INSTITUTIONEN FÖR 
SPRÅK OCH LITTERATURER 
 
 
 
 
 
 
FROM POLITENESS TO SELF-
CONSTRUCTION 
Analyzing Women’s Language in a Japanese TV 
Drama Across Generations 
  
 
 
Ziwei Wang  
 
 
Essay/Degree Project: 15 hp 
Program or/and course: SIK230 
Level: First cycle  
Term/year: Vt 2025 
Supervisor: Martin Nordeborg 
Examiner: Fusae Takasaki Ivarsson 
Report nr:  
 
 
Abstract 
Title: From Politeness to Self-Construction: Analyzing Women’s Language in a Japanese TV 
Drama Across Generations 
Author: Ziwei Wang 
Supervisor: Martin Nordeborg  
 
Abstract: Women’s language has long been analyzed in sociolinguistics and feminist 
linguistics. Previous studies investigate how women’s language is influenced by Patriarchy and 
societal gender norms, and is tightly associated with politeness. However, the studies are mainly 
based on surveys and interviews, and media materials are merely employed for research and 
analysis. The media is used as a means of policing women’s behavior and language, and the 
gender norms are reinforced through media discourse. Thus, the media could also reflect the 
changes in gender norms and be valued for analyzing how women’s language changes in 
fictional narratives. This thesis discusses how women’s language is represented in the latest 
Japanese TV drama and reflects women’s cognitive changes across generations. This study uses 
qualitative text analysis and examines female characters’ speech in one TV drama across 
generations and speech situations, focusing on sentence-final particles and intonation, revealing 
that women’s language generally reflects traditional gender expectations, but also contains 
elements and trends of changing these norms and appearing neutral cognitions from language 
use. By exploring gendered language from fictional dramas, this study expands existing 
material choices and perspectives to the analysis of women’s language and highlights that 
though women’s language is associated with gender and social identity, it is also complicated 
by individual cognition and self-construction. 
 
Keywords: Japanese women’s language, sentence-final particle, intonation, TV drama, media 
material, generations, text analysis. 
  
Table of Contents 
1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 3 
2. PREVIOUS RESEARCH AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...................................................... 5 
2.1 WHAT IS WOMEN’S LANGUAGE ............................................................................................................ 5 
2.2 THE EXISTENCE OF A DISTINCT 'JAPANESE WOMEN'S LANGUAGE' ................................................... 6 
2.3 SHIFTS AND DECLINE IN WOMEN'S LANGUAGE ................................................................................... 8 
2.4 WOMEN’S LANGUAGE AND IDENTITY ................................................................................................... 9 
2.5 THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN MEN'S AND WOMEN'S LANGUAGE ............................................................ 11 
2.6 REPRESENTATIONS OF WOMEN’S LANGUAGE IN MEDIA ................................................................... 12 
3. STUDY ....................................................................................................................................................... 14 
3.1 PURPOSE ............................................................................................................................................... 14 
3.2 RESEARCH QUESTION .......................................................................................................................... 14 
3.3 HYPOTHESIS ......................................................................................................................................... 14 
3.4 DATA ..................................................................................................................................................... 15 
3.5 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................... 16 
4. ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................................................. 18 
4.1 INTRODUCTION OF DANCHI AND THE TV SERIES ............................................................................... 18 
4.1.1 Character list ............................................................................................................................ 19 
4.2 SINGLE-GENERATION DIALOGUES ...................................................................................................... 20 
4.3 CROSS-GENERATION DIALOGUE ......................................................................................................... 28 
4.4 DISCUSSION .......................................................................................................................................... 41 
5. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 44 
5.1 LIMITATION .......................................................................................................................................... 47 
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................. 48 
 
 2 
1. Introduction 
Gendered language exists in all speech communities, and women’s language has always 
been claimed to be more polite than men’s (Holmes & Wilson, 2022, p.222). Women’s language 
is a complex concept that women are under double standards and policing. In Cameron’s study 
(2023), women’s language is under the policing of mass media and strengthened by overt blame 
and shame; women’s language is considered polite and empathetic but also criticized for a lack 
of confidence. This situation is a dilemma for women; both appear while women behave 
femininely and show confidence as men. Women’s language is a tool that the Patriarchy uses 
to shape and police women. 
Japanese women’s language is distinguished by sentence-final particles and women’s 
intonation, showing women’s softness, politeness, empathy, etc. (Sato, 2018, p. 1262). Japanese 
women’s language is discussed as a consistent historical presence from the 4th century (Inoue, 
2002, p.393). However, it is not objectively proven. Instead, women’s language is reconstructed 
from the late 19th century during the nation's reformation, and it could be considered a nationally 
indexed product from a societal perspective (Inoue, 2002, p. 395). 
Japanese women’s language represents an ideal image of women under Westernization and 
transformation. However, the image of women changed due to social factors in the 1990s. 
Tradition in the late 19th century expected women to be good wives and wise mothers, and 
women’s language was used to achieve this. Neoliberalism and the economic downturn made 
the public less interested in discussing women’s language (Inoue, 2016, p. 172); the market 
required more women’s involvement. The population using women’s language declined in the 
late 20th century (Inoue, 2016, p. 165). Women’s language started to be corrupted in the younger 
generation, and the image of a good woman related less to women’s language (Inoue, 2016, p. 
164). 
No matter how the national definition of women’s language changes, it is closely associated 
with women’s identity. The nation expects and conducts women’s values through women’s 
language, which is strengthened by gendered stereotypes from the media. Women are expected 
 3 
to be reproducers during the war, and the expectation changes to producers while the labor 
market needs to increase under economic factors that change (Nakamura, 2014, p.191). 
Women’s identity is objectified and sexualized by patriarchy (Cameron, 2023, p. 167). 
Despite extensive research on women’s language form, Mizokami’s 2003 study shows no 
significant differences in the politeness and honorifics used by women and men of the young 
generation. Politeness is not a biological determination but is constructed by societal norms 
(Mizokami, 2003, p.107). The boundary between women’s and men’s language use becomes 
ambiguous, while the younger generation has modern expectations of self-identity instead of 
the traditional gender dichotomy (Mizokami, 2003, p.116). 
Though existing literature offers valuable insights into the relation between women’s 
language in reality and the social factors, less attention has been given to the influence of media. 
Media is essential in language and gender equality, strengthening gendered identity (Cameron, 
2023, p.169). This study uses the media material, one contemporary Japanese TV series, Danchi 
no Futari, to analyze how women’s language is associated with women’s identity and how it 
changes over generations. 
  
 4 
2. Previous Research and Theoretical 
Framework 
2.1 What is Women’s Language 
In different speech communities, gender variety always exists. It is claimed that women 
from many societies have more polite linguistic behavior than men, and women tend to use 
different speech functions from men (Holmes & Wilson, 2022, p.222). However, women’s 
language may not be structured based on their daily usage; instead, the functions of politeness 
and correctness are sometimes indexed by social expectations. For instance, some courses 
provided by London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada) are specifically for women, 
which introduce themselves as a tool of communication, including the body, breath, and voice, 
to equip women with skills and increase women’s self-awareness and confidence (Cameron, 
2023, p.21). 
The idea behind these courses is to improve women's behavior to meet society's 
expectations, especially in the workplace. It is an unequal requirement and assumes their male 
colleagues will not meet the same behavioral problems (Cameron, 2023, p.21). In other words, 
women’s behaviors should be under the framework provided by males, and the behavior as a 
standard must be aimed at men.  
Though women’s language is always considered more polite and grammatically correct, it 
is still criticized for displaying empathy and letting people talk without interruption. Equaling 
empathy with a lack of confidence is a simplification and a tool for constructing women’s 
thoughts from outside to inside. It is a subtle form of victim-blaming, which lets women think 
if their discomfort and bad experiences are from their poor mental health or dissatisfaction with 
their bodies to unfulfilling relationships. By using the tools of macro media to overt blame and 
shame, women’s language standards could be strengthened and under-policed by the public, 
which is called language policing (Cameron, 2023, p.22). 
Language norms advised women to be reticent, deferential, and silent for centuries, which 
is criticized as lacking authority because of being far from men’s standards. However, the norm 
 5 
is both a double standard and a double bind. While women use men’s standards of language 
and behavior to show their confidence, they might be judged more harshly as too aggressive 
(Cameron, 2023, p.33). 
Being in the women’s framework and overcoming women’s framework to acting 
masculine is both criticized and bound; we could consider women’s language as not only a 
simple linguistic variety but a concept defining the sexism of women being discriminated 
against. Women’s language is both a dilemma that women face in speech communities and a 
visible misogyny reinforced by sexist coverage in the macro media.  
 
