Female Language

In Japanese, "female language," or joseigo 女性語, refers to words and manner of speech predominantly used by women in Japan, that, consequently, would sound weird if used by men.

It's also called "women's language," and onna-kotoba 女言葉, "women's words."

Usage

The concept of "female language" is a cultural and historical one.

In the past, certain women spoke in a certain way, which influenced how the next generations of women spoke, until we got the mess we have today.

There's nothing special about the meaning of words in female language. Everything that can be said using feminine words can also be said in a non-feminine way.

It's merely a matter that, if a lot of women speak in a way and you speak like them, you sound like you speak like a woman. And if you're a woman, then you're fitting right in and that's great. If you're not a woman, however, you'll sound unusual.

Not all female language is strictly female. Some words are simply more commonly used by women than men. Some words are used by both genders, but in one specific way used more by women. There are words that were used more by women and then started being used by men afterwards.

In anime, the use of language is often stereotypical and exaggerated: male characters often speak in a very male way, and female characters often use a lot of female language. Notably, female language in more traditional forms is often used by certain types of characters.

For example, ojousama お嬢様, "rich girl," characters often use it conspicuously, probably to hint they received a different education based on traditional manners compared to the rest of the female cast.

As do their mothers, and other rich, refined ladies. Anachronistic characters, those always wearing traditional kimonos, specially geisha and so on, often use a set of female language from their era.

Examples

First Person Pronouns

Japanese has various first-person pronouns—"I," "me"—some of which are feminine and some of which are masculine.

Feminine pronouns, typically used only by women, include:

atashi あたし
atakushi あたくし
atai あたい
uchi うち
- Also used by men in some regions of Japan.

Some pronouns can be feminine in casual contexts, but neutral in formal contexts:

Others are masculine:

ore 俺
- Also used by women in some regions of Japan.
boku 僕

If a female character uses a masculine pronoun such the above, they're labelled an orekko オレっ娘 or bokukko ボクっ娘 depending on the pronoun.

Among second-person pronouns, this one is often used by women (not toward women, by women).

anata
あなた
You.
- Can also be used by wives to refer to their "husband."
anta
あんた
(same meaning.)

てよだわ言葉

The term te-yo-da-wa kotoba てよだわ言葉 refers to the "words te, yo, da, wa," which are often used by women at the end of their sentences.

It originated in the Meiji period (1868–1912) and is said to be the source of most female language used in modern Japanese today.

~te
～て
(morpheme the end of the te-form of verbs.)
- The te-form used as an imperative is gender-neutral, but used as a question is female language.
- kaette
  帰って
  Go home. (neutral, imperative.)
- dou nasatte?
  どうなさって？
  Did something happen? (female.)
- dou nasaimashita ka?
  どうなさいましたか？
  (same meaning.)
- dou ka shite?
  どうかして？
  (same meaning.)
- dou ka nasaimashita ka?
  どうかなさいましたか？
  (same meaning.)
yo
よ
(assertive particle.)
- sou yo
  そうよ
  That's right!
da wa
だわ
(da だ copula plus wa わ sentence ending particle.)
- muri yo
  無理よ
  [It] is impossible.
- muri da wa
  無理だわ
  (same meaning.)
- sou da wa
  そうだわ
  That's right.
  It's so.
- sou desu wa
  そうですわ
  (same meaning.)

Note: you may have read somewhere that the wa わ sentence-ending particle is used exclusively by women. This isn't true. Men use wa わ, too, however, to express bewilderment instead.

At Sentence End

Some other sentence-ending particles also often used by women include:

kashira
かしら
I wonder. (sentence-ending particle.)
- nani kashira?
  何かしら？
  What is it, I wonder?
- nan-darou?
  何だろう？
  (same meaning.)
~de
～で
(e.g. naide ないで.)
- akiramenaide
  諦めないで
  Don't give up.
- akiramenai de kudasai
  諦めないでください
  Please don't give up.
nasai
なさい
(creates imperatives. The usage is female when attached directly to nouns rather than to verbs.)
- benkyou shi-nasai
  勉強しなさい
  Go study. (neutral.)
- benkyou nasai
  勉強なさい
  Go study. (female.)
ne
ね
(neutral when after a copula, female otherwise.)
- sou da ne
  そうだね
  That's right. (neutral.)
- sou ne
  そうね
  That's right. (female.)
- kirei da ne
  綺麗だね
  It's pretty, isn't it? (neutral.)
- kirei ne
  綺麗ね
  It's pretty, isn't it? (female.)
- muri wa ne
  無理わね
  Yep, it's impossible.
- muri wa yo ne
  無理わよね
  Yep, it's impossible.
no
の
(nominalizer normally used to ask questions. In fiction it's used more by women. It's also used assertively to explain things.)
- dou natteru no?
  どうなってるの？
  What's going on?
- watashi wa kaeru no!
  私は帰るの！
  I'm going home! (bye!)
no yo
のよ
(nominalizer plus assertive particle.)
- baka na no yo
  馬鹿なのよ
  [He] is an idiot.

