Research Project

Over the last four decades, numerous studies on Japanese “women’s language” (joseigo 女性語 or on’na-kotoba 女ことば) have been published, keeping gender-based linguistic stereotypes central to sociolinguistic and literary discourse. Professor Nakamura Momoko has already established a kind of genealogy of Japanese “women’s language” in linking the existence of female speech patterns, words, and sentence-final particles with gender and language ideology. The perception of “women’s language” has shifted over the last century — from the periphery of Standard Japanese to a preserved language tradition and more recently as a form of “role language” (yakuwarigo 役割語) in contemporary society and culture. Language not only changes over time, but it also shapes and drives change in society, often serving as a vehicle for ideology. This is evident in the standardization of women’s linguistic practices during the war period in the 20th century, which some argue was established to legitimize political actions. While scholars often refer to the 21st century as an era moving toward gender equality and language neutralization (chūseika 中性化), gendered language norms still persist. I aim to explore how “women’s language” or feminine speech styles have been — and continue to be — shaped and regulated by literary media.