2.2 The Existence of a Distinct 'Japanese 
Women's Language' 
Japanese women’s language is distinguished as a gendered language called onna kotoba, 
josei-go, or fujin-go. It is identified by women’s utterances and the sentence-final particles, and 
women’s language is frequently identified as polite, gentle, soft, refined, elegant, verbose, 
indirect, unassertive, imprecise, emotional, and empathetic (Sato, 2018, p.1262). 
From a historical perspective, Japanese women’s language is a critical cultural category 
and a national issue. It is commonly constructed as a seamless narrative passed down from as 
early as the fourth century to the present by the Scholars of National Language Studies 
(kokugogaku). However, primordial discourse does not provide an adequate historical linguistic 
account of contemporary women’s language development or a continuous descent from ancient 
origins. Identifying women’s language as a constant essence ignores historical contingency and 
emergent phenomena and hides histories by articulating (teleological) history (Inoue, 2002, 
p.393). 
Japanese women’s language is based on historical effects, such as the use of  “wa.” Wa 
was considered a vulgar speech form by educators, contrasting with the particle used in 
women’s language and associated with softness and femininity (Inoue, 2002, p.404). Japanese 
women’s language is reconstructed with Japan’s modernity during the late 19th and early 20th 
 6 
centuries and influenced by state formation, nationalism, capitalist accumulation, 
industrialization, radical class reconfiguration, colonialism, and foreign military adventurism 
(Inoue, 2002, p.408). 
Although Japanese women’s language was indexed separately from natural language 
evolution, women’s language is also subject to negative stereotypes from society. Women are 
more talkative, which is one of the typical stereotypes expressed in different language sayings. 
However, studies show women talk less than men in mixed-sex conversations (Mizokami, 2001, 
p.141). Japanese sociolinguistics research also has a similar stereotype that women speak more 
politely, which may depend on the methodology and choice of informants, and lack of empirical 
support. Mizokami criticized that studies based on stereotypes could not prove the existence of 
distinct women’s language and provide evidence of the researchers’ bias and women’s language 
under male domination. 
In the Meiji restoration, the elite considered modernizing the language critical to building 
a nation-state. This is the background of Gembun’itchi (unifying speech and writing), the major 
language modernization movement initiated by the literary community (Inoue, 2002, p.397). 
The practitioners of Gembun’itchi experimented with various verb endings to create a new 
colloquial style balancing voice and linguistic excess. In this language modernizing process, 
women’s language was produced and centered on using final particles or particular verb-ending 
forms (Inoue, 2002, p.399). While comparing particles from two articles before and during the 
Meiji period, some neutral particles, such as da-da and da-ne, were identified as male particles. 
At the same time, the neutral particle da-wa was identified as a female verb ending (Inoue, 
2002, p.404). Generally, “na”, “ne”, and “wa” are sentence-final particles, while “da” is a 
copula. In Inoues (2002), the combination of sentence-final particles and copula is described as 
final particles, attached to verb-ending form. Women’s language could be recognized as a 
particular writer’s invention that came into general use, which also shows evidence in 
translation that the authentic speech voice of modern Japanese women represents the translated 
voice of Western white women (Inoue, 2002, p.405). 
Schoolgirls’ voices have been considered the origin of modern women’s language, 
 7 
representing a new social category of females who were neither producers (workers) nor 
reproducers (mothers). Schoolgirls’ speeches were far from natural history and were initially 
considered vulgar and low-class by intellectuals and educators. Schoolgirl speech is actively 
indexicalizing as a female characteristic and has become increasingly feminized (Inoue, 2002, 
p.405). The need for women’s language promoted the creation of a new category, and the 
indexed women practiced these needs in a gender-specific public speech community, for 
instance, popular girls’ magazines at that time.  
Generally, women’s language was created during the modernization process, and the social 
gender identity needs a characteristic representing modern Japanese women’s character, which 
is finally practiced and strengthened by women. The index is first created, then the indexer 
fulfills the index and may hide the reality. If the sequence of indexing is ignored, women’s 
language would be assumed to be a natural history that did not exist in reality. 
 
2.3 Shifts and Decline in Women's Language 
Japanese women’s language, which is recognized as polite and feminine nowadays, was 
constructed during the Meiji period under the Westernization transformation; however, it also 
changes as social factors change. In the 1990s, Japan faced an economic collapse that had a 
decades-long social influence. After the war, Ojo-Sama (daughter of a noble or wealthy family) 
refers to the symbol of upper-class femininity, which is constructed by the media and associated 
with consumption and social status.  
Women’s language was considered a national signal to represent Japanese women as “a 
good wife and a wise mother.” Traditionally, women’s language is associated with femininity, 
indirectness, and circumlocution. Language as an ideology constructs an ideal feature and lets 
women fit themselves into it. Women’s language was used to make women utilize and properly 
fulfill it. However, Japan embraced neoliberalism in the 1990s, leading to significant changes 
in economic and social policies, and following the discussion from the 1990s towards women’s 
language change. Women have the chance to enter the labor market as a new role in society, 
and the media and public have shown less interest in discussing women’s language in public. 
 8 
At the same time, the norms of women’s language are turning to corruption in the young 
women's generation from the end of the 20th century, with women’s apparent mass entry into 
the workforce (Inoue, 2016, p.164). Inoue mentioned that women’s language changed because 
Japan’s society shifted from a disciplinary society to a control society (Inoue, 2016, p.151).  
The number of people using women’s language significantly decreased from the late 20th 
century, though it cannot be associated with a signal of sexism being erased (Inoue, 2016, 
p.165). Language, as a part of ideology, constantly changes with the changing social, political, 
and economic environment. The expectation of women’s roles changes, the economy changes, 
and women are required to enroll more in social production, exceeding “a good wife and a wise 
mother.” The language representing women’s imagination also changes, especially in women’s 
language, which declines. Language reflects the social gender roles and identities. Language 
intersects with gender and shifts as expectations change. The Ojo-Sama character became a part 
of the role in comedies, showing irony. Women’s language declined from the public disciplinary 
discourse and may unmoor women’s language from historical narratives, and women’s 
language as a social speech form will no longer index to ideal femininity (Inoue, 2016, p.172).  
 
2.4 Women’s language and identity  
Women’s speech was constructed to be soft, indirect, and minimal in the 13th to 19th 
centuries by conduct books, which stemmed from Confucian and Buddhist ideologies and were 
associated with feminine virtues such as elegance, prudence, and discretion, and women who 
spoke in a certain way were considered good women. The norms of feminine speech were used 
to construct an ideal feminine identity (Nakamura, 2014, pp.42-49). 
In Japan’s modernization, Japan was seen as inferior and feminine to the European world 
(Mostow et al., 2003, p.43). The national language (kokugo) was constructed primarily as a 
masculine language, one step toward making the nation masculine. Masculinizing the national 
language was promoted by grammar books and school readers, reinforcing the gendered 
division that male identity was tied to the public and authoritative roles (Nakamura, 2014, p.80). 
The gendered construction of the national language positions men as the standard speakers 
 9 
while women’s language is secondary and supplementary. Female identity was tied to domestic 
roles, while male identity was central to the nation (Nakamura, 2014, pp.142-154). Women 
were expected to speak and reflect their domestic roles as good wives and wise mothers, and 
their speech should be polite, soft, and indirect, which defines women’s identity closely to their 
domestic and reproductive roles and far away from the social center (Nakamura, 2014, pp.88-
154). 
Schoolgirl speech reflects modern women’s expression, firstly existing in literature and 
translation of Western works, a linguistic style associated with young and educated women. It 
was promoted by the media and literature and constructed as a symbol of modern femininity. 
During the war and Japan’s colonial expansion in the early 20th century, women’s language 
gradually became an imperial tradition, reflecting the superiority of Japanese culture 
(Nakamura, 2014, p.163). Women’s language became a cultural symbol and Japanese cultural 
identity to legitimize colonialism, which is evidence that women’s language was not 
reconsidered at the center but as a tool of politics and power. 
During World War II, women’s language was incorporated into the national language as a 
symbol of Japanese tradition. Solidarity was essential in this historical period, and women’s 
identity supported the nation. In contrast, men's identity was tied to the role of soldiers and 
workers, which was closely associated with the war’s impact. After the war, the discussion on 
women’s language turned to biological and psychological nature, which made women’s 
language less political (Nakamura, 2014, pp.199-208). However, the gendered Japanese 
national language consistently constructs women’s language differently from masculine 
language, which is at the center of power and patriarchy. Women’s identity under their 
constructed language is a stage of sexism.  
Nakamura (2014) stressed that women’s language is not a natural reflection of women’s 
speech but an ideological construct shaped by historical, political, and cultural processes. 
Women’s identity and language use are a set of norms and values, and regulating women’s 
speech reinforces a gendered power structure. Women are still objectified and sexualized 
through media representations, leading to the internalization of portrayals with set female self-
 10 
worth (Santoniccolo et al., 2023, p.1). Media plays an essential role in building women’s 
domestic identity and policing and reinforcing sexism by gendered stereotypes; it could also be 
a big part of gender equality promotion by internalization to the public. Adopting gender-neutral 
pronouns in public can influence public acceptance and usage; at the same time, the media could 
create a more equitable environment to make women’s speech and voices valued (Cameron, 
2023, pp.170-171). 
 
2.5 The boundary between men's and women's 
language 
The gender difference in the Japanese language is that women tend to use more honorific 
and polite forms than men, similar to findings in English. However, Mizokami criticized these 
studies for supporting gendered stereotypes among their subjects, who were mostly middle-
aged or older. From the 2002 survey of college students, the boundary between men’s and 
women’s language is ambiguous, and the polite expression has no significant differences in the 
younger generation from 18 to 26 (Mizokami, 2003, p.120).  
Politeness is not a biological determination and is mostly socially constructed by societal 
norms and expectations. Gender dichotomy assumes women’s language is more polite, which 
is centered in a masculine ideology, which only reinforces the gendered stereotypes in advance 
and ignores the changing period (Mizokami, 2003, p.124). The ambiguous boundary between 
men’s and women’s language in the younger generation is strong evidence of societal factors 
changing, and the patriarchal influence is not as stable as before. Historical changes are essential, 
while gender and language use also change when the younger generation appears. The younger 
generation represents the modern expectation of self-identity, which is not similar to the 
tradition and the Japanese cultural symbol. Irrespective gender identity, the younger generation 
tends to choose proper expression depending on the discourse and context. The methodology 
of Japanese women’s language study is stuck in the tradition of women’s politeness. It is 
criticized for being more inclusive and dynamic to reflect broader social changes and shifts in 
gender roles (Mizokami, 2003, p.124). 
 11 
 
2.6 Representations of Women’s Language in 
Media 
Ohara analyzed a Japanese TV program including marital problems conversations and 
found media discourse reconstructs and maintains gender ideology by shifting blame from 
husbands to wives, reinforcing stereotypes by promoting traditional gender roles and 
expectations, and naturalizing ideology as a common sense to perpetuate its influence. Ohara’s 
analysis proved that the media plays an influential role in constructing and maintaining gender 
ideology, and media content should be analyzed critically to understand how it shapes societal 
norms and structures (Ohara & Yumiko, 2002, p.145). 
Mizumoto et al. compared the sentence-final particles of women’s language in TV dramas 
and real life, adopting TV dramas from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, which continue to 
influence modern dramas. Despite the changes in modern women’s lifestyles, traditional 
sentence-final particles, such as kashira(かしら) and wa(わ), are frequently adopted in TV 
dramas. However, these particles are disappearing from daily conversation among young 
women. Women’s language from TV dramas reflects a dramatic expression far from real life 
and could be considered stereotypes of female characters by scriptwriters (Mizumoto et al., 
2006, p.10). 
Usami discussed how language influences identity recognition and thoughts, and language 
choices are deeply connected to personal and social identity. Though partner has several 
expressions in Japanese, such as tsureai(つれあい) and otto(夫), shujin(主人) is still 
considered a formal setting and a conventional term despite its origins. Women’s language is 
under this type of social influence, and women’s language is also a means of expressing and 
shaping women’s identity (Usami, 1992, pp.53-54). 
Wardhana et al. utilized Lakoff’s theory, Language and Women’s Place (Lakoff, 1973, 
p.45), to analyze the women’s language features in the Film Crazy Rich Asians and found that 
women’s language is always used to show hesitancy, politeness, emotional expression, and 
 12 
social status (Wardhana et al., 2023, p.40). Wardhana pointed out rising intonation as a feature 
that shows the speaker’s uncertainty if her opinion is true (Wardhana et al., 2023, p.43).  
Reese and Asher pointed out that intonation is a key factor in interpreting some 
interrogative sentences, which are also biased questions (Reese & Asher, 2009, p.1). Tag 
questions can be biased or neutral depending on intonation and phrasing. Falling intonation 
signals a request for acknowledgment, while rising intonation signals uncertainty and a 
confirmation request (Reese & Asher, 2009, pp.4,5).  
In Jun and Flecher’s (2014) study, rising and falling intonation are categorized into an 
Autosegmental-Metric (AM) model instead of traditional labels. The intonational sequences are 
anchored to specific syllables, called tone-bearing units, to realize the perceptual impression of 
rising or falling pitch. It employs phonetic software to look for the F0 contour, which can 
systematically analyze vowel formants, intensity, duration, and phonatory effects. The authors 
stress that objective and replicable pitch measurements on acoustic data are essential, and mark 
the shift in intonation analysis from earlier impressionistic or purely auditory analyses to data-
driven phonetic analysis, to be systematic and quantitative. 
Media, including TV shows, TV dramas, and films, play essential roles in constructing 
gender identity, which is influenced by specific historical power relations in discourse. Both 
males and females always consider women’s role in social expectations as an ideology widely 
spread in society that helps maintain social power relations. 
  
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3. Study 
3.1 Purpose 
The study aims to examine how women’s language is used in one contemporary TV series 
and how it reflects women’s cognitive changes across generations. It will be conducted by 
analyzing the dialogues from a Japanese TV series in 2024 called “Danchi no Futari”(団地の
ふたり), mainly focusing on the main characters’ dialogues. 
 
3.2 Research question 
1. How does the use of women’s language in TV series vary across generations, and how 
is this reflected in dialogue? 
2. How do women’s linguistic choices shift across conversational contexts, and how are 
these shaped by their identities? 
3. Is the use of polite forms exclusively linked to women’s language, or do they function 
more broadly as formal registers? 
4. Does women’s language still index femininity based on masculine expectations, or has 
it become a marker of identity within women’s communities? 
 
3.3 Hypothesis 
To situate the hypothesis in the context of current research, this section concisely 
overviews pertinent theoretical and empirical work on Japanese women's language, identity, 
and media discourse. 
Inoue (2002, 2016) argues that Japanese women's language is not a naturalistic linguistic 
category but a socially and historically constructed form ideologically linked to femininity. Her 
later work suggests that such a language appears to be on the decline at the end of the 20th 
century. 
 14 
Nakamura (2014) emphasizes that the linguistic patterns utilized by women have 
continually served as indicators of gendered identity, whereas Usami (1992) offers perspectives 
on how language selection can shape individual self-concept and social identity. Concurrently, 
Mizokami et al. (2003) note that younger cohorts are progressively embracing more neutral 
forms of expression, potentially indicating a dilution of the conventional linguistic demarcation 
associated with gender. 
With reference to external factors, Cameron (2023) examines the control of women's 
language by social and media discourse, arguing that such discourses tend to reaffirm existing 
gender norms. In line with this, research by Ohara & Yumiko (2002) and Mizumoto et al. (2006) 
illustrates how television programmes can both mirror and construct gendered ideologies, 
arguing that the media can have an important role to play in the construction of language use 
and gender identity. 
Based on existing research, this thesis cautiously hypothesizes that the use of traditional 
linguistic forms in Japanese women in this TV drama appears to decline in use among younger 
female characters. At the same time, perhaps older characters use traditional gendered linguistic 
forms more consciously, possibly as a way of expressing individual identity rather than simply 
adhering to conventional gendered norms.  
This hypothesis aims to examine whether generational variation in gendered language use 
reflects potential transformations in gendered identity and media representation. 
 