There's a trio of words that are normally gender-neutral nominalizers, but that are used by women as sentence-ending particles instead.

koto
こと
(used in diverse ways.)
- {kirei na} koto desu
  綺麗なことです
  It's a thing [that] {is pretty}. (neutral.)
  It's a pretty thing.
- kirei desu koto
  綺麗ですこと
  It's pretty. (female.)
mono
もの
(only when used to explain why things are somehow, because.)
- {kirei na} mono desu
  綺麗なものです
  It's a thing [that] {is pretty}. (neutral.)
- kirei da mono 綺麗だもの
  kirei da kara 綺麗だから
  Because it's pretty. (female.)
mon
もん
(contraction of mono もの. Specially used by small children.)
- kirei da mon
  綺麗だもん
  Because it's pretty.

A few other words:

kudasai-mase
くださいませ
(kudasaru くださる in masu form in meireikei 命令形, "Imperative form.".)
- kudasai-mashi
  くださいまし
  (same meaning.)
choudai
ちょうだい
(same meaning as kudasai ください.)
- okane choudai
  お金ちょうだい
  Give me money.
- okane kudasai
  お金ください
  (same meaning.)
- yamete choudai
  やめてちょうだい
  Please stop.
- yamete kudasai
  やめてください
  Please stop.

美化語

The o- お～ prefix is often used by women in order to create bikago 美化語, "beautified language." In the sense that simply by using the suffix the words sounds prettier (i.e. more feminine). Some examples include:

ote
お手
Hand. Hands.
te
手
(same meaning.)
okashi
お菓子
Sweets.
kashi
菓子
Sweets.
(same meaning.)
oniku
お肉
Meat.
niku
肉
(same meaning.)

In particular, the prefix is used in plural words for body parts featuring reduplication, which are generally used when talking to babies, presumably, by mothers more than by fathers.

otete
お手手
Hands.

山の手言葉

Historically, old Tokyo 東京, called Edo 江戸, was divided in the upper-class, Yamanote 山の手, "mountain's hand," and the lower-class, Shitamachi 下町, "down-town."

The language used by the the upper class was called Yamanote Kotoba 山の手言葉, "mountain's hand words." In other words, the following words were used by rich ladies of the era:

zamasu
ざます
(from gozaimasu ございます.)
gokigen'you
ごきげんよう
How are you? (greeting. Also used particularly used by ojousama characters in anime.)
asobasu
あそばす
(from asobu 遊ぶ, "to play," "to have fun," but used as an auxiliary.)
- gomen-asobase
  ごめんあそばせ
  [I'm] sorry.
- shitsurei-shimashita
  失礼しました
  (same meaning.)
- oide-asobase
  おいであそばせ
  Welcome. Please come in.
- irasshai
  いらっしゃい
  (same meaning.)

ありんす詞

Another set of historic words are the arinsu-kotoba ありんす詞 used by prostitutes in the Edo period (1603–1868). It's also known as:

kuruwa-kotoba
廓詞
Red-light district words.
- A synonym for kuruwa is yuukaku 遊廓, of which Yoshiwara 吉原 was a famous one.
sato-kotoba
里詞
Village words. Countryside words.
oiran-kotoba
花魁詞
Courtesan words.

Although this set has many historic words in it, there's really only one that's important to know about:

arinsu
ありんす
(contraction of arimasu あります)
- kirei de aru
  綺麗である
  It's pretty.
- kirei de arimasu
  綺麗であります
  (same meaning.)
- kirei de arinsu
  綺麗でありんす
  (same meaning.)
- koko ni aru
  ここにある
  It's here.
- koko ni arimasu
  ここにあります
  (same meaning.)
- koko ni arinsu
  ここにありんす
  (same meaning.)
- mondai ga aru
  問題がある
  There's a problem.
- mondai ga arimasu
  問題があります
  (same meaning.)
- mondai ga arinsu
  問題がありんす
  (same meaning.)

A character using this word may hint a courtesan background. For example, Yūgiri ゆうぎり from Zombieland Saga.

However, since arinsu is merely a contraction, it's not exclusively used by courtesans. There are many exceptions, even in anime, like Holo from Spice and Wolf, who is a goddess, and Shalltear from Overlord, who is a vampire.

Furthermore. arinsu comes from the polite arimasu, which means it's not used casually. For example, Tsukuyo 月詠, one of the Yoshiwara's guardians from Gintama 銀魂, uses arinsu when speaking politely with clients, which happens almost never in the series.

