jorden in '' Japanese: The Spoken Language'' refers to the styles as "blunt/gentle", rather than male/female.

There are no gender differences in written Japanese (except in quoted speech), and almost no differences in polite speech (''teineigo'').

Conventional women's speech

The word , which is usually translated as "ladylike" or "feminine," refers to the behaviour expected of a typical Japanese woman in a customary scene. As well as behaving in particular ways, being ''onnarashii'' means conforming to particular styles of speech. Some of the features of women’s speech include speaking in a higher register, using more polite forms and using polite speech or honorifics in more situations, and referring to themselves and those whom they address more formally.

Some linguistic features commonly associated with women include: omission of the copula ''da'', the use of first person pronouns such as ''watashi'' or ''atashi'' among others, use of feminine sentence-final particles such as ''wa'', ''na no'', ''kashira'', and ''mashō'', and the more frequent use of the honorific prefixes ''o-'' and ''go-''.

Actual language used by Japanese-speaking women differs from these ideals. Such ''onnarashii'' speech is a social norm that institutions such as education and media encourage women to adopt. Similarly, these forms may be prescribed for women learners by Japanese textbooks and other materials. There are, however, various deviations from these norms in conversation.

Although Japanese women may not follow the gender norm in speech, some linguistic studies indicate that Japanese women tend to use more honorific language than men do, which reinforces the idea of ''onnarashii'' and conventional gender roles.

Conventional men's speech

Just as there are modes of speaking and behaviour that have sometimes been considered intrinsically feminine, there are also those that are considered . Based on men's reports of their own speech, as well as prescriptive advice for language use, men's language is thought of as using fewer polite forms, distinct pronouns and sentence-final particles, and some reduced vowels.

Some words associated with men's speech include: the informal ''da'' in place of the copula ''desu'', first person pronouns such as ''ore'' and ''boku'', and sentence-final particles such as ''yo'', ''ze'', ''zo'', and ''kana''. Masculine speech also features less frequent use of honorific prefixes and fewer '' aizuchi'' response tokens.

Research on Japanese men's speech shows greater use of "neutral" forms, forms not strongly associated with masculine or feminine speech, than is seen in Japanese women's speech.

Some studies of conversation between Japanese men and women show neither gender taking a more dominant position in interaction. Men, however, tend to show a "self-oriented conversation style", telling stories and expressing their expertise on topics being discussed more than is typical of women in these studies.

In modern society

Since the late twentieth century observers have noted that individual Japanese men and women do not necessarily speak in the ways attributed to their gender. Scholars have described considerable variation within each gender; some individuals use these characteristics of gendered speech, while others do not. Upper-class women who did not conform to conventional expectations of gendered speech were sometimes criticized for failing to maintain so-called "traditional Japanese culture".

In the LGBT community

''Okama'' entertainers and ''onē kotoba''

Another recent phenomenon influencing gender norms in speech is the popularity of entertainers, typically men who enact very feminine speech, dress, and other gender markers. The word ''okama'' originally referred to feminine male homosexuals, but its usage has expanded to refer to masculine gay men, male cross-dressers, and trans women, among other uses. Entertainers who identify as ''okama'' sometimes use a form of speech called , literally "older sister speech" but with the word '' onē'' ("older sister") used to denote an effeminate man, a speaking style that combines the formal aspects of women's speech described above with blunt or crude words and topics. For example:
*あたし 今 カレー 食ったら 下痢 だ わ。
:''Atashi ima karē kuttara geri da wa.''
:"If I ate curry now, I'd get diarrhea."
The pronoun ''atashi'' and the sentence-final ''da wa'' is typical of women's speech, while the verb ''kuttara'' is typical of men's speech and the topic itself is very blunt.

Hideko Abe suggests that ''onē kotoba'' originated during the Shōwa era among sex workers known as , literally "male prostitutes", who adopted feminine speech, wore women's clothing, and often referred to themselves as women. Celebrities and ''tarento'' who use ''onē kotoba'' include Akihiro Miwa, Shōgo Kariyazaki, IKKO, Kaba-chan, and the twin brothers Osugi and Peeco. In one instance, two lesbian users of ''onē kotoba'' were interviewed by Claire Maree, who reported that they were characterized as , or "female queens" by their peers. Maree argues that they were attempting to avoid both heteronormative femininity and stereotypes of lesbians as masculine.

''Onabe'' and transgender male speakers

The word , although it originally referred to masculine lesbians and female cross-dressers, has evolved to include trans men. ''Onabe'' hosts interviewed in the 1995 documentary Shinjuku Boys use a variety of gendered markers in their speech that are traditionally considered feminine or masculine. One speaker exclusively uses the reflexive pronoun as a gender-neutral first-person pronoun but also utilizes ending particles like ''na no'', while another uses the first-person pronoun ''ore'' but does not consider himself a man or a woman. Abe further notes that two ''onabe'' included in a round table discussion in the bisexual and lesbian magazine ''Anise'' used ''jibun'' as a first-person pronoun, while trans men preferred ''boku''.

See also

* Japanese pronouns
* Gender-neutral pronoun: Japanese
* Language and gender
* Nyōbō kotoba

References

Further reading

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* London: Cambridge University Press.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gender Differences In Spoken Japanese
Japanese language
Society of Japan
Japanese
Japanese
Sociolinguistics
Japanese honorifics