3.4 Data 
The original source of the data is from the Japanese TV series 2024 named “Danchi no 
Futari”(団地のふたり) and chosen dialogues of the female characters. The charaters in this 
TV drama belong to three age groups: the 70s generation, the 50s generation, and the 20s 
generation. The data of dialogues focuses on these three generations and how they talk with 
different people under different situations, including formal ones and informal ones.  
At the same time, the dialogues are categorized by speaking objects and conversation 
 15 
situations, including single-generation and cross-generation. The aim is to identify how 
women’s language changes in different environments. Categorization includes generation 
(single or cross), speaking objects, and conversation situation (formal or informal), and it is 
marked at the beginning of each dialogue with the category type for reference. 
 
3.5 Methodology 
As previously mentioned, the study adopts the dialogues from the Japanese TV series and 
groups women’s language by generation. The women’s language in this TV series shows 
different language use, including intonations, pronouns, and sentence-final particles, especially 
from different generations. 
The first step is to watch this TV drama's episodes and make a list of female characters for 
each generation. Then, the next step is to watch it again, use text transcription, and mark out 
particles and intonation representing women’s language. The transcription uses Japanese and is 
translated into English by me for further reference, and the text analysis is based on linguistic 
features and dialogue situations.  
The selected dialogues are mostly within five sentences, to be more concise and typical 
for analysis. At the same time, two long dialogues were selected, which included multiple 
participants from different generations and gender groups. These could be considered a good 
sample for comparing women’s and neutral or men’s language. All dialogues are categorized 
by generation groups, formal or informal situations, and speaking subjects, which are noted 
before each dialogue analysis with a short introduction of the scene story and its timeslot. It 
aims to make the text analysis logical, clear, and result-driven based on the research questions. 
Text analysis is the primary methodology and focuses on sentence-final particles, which 
are marked as bold in the dialogues, and tones, including rising, falling, flat, and prolongation, 
which are marked in the brackets at the point of sound. The intonational marks are collected 
through the traditional auditory method, including general voice inflection trends rather than 
indicating specific pitch. The marks are briefly expressed as up, down, flat， and long. 
 16 
Intonation is considered in the dialogue analysis based on Lakoff’s study (1973), which 
discussed that women’s speech is often marked by features, such as tag questions and rising 
intonation, interpreting less assertion and more politeness. Intonation is a good feature in 
analyzing and comparing women’s language with neutral or men’s language.  
The study aims to count the main trends of women’s language use features of each 
generation group in this drama and discuss the results. It tries to explain how women’s language 
changes over generations and how it is used to relate to women’s self-identity. 
  
 17 
4. Analysis 
4.1 Introduction of Danchi and the TV series 
Danchi cannot be adequately translated into English and is not even a clear-cut concept in 
Japanese. It is considered a mass housing-type rental unit, and the image that mostly comes into 
the Japanese mind of Danchi is a large suburban complex of reinforced concrete apartment 
buildings (Kiefer, 1968, p.1). In the TV series called “Danchi no Furari”(団地のふたり), 
danchi is described as a collective housing which was created after World War II to address the 
housing shortage after the Tokyo bombing. People gathered in the suburban area to rent danchi, 
a concrete apartment, and live a modern life in the period. However, danchi, as a time creation, 
is gradually out of time and is a part of history. In the TV series, the people living in Danchi are 
mostly older than 70, and the younger generation is rare and has economic issues living here to 
save money. 
The stories of Danchi no Furari happen against the background of the two female main 
characters, who are not successful and do not fit into the mainstream of women’s identity. Noe 
was divorced, returned to her parents’ home, and worked as a part-time lecturer at the university. 
Natsuko never married and lived in her mother’s apartment alone, working as a freelance 
illustrator but unable to afford the living expenses, so she sold second-hand products on the 
internet for a living. Even in metropolitan Tokyo, their living style is always considered unstable 
and judged. However, they still have their pace of living and their ideas of living. 
The following analysis takes dialogue samples from the stories. It categorizes the 
dialogues by generation and conversation situation, formal and informal, and considers the 
relationship between the speaking role and conversation objects. The sentence-final particles 
are bolted for highlighting, while the tones are marked by (up/down/flat/long) at their position. 
It aims to analyze how women’s language varies in this TV series. The characters from these 
dialogues are introduced in the character list as follows. 
  
 18 
4.1.1 Character list 
As the dialogue data are collected based on the sequence of episodes, the characters’ order 
of appearance does not align with the group division. This note clarifies why the following 
alphabetical order is occasionally out of sequence. 
a/ The 50s generation 
A: Noe Oota, the main character, a part-time lecturer at university, Natsuko’s friend, lived 
in the Danchi neighborhood with her parents from childhood and returned home after her 
divorce. 
B: Natsuko Sakurai, the main character, an illustrator, Noe’s friend, has lived in the Danchi 
neighborhood since childhood and now lives alone as her mother returns to her hometown for 
nursing. 
 
b/ The 70s generation 
C: Ayako Sakuma, one of the neighbors from the Danchi neighborhood, has lived there for 
decades, starting in her 20s with her son and husband, and now she lives alone. 
D: Setsuko Oota, Noe’s mother, has lived in the Danchi neighborhood for decades with 
her two children and husband. Now, she lives with Noe and her husband, and her son has moved 
out. 
 
c/ The 20s generation 
H: Sayaka Suzuki, a young woman and stay-at-home mother, moved to the Danchi 
neighborhood with her sons and husband. 
 
 19 
d/ Other characters 
E: Masao Oota, Noe’s father, after retiring as a businessman, became the chairman of the 
housing complex residents' association. 
F: Yasushi Kasukabe, a classmate of Noe and Natsuko in elementary and junior high 
school, and Noe's first love. 
G: Ryunosuke Moriyama, a famous flower artist, moved into Danchi with his partner. 
I: Atsushi Oota, Noe’s brother, moved out of Danchi and is the chairman of his small 
painting company. 
J: Syota Suzuki, Sayaka's husband, a carpenter. 
K: Dan Nakazawa, an illustrator and long-time acquaintance of Noe and Natsuko.  
 
4.2 Single-generation Dialogues 
Scene 1: 70s, formal, with neighbor 
(Episode 3, timeslot 23:43-24:10） 
(The 70s women met in one’s home and talked with each other. They had not met each other for a long time 
before this time, which could be considered a formal situation, though they lived in the Danchi neighborhood for 
decades. Their children were in the same primary school. They spoke of the story of when their children were in 
primary school years ago.) 
C：だからちゃんと歩くようになんなきゃね、だめよそれは 。 
C: That's why you have to learn to walk properly, you can't do that (Up) 
D：昔はよく PTAのお疲れ会で集まったわよね。 
D: We used to get together for PTA meetings, didn't we? (Up, Long) 
C：そう、運動会だ、やれソフトボール⼤会だってもう⼿伝わさ
 20 
れてね。 
C: Yes, we were made to help out the field day, the softball game, and 
so on. (Up, Long) 
D：バザーとか。 
D: Bazaars and such. 
C：そうそうそう。ほんとあの頃私たち忙しかったわよね。あっ、
団地の夏祭りも。ね。 
C: Yes, yes, yes. (Up, Long) We were really busy then, weren't we? (Up, 
Long) Oh, and the summer festival at the apartment neighborhood. (Up, 
Long)  
The 70s generation women use similar sentence-final particles like “ne” and ” yo” to 
soften the whole sentence for listeners. They also use long and rising tones, as the marks show 
in the dialogue, which is a supportive symbol for the conversation objects, as Inoue(2006) 
discusses that women’s speech style, including intonational patterns, are socially constructed 
and interpreted as supportive, deferential, or emotional expressive, and often through features 
like prolonged vowels and rising tones. This phenomenon is most apparent when the 
conversation is formal and among the older generation. 
 
Scene 2: 50s, formal, with classmate 
(Episode 7, timeslot 15:30-15:39) 
(Noe and Natsuko came to their old acquaintance’s exhibition and talked with him.) 
K：なっちゃんさん、ノエちさん、来てくださったんですね。 
K: Nacchan-san, Noechi-san, you are here. (Down) 
 21 
A：お久しぶりです。 
A: It's been a while. (Long) 
B：⼤盛況ですね。 
B: It's been a great success. (Long) 
K：おかげさまで、ありがとうございます。 
K: Thanks to you.  
This dialogue happened between the 50s generation women and a man in the public 
exhibition, and the tone difference is obvious under polite forms. While using the polite form, 
women tend to use prolonged intonation at the sentence ending to suggest euphemism, and men 
normally use a flat or falling voice to appear more certain. Women’s rising tone appears to show 
their supportive and deferential expression in a social construction, as Inoue (2006) discusses. 
 