Interjections

There's a bunch of interjections often used by female characters in manga, for example:

ara
あら
Oh.
- arara
  あらら
  (same meaning.)
- ara ara
  あらあら
  (same meaning.)
maa
まぁ
Well.
ufu' うふっ
*giggle*
- ufufu
  うふふ
  (same meaning.)
ohoho
おほほ
*the infamous ojousama laugh*
kya' きゃっ
*shriek*
*squeal*
*fangirling noises*
- kyaa
  きゃー
  (same meaning.)
hidooi
ひどーい
(a longer pronunciation of:)
- hidoi
  酷い
  Horrible. Cruel. Mean.
iyaan
いやーん
(this is a weird one.)
- yaan
  やーん
  (same meaning.)
- Literally, it's supposed to work like these:
- iya yo
  嫌よ
  It's unpleasant. (literally.)
  Do not want. I'd rather not. No, thanks.
- iya no yo
  嫌のよ
  (same meaning.)
- Which mean you'd use it when you disagree with an idea or find something unpleasant, you don't want it.
- However, iyaan いやーん, deliberately dragged out like that, is often used in joking or flirting tone instead.

Lastly, there's this:

ee
ええ
Yes. No. (agrees with whatever the other person asked.)
- Also used by men in formal contexts.

Male Language

The "male language," danseigo 男性語, or "men's language" is the opposite of female language: words predominantly used by men that women wouldn't normally use.

It essentially boils down to:

Feminine words:
- Prettier.
- Polite.
- Weak.
Masculine words:
- Uglier.
- Rude.
- Strong.

Yep, that's a lot of stereotypes. Masculine words are alright in casual contexts, but they tend to be avoided in formal contexts because they sound impolite.

Which kinda sounds like in order to present yourself as serving your superiors, your boss, your clients, and not present yourself as above them, you have to sound less masculine than usual, which hints how sexism is ingrained in society, language, and blah blah blah.

On the other hand, the idea that ladies shouldn't use filthy (masculine) words seems to be international.

Anyway, as for words that are used more by men:

zo
ぞ
(expresses emphasis)
- katta zo!
  勝ったぞ！
  [I] won!
ze
ぜ
(zo ぞ and ne ね merged into one.)
- issho ni ikou ze
  一緒に行こうぜ
  Let's go together. (how about that?)
yatsu
奴
Guy. Person.
- baka na yatsu da
  バカなヤツだ
  [He's] an idiot guy.
ano yatsu
あの奴
That guy.
(third person pronoun.)
- ayatsu
  あやつ
  (same meaning, not used.)
- aitsu
  あいつ
  (same meaning.)
- aitsu wa baka da
  あいつはバカだ
  He's an idiot.
omae
お前
You. (pretty much any second-person pronoun that's not anata.)
- kimi
  君
  (same meaning.)
- kisama
  貴様
  (same meaning.)
- temee
  てめぇ
  (same meaning.)
oi
おい
Hey. (interjection.)
What are you doing? Stahp!
kora
こら
(used to call someone's attention. In fiction, it's the staple of gangster characters.)
- aan? yannoka, kora?
  ああん？やんのか、こら？
  Ahmm? Wanna fight, huh?!

There are many female characters that will use the words above and speak "like men" to sound strong in a fight, but the opposite never happens: nobody attempts to appear weak by using feminine words, despite the obvious strategic value in doing so. ^{(Sun Tzu, ~500 B.C.)}

オネェ言葉

The term onee-kotoba オネえ言葉 refers to female language used by male gays, transgender women, okama オカマ, and so on, but it's a bit more complicated than that. It involves a disproportional use of words like:

yada
やだ
(often used when someone does something unexpected, that the speaker can't believe is happening, being said. "No way.")
mou
もう
(diverse meanings.)
chau
ちゃう
(contraction of te-shimau てしまう, "ended up doing.")
ttara
ったら
(used after names of people, pronouns, to say something about them.)

The act of using onee-kotoba is referred to by the verb hogeru ホゲる. Some okama think you're supposed to use onee-kotoba if you're an okama, but not all think this way.

Furthermore, there are also men that aren't gay, or trans, but use onee-kotoba. They're simply called onee オネエ.

Manga: Handa-kun はんだくん (Chapter 3, 半田くんと委員長)

Context: a guy panicked so hard he started speaking in onee-kotoba.
panikku de onee-kotoba
パニックでオネェ言葉
[Using] onee-kotoba due to panic.
e' yada sore jaa
えっ　やだ　それじゃあ
[Eh, no way, then that means...]

In anime, okama characters often use female language or onee-kotoba, which counts as a form of gender expression.

By contrast, "trap" characters (otokonoko 男の娘) generally look and unconsciously behave femininely, but don't consciously use female language, reinforcing the idea that they ultimately identify as men in spite of being drawn like girls.

References

女性語 - Wikipedia.org
- Contains a list of female language words.
山の手言葉 - Wikipedia.org
男性語 - Wikipedia.org
Sun Tzu, ~500 B.C., The Art of War.
- "Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak."