Volume 8,Issue 9
Japanese “Standard Women’s Language” Viewed from the Perspective of Language Policies
Japanese women’s language is traditionally regarded as attributable to women’s physiological qualities as well as the linguistic characteristics of the Japanese language. This point of view, however, does not hold true for the “standard women’s language” that occurred in Japan’s modern history. This paper examines the “standard women’s language” from the perspective of language policies and, through citing and analyzing relevant documents, attempts to prove that the so-called “standard women’s language” is a concept resulting from the normalization of the relationships between gender, language, and power, and the product of the process of Japan’s modernization.
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[4] Ozaki Y, 1997, Josei Sen’yō no Bunmatsu Keishiki no Ima (The Present State of Sentence‑Final Forms Exclusive to Women), in Josei no Kotoba・Shokuba-hen (Women’s Language・Workplace Edition). Hitsuji Shobō.
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