Scene 3: 20s, formal, with neighbor 
(Episode 5, timeslot 29:57-30:15) 
(Sayaka was mad at her husband and threw away all the lotteries he bought. Unfortunately, her husband told 
her that he had won the biggest prize in a lottery, and she got so nervous about throwing away the ticket that she 
tried to find the lottery ticket with the neighbors. In this scene, Suzuki found the lottery and reported to the 
neighbors.) 
H：そ、それです！ 
H: Yes, that's it! 
H：あった。ありました。皆さん、ありました。 
H: There it is. There it is. Everyone, there it is. (Down) 
Suzuki still uses polite forms in public, like the older generation; however, the tone tends 
 22 
to be flat or falling, which makes the speech appear more certain instead of hesitant. Her falling 
tones point to the positive attitude and acceptance of self-expression, not trying to make the 
conversation softer for the listeners. 
 
Generally, features of women’s language, including sentence-final particles and intonation 
changes, exist in all age generations in formal situations. According to Inoue (Inoue, 2006, 
pp.62-77), intonational patterns, especially prolonged and rising tones, reflect socially 
constructed expressions of supportiveness, deference, and emotions. Women’s language styles 
in formal situations seem to prove this, and the differences across generations mainly appear in 
the young generation, who choose more flat tones in speeches, showing more certainty and less 
hesitation or support from a marginal societal position. 
 
Scene 4: 70s, informal, with family 
(Episode 7, timeslot 24:12-24:45) 
(Noe’s parents talked at home about daily events.) 
E：今度は別に体の具合が悪いと買ってんじゃないんだよな。 
E: I'm not buying that as I am not feeling well this time. (Up) 
D：うん、そう思うけど。 
D: Yeah, I think so. (Up) 
E：なあ、お前さあ、幾つになるんだ。 
E: Hey, how old are you? (Up) 
D：何よ、急に。来年で、傘寿ですよ。 
D: What, all of a sudden? Next year, I'm going to reach the age of 80. 
 23 
(Down) 
E：傘寿と⽶寿かあ、なるほどなあ。 
E: 80 and 88, I see. (Down) 
D：お祝いでもしてくれんの。 
D: Are you going to congratulate me? (Up) 
Noe’s parents are both over 70, and their language use differs in tones and sentence-final 
particles. Noe’s father uses “na” as the sentence-final modal particle, while Noe’s mother uses 
“no,” “yo,” and “kedo” to suggest her softness and euphemism in the conversation. But the 
tones of Noe’s mother sometimes turn falling, including more certainty while speaking with her 
husband privately. Interestingly, Noe’s mother merely uses prolonging tones while speaking 
inside the family, which is an informal situation. She appears to show less socially constructed 
women’s speech patterns, such as prolonging vowels as a supportive symbol, in informal 
situations with her husband. In general, formal speech is more neutral and gender differences 
are more prominent in informal situations, so this statement points to the possibility that women 
in the 70s generation use women’s language normally even in informal situations and with their 
families, but they may appear to choose less social patterns and show more certain in their 
speech inside family.  
 
Scene 5: 50s, informal, self-speech 
(Episode 1, timeslot 02:25-02:45) 
(After a long wait for a delayed bus, Noe decided to walk to her friend’s home; however, she saw the bus 
passing by on her way. At the same time, her friend, Natsuko, is at home and checking the vegetable delivery.) 
In this scene, the two both speak to themselves, with no chatting partner. 
B: 北海道産アスパラ、ラッキー！  
 24 
B: Asparagus from Hokkaido, lucky me! (Long) 
A：アンラッキー。まあ、いつものことか。 
A：Unlucky. (Down) Well, the usual. (Up)  
They both talk to themselves in this scene, meaning there is no relationship of status in the 
conversation, and it is a more natural speaking style. Noe’s speaking style is slow and emotional, 
and she chooses Teineigo (Kotoka) even when alone and speaking to herself. Her tone fluctuates 
greatly depending on her emotions. In contrast, Natsuko’s speaking speed is fast, her intonation 
changes little, and there are no obvious rising and falling tones, even in a happy context. She 
always chooses simplified forms, showing that she does not consider women’s language and 
politeness while speaking to herself. 
 
Scene 6: 50s, informal, with friend 
(Episode 1, timeslot 03:08-03:25) 
(The two met and talked about the delayed bus and the long walk back home.) 
B：それで歩いてきたの？何⼗年あのバス使ってんのよ。 
B: Did you walk here? (Up) How many decades have you been using 
that bus? (Long) 
A：でもさあ、疲れてるときに限って来ないんだよね。で、さん
ざん待って、もういいいやって諦めて、歩き始めた途端にさあ… 
A: But you know, (Long) So, when I'm tired, it doesn't come. (Long)So, 
after waiting for a long time, I gave up and started walking. (Long) 
B：バスが通り過ぎていくと。 
B: Then the bus goes by... 
 25 
Noe and Natsuko have been friends for over 50 years, and they use relaxing words and 
language choices while talking to each other. For instance, “sa” is a discourse marker used in 
informal situations to initiate the following topic or fill the conversation space at the sentence 
ending. It appears to suggest a relaxing atmosphere between them. Noe appears to have a tone 
of inflection in her speech. The prolonged tones appear to highlight the softness of Noe’s 
expression and give space for the speaking objects to reflect. At the same time, Natsuko keeps 
using simplified forms and the case particle, such as “to”. This particle is always used in leisure 
talk, indicating quotation. Natsuko’s tones are flatter and straight, contrasting with Noe’s 
language use, including some emotional particles, such as ‘demosaa’, with a prolonged tone at 
the end. Noe uses a more childish voice while speaking to Na, while Na uses some masculine 
simplification, suggesting that women’s language differences also happen by individual. 
 
Scene 7: 50s, informal, with classmate 
(Episode 3, timeslot 29:11-29:30) 
(Noe and her classmate talked about the neighborhood.) 
A：ううん、春⽇部君が呼び始めたんだよ、私のこと、ノエチっ
て中学の時に。 
A: No, Kasukabe-kun started calling me, Noechi, in junior high school. 
F：よく覚えてんな。 
F: How could you remember that? (Flat) 
A：いやいや、忘れてたんだけどさ、春⽇部くんに会った途端に
思い出した。不思議だね。⼈間の記憶ってね。 
A: No, no, I forgot about it, but as soon as I met (Up) Kasukabe-kun, I 
remembered. It's strange. (Up, Long) Human memory, you know. (Up) 
 26 
F：だよな。 
F: Right. (Up) 
Noe appears to maintain her characteristic intonation style when speaking with her former 
male classmate, using a supportive tone throughout the conversation. The prolonged tone of her 
sentence-final particles may suggest an intention to convey politeness and create a relaxed 
conversational atmosphere. The man, Kasukabe, also uses polite forms as they are not as 
familiar as before, indicating their relationship. But his tones are always falling, suggesting his 
speech is masculine and certain. “Yona” also symbolizes his men’s language as a sentence-final 
particle, suggesting his identity and relationship with Noe. 
 
Scene 8: 20s, informal, with family 
(Epiosode 5, timeslot 32:22-32:44) 
(Sayaka fought with her husband at home.) 
H：私は嫌だよ。 
H: I don't want to. (Down) 
J：へえ？ 
J: Heh? 
H：今更どんな顔して謝んのよ。てか翔太が謝んなさいよ、悪い
の翔太なんだから。 
H: What kind of face do I have to apologize now? (Down) Shota should 
be the one to apologize, as that’s all your fault. (Down) 
H：私なんでも好きなもの、おごってあげるっておばちゃんたち
に約束しちゃった。どうしよう。 
 27 
H: I promised the neighbors I'll treat them to anything they want. What 
should I do now? 
J：だから、ごめんって⾔ってんじゃん。 
J: I told you I'm sorry. 
In the 20s generation’s family, the couple has more equitable relations in language use; 
even the economic relationship is still that of a businessman with his housewife. The young 
woman uses different particles at the sentence ending, such as “dayo,” which is vulgar and 
masculine. Her tones are remarkably flat, and she always appears certain in her speech and 
content. It points to the possibility of the relevance to her low-educated identity from vulgar 
language use, but also highlights the potential of the young woman's different language choice 
and the ambiguous boundary between genders.  
 
4.3 Cross-generation Dialogue 
Scene 9: 50s & 70s, formal, with neighbor 
(Episode 1, timeslot 21:37-22:00) 
(The two help to fix the window for the aunt.) 
C：⼆⼈で来てくれたのね、うれしい。どうぞどうぞ、上がって。 
C: I'm so glad you two came. Please come in, come on up. (Up) 
B：はい、おじゃまします。 
B：Yes, sorry for bothering. (Long) 
C：あの、こちらお使いください。 
C: Um, you can use this one. 
 28 
B：はい、失礼します。 
B: Yes, excuse me. (Long) 
C：悪いわね、⼤学教授にこんな網戸の張り替えなんか、お願い
しちゃって。 
C: I'm sorry for asking a professor to replace a screen door like this. 
A：おばちゃんそれ違います。私ね、講師なの。 
A: That's not true, Auntie. I'm a lecturer. 
Coming to another person’s home is a typical formal situation, and it is always considered 
polite to express more politeness in greetings. Noe and Natsuko both use polite forms in 
greetings and prolong their tones in conversations, emphasizing their politeness before entering 
the neighbor’s apartment. Keigo is also considered essential while speaking to the elderly. 
However, Sakuma also uses polite forms to show her excuses for asking for help.  
The greetings are always formal and in a fixed formula, requiring peace and consistent 
pronunciation. Women’s language and men’s language are common in this situation. However, 
the tone differs. Noe works as a university lecturer, meaning she has more social functions, 
while the neighbor is retired. Noe uses a more peaceful and flat tone to greet, which is less 
different from men’s language in a social environment, while the neighbor uses up-going and 
long tones in the conversation. 
 
Scene 10: 50s & 70s, formal, with neighbor 
(Episode 4, timeslot 33:48-34:30) 
(Neighbor talked in the café.) 
D：こう⾒えて、あたし懐は深いのよ。何てったって、この⼦何
 29 
⼗年ウチに置いとくんだから。 
D: I may not appear it, but I have deep pockets. (Up) After all, I have 
kept her in my house for decades. 
C：そううよね。⽂句も⾔わないでね。ね、ノエちゃん、あなた、
⼤学教授じゃなくて、⾮常勤講師なんだって。あ、知らなかった。
もう、おばちゃんずっと教授なんだっておもってた。 
C: I guess you're right. (Up, Long) You are not even complaining. (Up, 
Long) Hey, Noe-chan, you're not a professor but a part-time lecturer. 
(Up) Oh, I didn't know that. (Up, Long) I always thought you were a 
professor. (Up, Long) 
A：すみません。でも何度もお伝えしたはずなんですけどね。 
A: Sorry. But I've told you many times. (Up) 
G：あの僕実は、この団地を終の棲家にしようと思っていました。 
G: Actually, I was thinking of making this apartment complex my final 
home. (Down) 
This dialogue includes women from both the 50s and 70s generations and an unfamiliar 
male neighbor who has just moved into the Danchi, and the situation is that the man consults 
on his personal issues. Sakuma and Noe’s mother suggest their care and support to Moriyama, 
using supportive conjunctions between sentences and strengthening the supportive tone by 
prolonging the ending particles. The rising tones appear to indicate hesitation and euphemism 
instead of forced language use.  
 
Scene 11: 50s & 20s, formal, with neighbor 
(Episode 5, timeslot 07:28-07:46) 
 30 
(The Suzukis fight at home, and Noe’s brother, as the recommender for the Suzuki couple in the neighborhood, 
calls Noe and Na for help mediating.) 
H：そうなんすよ、五階はきついんすよ。この気温で上がってく
るの。どうぞ。 
H: Yes, the fifth floor is tough. It's hard to come up in this temperature. 
(Down) Here you go. 
AB：ありがとう。 
AB: Thank you. 
I：悪いね。 
I: Sorry about that. 
H：てか、どけよ、お客さんいんだから。 
H: Move over, guests are here. (Down) 
J：わかってるよ、うるせえな。どうぞ。 
J: I know, shut up. (Down) Please sit down here. 
The young couple first meets the main characters, and they try to show their politeness by 
using please (douzo) in the dialogue. It is also the first time Noe and Natsuko come to the 
couple’s apartment, so they use apologizing voice to show politeness and hesitation. In contrast, 
the young woman does not hide her anger and uses straightforward language even before the 
strangers, which is typically considered a formal situation to suggest politeness and implicit. 
She uses an imperative “doke” together with the assertive sentence-final particle “yo”, 
indicating a vulgar language use in a formal situation. She also uses “nsu” as an abbreviated 
polite copula and “teka” as a conjunction, which is quite a casual polite and sometimes used 
by bad youth (huryo), indicating her less care for women’s language use, even in a formal 
situation. 
 31 
 
Scene 12: 20s & 70s, formal, with neighbor 
(Episode 5, timeslot 43:43-44:13) 
(In the Summer activity, Aunt Sakuma talked with Sayaka.) 
C：喧嘩しないの。さやかちゃん。あなた困った事があったら、
いつでもおばちゃんたちに⾔いなさいよ。 
C: Don't fight, please. (Up) Sayaka-chan. If you have a problem, you 
can always tell us. (Up) 
H：え？ 
H: Uh? 
C：だって、男の⼦⼆⼈育てんの⼤変よ。まあ、うちは⼀⼈だっ
たけどね、それでも。だから、わかる。 
C: Because it's hard to raise two boys. (Up) Well, I had one (Up), but 
still. So, I understand. (Long) 
H：えっ、そうなの。 
H: Oh, really? (Flat) 
C：いざ、病気だ、怪我だ、イタズラだってもう。気が休まる暇
ないじゃない。 
C: And then suddenly it’s illness, injury, mischief—honestly! There's 
no time to relax. (Up, Long) 
In this situation, Sakuma (70s) and Sayaka (20s) have gotten used to each other, so they 
choose a more casual public conversation. Though the old-young relationship still exists 
 32 
between them, Sayaka chooses simplified forms in her answer instead of the polite form, and 
the tone is flat and certain. Sakuma keeps her long and rising tones in each sentence and uses 
the sentence-final particles as usual, such as “no,” “yo,” “kedone,” and “wayo,” which 
indicates that she is used to using women’s language to express her identity as elegance and 
femininity.  
 
In cross-generational dialogues, the old-young relations always remain. This is valued in 
Japanese discourses that the young or subordinates should show full respect to the old or 
superiors through language, including intonation. The class relations remain weaker and weaker 
across generations, and the young generation shows the least care for this relation, reflected in 
her flat tones in formal situations. Keigo remains in formal conversations, while the hesitation 
and supportive intonation are weakened. To sum up, women’s language in cross-generational 
and formal situations gradually turns to neutral gendered language across generations. 
 
Scene 13: 50s & 70s, informal, with neighbor 
(Episode 1, timeslot 20:30~20:53) 
(Natsuko met a neighbor aunt while purchasing food.) 
C：あっそう、わたしまだ⻝べたことないわ。 
C: Oh, I haven't eaten it yet. (Up) 
B：あっそう。 
B: Oh, yeah. (Up) 
C：また韓国ドラマはやってんでしょ。 
C: Korean dramas are popular again, aren't they? (Up) 
B：あーー、⾒るの、おばちゃんも？韓国ドラマ。 
 33 
B: Oh, you watch them too, Auntie? Korean dramas. 
C：いいえ、⾒ません。 
C: No, I don't watch them. (Flat) 
（silence） 
C：そうだ、ちょうどよかった。あのさあ、ちょっとお願いがあ
るのよ。 
C: That's right, just in time. Hey,(Long, Up) I have a favor to ask 
you.(Up) 
Sakuma, from the 70s group, uses women’s particles in every sentence, such as “noyo” 
and “wa.” Instead of using the casual interjection “uun,” she uses the formal expression “iie” 
in negation phrases, and her tone turns from rising to flat to indicate her denial. This is a tactful 
symbol in women’s language to suggest firm denial, and it differs from the common euphemism 
and leads to silence afterward. At the same time, she does not omit personal pronouns in her 
sentence every time in informal situation; “watashi” is used to make her sentence complete and 
polite. 
Her tone is another characteristic that identifies her women’s language choice. She uses a 
stickier tone, making words a continuous reading, showing a rising trend in each sentence, and 
tending to prolong her tone to make the context more tactful. She uses some particles for 
pausing inside the sentences, such as “anosa”, “ano”, making herself more hesitant, and “sa”, 
making the atmosphere casual. Slow and hesitant word choices make women’s language polite 
and respectful.  
 
Scene 14: 50s & 70s, informal, with family 
(Episode 1, timeslot 17:33～18:52) 
 34 
(Noe came back home and gave the veggie from Na to mother. Noe had a conversation with her mother and 
father in the dining room.) 
A：お⺟さん、これなっちゃんから。 
A: Mom, this is from Nacchan. 
D：あら、またわるいわね。あ、なんかお礼しなくっちゃ。 
D: Oh, sorry again. (Up) I should thank her in some way. 
A：いいよ。いつも適当になんか奢ったりしてるから、⼤丈夫。 
A: That's okay. I always buy her a drink or something, so don't worry 
about it. (Down) 
D：そうは⾔ってもね。まあ、おいしそうね。 
D: Even so. (Up) Well, it looks delicious. 
E：何だこれ、またなっちゃんちか？ 
E: What's this, Nacchan's again? 
A：うん。 
A: Yes. 
E：いいね、仲がおよろしくて。 
E: It's nice that you two get along so well. (Flat) 
A：お⽗さんとお⺟さんだって、仲良いじゃないね。 
A: Mother and father are good friends, too, aren't you? (Long) 
E：ほかに仲良くする⼈がいないから、仲良くしてるだけ。 
 35 
E: We only get along because there is no one else to get along with. 
D：あたしはいますよ、いくらでも。お⽗さんだって理事会があ
るじゃない。 
D: I have someone to get along with, as many as possible. (Up) You 
have a board of directors, too. 
E：これはほとんど仕事、むしろ針のむしろ。 
E: This is mostly a work, in other words, like a needle bed. (Down) 
D：うん、だったら辞退すればいいのに。 
D: Yeah, then why don't you just decline? 
E：だからそうはいかないから困ってるんだよ。あ、そうだ野枝、
来週さ、俺あの⾼齢者健診あんだけど、⾞出してくれ。 
E: I cannot decline, and that's why I'm in trouble. (Down) Oh, that's 
right, Noe. Next week, I will have an elderly checkup. Drive me there. 
D：野枝に頼んでも無駄よ。どうせ役に⽴たないんだから。 
D: It's no use asking Noe to do that. (Up) She's useless anyway. (Up) 
E：お前がさ、勉強ばっかりさせて、家のことちっとも⼿伝わせ
ないから、こういうことになってるんだよ。 
E: This is what happens when you make her study all the time and don't 
make her take care of the house at all. (Up) 
D：そうね。どうしてこんなことになっちゃったのかしらね。カ
レーにしよう、カレー。 
 36 
D: That's right. I don't know why things turned out this way. Let's have 
curry, curry. 
This is a long dialogue in Noe’s family, including Noe and her parents, which appears to 
suggest that the language used differs from a formal situation inside the family. Noe’s mother 
uses more feminine particles in her sentences, such as “kashira,” “noni,” “wane,” and “ne.” 
She uses “atashi” as a personal pronoun to identify herself and does not omit it for politeness 
while talking with her husband. Her tones are continuous and rising and tend to be lengthened 
between each word. For pronouns, she uses “Otousan” (father) to identify her husband instead 
of second-person or third-person pronouns, indicating her respect and politeness even inside 
her family. Noe also uses women’s language while talking with families, but her tones are flat, 
showing less hesitation and euphemism in family situations. Noe’s tone turns rising while she 
tries to behave in a spoiled manner, which only appears inside the family in the informal 
dialogues. Noe’s rising tone in this dialogue indicates her child identity to her parents instead 
of a woman’s identity in language use. 
The comparison between Noe’s mother and father points to some interesting facts, as Noe’s 
father uses some masculine particles, such as “ka” and “kure.” His tones are polite without 
giving orders and authoritative voices while using the beneficial form. His tone is flat in all 
speech, reflecting more confidence and certainty instead of questions and discussion about 
others’ opinions within the family. In contrast, Noe’s mother’s tone always turns rising, 
indicating a more negotiable atmosphere, considering and respecting others’ thoughts. She uses 
fewer negative sentences to express and avoid opinion conflict within the family, while Noe’s 
father uses straightforward expressions of his thoughts. Noe’s father also uses “Omae” (you) 
as the pronoun to identify his wife, which is masculine and impolite, appearing to suggest an 
uneven word choice in the Japanese language. 
 
Scene 15: 50s & 70s, informal, with neighbor 
(Episode 2, timeslot 06:22-06:40) 
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(Noe and Na invite Aunt to the cafe) 
B：あの、私達これからマツでホットケーキを⻝べようと思って、
ね。 
B: Um, we're thinking about having pancakes at Matsu’s Cafe.(Up) 
A：おばちゃんも⾏きません？割引券あるのよ。 
A: Why don't you go with us, Auntie? I have a discount coupon. (Long) 
C：そう、喫茶店ね、いいわね。じゃあ、⾏こうかしら。だって、
⼀⼈じゃさ、喫茶店⼊れないから。 
C: Yes, a Café (Long), that's nice. (Down) Okay, let’s go together. 
(Down) Because, you know, I can't go to a Cafe alone. 
In casual dialogues, women from the 50s generation choose “tte” as the conjunctive 
particle for simplification, indicating a casual and upbeat atmosphere. In the female dialogue, 
both the 50s and 70s keep using women’s particles, such as “no,” “wa,” and “kashira,” and 
the rising tone as a symbol of euphemism for the invitation, appearing to suggest that women 
tend to choose polite forms in informal situations. 
 
Scene 16: 50s & 70s, informal, with family 
(Episode 2, timeslot 11:20-11:53) 
(Noe’s parents asked Noe about the cat, which was complained about by the neighbor.) 
D：いや、理事会じゃ有名⼈なんですって。 
D: No, I heard he's a celebrity on the board. (Up) 
A：そういえば、私も猫⾒たなあ。三⽑猫のちっちゃい、あれ⼦
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猫だよね。 
A: Come to think of it, I saw a cat too. (Long) A little tortoiseshell cat 
is a kitten, isn't it? 
E：どこでよ。 
E: Where? 
A：あの公園の横の⽣垣のところ、ぴゅうって通り抜けて⾏った
よ。 
A: It went through the hedge next to the park. 
D：じゃあ、やっぱりいるんじゃないの。 
D: Then there must be a kitten, right? (Up) 
Compared with Noe’s mother, who uses more questions and rising tones to indicate 
hesitation in the discussion, Noe appears more certain while describing things in dialogues. She 
only uses the particles “yo” and “ne” at sentence endings to make her language smoother and 
softer, and “yone” to make her polite for confirmation. It points to the possibility that the 
certainty of language use increases by generation. 
 
Scene 17: 50s & 20s, informal, with neighbor 
(Episode 5, timeslot 14:36-15:12) 
(Sayaka complained about her husband in Na’s home.) 
H：聞いてくださいよ。私がね、ここに来てる間に、あいつら、
勝⼿にアイス⻝ってたんすよ、アイス。しかもね、⼀番⾼いアイ
ス、まじ、許せね。 
 39 
H: Listen to me. While I was here, they were eating ice cream without 
my permission. (Flat) And the most expensive ice cream, which I 
seriously cannot forgive. (Down) 
B：じゃ、あの、かき氷でも⻝べる？私ね、あの抹茶シロップ作
ったから。 
B: Well, then, do you want some shaved ice? I made, um, that matcha 
syrup. (Up) 
A：⻝べる！  
A: I'll have some! (Up) 
H：⻝う⻝う⻝う。 
H: Eat, eat, eat. (Down) 
H：なっちゃん、すげえ。こんなん作れんの。尊敬するわ。しか
も、うまっ。 
H: Nacchan, that's amazing that you can make something like this. (up) 
I respect you. (Down) And it's delicious. (Down) 
Sayaka uses neutral or masculine words and pronouns in her speech, such as “maji” 
(seriously?) and “aitsu” (the person), which are normally used in men’s language. At the same 
time, Sayaka uses “kuu” and Noe uses “taberu” while they both express wanting to eat, and 
“kuu” is normally employed in men’s language. She sometimes mixes gendered language in 
her speech, such as the male particle ”sugge” (good, neutral use as “sugoi”). Suzuki’s language 
use is ambiguous regarding the boundary between female and male language, which suggests 
a tendency in the younger generation. 
 
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Scene 18: 20s& 70s, informal, with neighbor 
(Episode 9, timeslot 27:23-27:40) 
(Sayaka helped Aunt Sakuma move.) 
H：そこ、段差あるからね。 
H: There, there's a step. 
J：わかってる。 
J: I know. 
H：お願いします。おばちゃん、これで最後かって。 
H: Please. (Flat) Auntie, I thought this was the last one, wasn’t it? 
(Down) 
C：うん、はい。 
C: Yeah, yes. (Long) 
Sayaka’s tones are flat when using the polite form and falling when confirming with others, 
differing from rising tones on questions in women’s language. Sayaka appears more certain, 
less hesitant, and has fewer differences from the male language while communicating. It 
suggests that she has a more neutral language choosing tendency and less consideration for 
being a good woman by women’s language use. Sakuma prolongs her tone while confirming, 
indicating more support in a conversation and pointing to the possibility of appearing polite and 
respectful to the conversation objects in normal communication. 
 
4.4 Discussion 
From text analysis classified by dialogue situation, women’s language in the drama varies 
by generation. In single-generation dialogues, 70s women use typical women’s language by 
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adopting women’s sentence-final particles, and rising and prolonging tones. They use discourse 
markers inside the sentence, such as “ano sa”, which is combined with the interjection “ano” 
and the interjectional particle “sa”, to suggest hesitation and softness. The intonation may turn 
flat in informal situations, including families, suggesting a more casual atmosphere. However, 
the particles and polite forms are still adopted at home, even with their husband or daughter. 
50s women have multiple language choices in different situations, and polite forms are always 
used in formal dialogues. They use simplification with their friends and more flat intonation in 
casual conversations. The hesitation and sentence-final particles still exist in the 50s women’s 
speech, but their intonation changes. They appear less continuous between words, and the 
prolongation of intonation decreases. Politeness is always considered in the 50s generation, 
especially in formal situations, using greetings and polite forms correctly. The 20s woman’s 
language use is neutral and ambiguous on gender particles, using flat and falling intonation to 
show more certainty in her speech and adopting fewer women’s particles and more men’s 
language. The finding indicates one possibility, aligning with Mizokami et al.’s study (2003), 
that the boundary between women’s and men’s language becomes ambiguous in the younger 
generation. Though the language use may be affected by her low level of education and 
individual personality, the generational changes that she shows less hesitation and supportive 
intonation in her speech could be understood within the limits of individual variation and 
indicate the potential for language evolution in contemporary Japanese media portrayals. 
In the cross-generation dialogue analysis, the speakers’ and listeners’ identities are 
considered an object factor. Old-young relations are normally valued in Japanese discourse, in 
which the young should show full respect and politeness to the old in speech, represented by 
polite forms. In women’s language, it is represented extra by hesitation within sentences, and 
rising and prolonging intonation to appear supportive and deferential, which is discussed as a 
social construction by Inoue (2006). In this cross-generational relationship, polite forms depend 
on the speaker's position with the conversation objects. The language used by 50s women is 
inconsistent in all situations, reflecting their multiple choices based on their experience and 
knowledge. Though the 20s woman uses polite forms in public and greetings, her intonation 
appears flat or falling without any hesitation in communication. She speaks like a man; in other 
 42 
words, she appears to ignore the women’s language norms, and the particles turn out to be a 
simple expression that can be combined with a man’s language use or neutral language use 
without gendered limitation. Women’s language turns out to be neutral and less gender-related 
across generations in the drama, reflecting that individual experience changes over time, and 
due to societal factors changing. Generally, the position of women’s language has changed over 
the generations, and it involves a strengthened identity structured from a patriarchal society to 
self-identified use from their cognition. Though the identity tightly tied to women's language 
use remains in daily use, women do not judge the young generation’s neutral use.  
It is worth mentioning that male characters also use polite forms in formal situations, but 
the intonation seldom rises, even in question sentences. Men appear to have an authoritative 
identity in conversations with women, and some vulgar word choices are considered masculine 
in men’s speech, which is a far different evaluation than when women adopt them.  
Individual personality may offer a different analysis perspective in this drama; for instance, 
Natsuko and Noe have a similar background, but their language use is still different, which 
suggests that women’s language, this dichotomy concept, has extreme limitations in omitting 
complexity in individuals.  
  
 43 
5. Conclusion 
The study focuses on the different language use of three generations of women in the TV 
series Danchi no Futari and how the language features reflect changes in women’s cognition. 
According to the TV series, the analysis concludes that women’s language declines over 
generations, and the younger generation tends to adopt neutral language and has ambiguous 
boundaries of gendered language. Feminine forms, like particles (Okamoto,1995, p. 301), 
decline in the 20s generation’s speech, while they primarily exist in the 70s generation’s speech. 
The 20s generation uses neutral and polite forms, equal to men from the same generation, 
suggesting that women could have neutral language choices. The differences in intonation over 
generations indicate that women are more certain in their expression. For instance, the women 
of the 50s generation shorten their intonation more than those of the 70s and cut out some 
hesitation in their sentences. Women appear to use straightforward intonation to improve 
credibility across generations. At the same time, women’s language cannot be considered a 
general concept, including all women’s speech, which ignores the complexity of the individual. 
Women of the same generation express themselves differently in terms of both particle choices 
and intonation, rising or falling. Though the general tendency of women’s language in this 
drama appears to be declining, women remain in a marginal position compared with men. 
Women’s language choice indicates politeness and softness by sentence-final particles and 
intonation rising, while men choose the authoritative and dominant language in the same 
situation. Gendered language is consistently associated with self-identity and cognition in this 
drama. 
Previous research has examined the relations between language and cognition from several 
perspectives. Usami (1992) and Sato (2018) both employ case studies. However, Usami focuses 
on how language influences thoughts using the word “Shujin”, which is a referential noun used 
by women only in marital relationship, and highlights that language is not just a tool for 
communication but also a means to express and shape identity, and language is always 
influenced by societal and cultural norms. Sato (2018) also employs historical and linguistic 
analysis to analyze how Japanese women’s language constructs and shifts in gender identity. 
 44 
Ohara (2002) and Mizumoto, et al. (2006) employ media material for discourse analysis. 
Ohara mainly focuses on discourse from TV programs and finds that media discourse often 
reconstructs and maintains gender ideology by shifting blame, reinforcing gender stereotypes, 
and naturalizing ideology. Mizumoto, et al. (2006) collected both data from the trendy TV 
dramas from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s and conversation data of women aged 20-40 living 
in Tokyo. Mizumoto’s study focuses on the comparison of the feminine sentence-final particle, 
such as “wa” and “kashira”, between TV dramas and real-life conversations, and illustrates that 
TV dramas tend to exaggerate the use of feminine sentence-final particles compared to real-life 
conversations, which may be influenced by scriptwriters’ perceptions of female characters. 
Inoue (2002) employs a genealogical approach to trace the historical emergence and 
development of Japanese women’s language and focuses on discontinuities and the complex 
interplay of social forces, illustrating that Japanese women’s language is not a linear 
development but an indexical process, which helps to understand women’s language in a 
nuanced way. Mizokami (2003) conducts an empirical survey among college students focusing 
on the polite expression, and finds that the boundary between men’s and women’s language is 
becoming ambiguous among the younger generation, reflecting broader social changes. 
These works emphasize the trend that Japanese women’s language is increasingly 
disappearing in real life, which was constructed by societal, historical, and cultural norms. 
Women’s language is used in media works, including TV dramas, which sometimes 
overdescribe the existence of women’s language, though the changes in women’s lifestyles 
continue. In other words, the media, including TV programs, drama, films, etc., play an essential 
role in constructing gender identity, which could be both positive and negative depending on 
the expression tendency. On the one hand, the media can reinforce gender stereotypes by 
ignoring the root of social problems and shifting blame, and finally naturalize gender ideology. 
On the other hand, the media can employ neutral forms of language and be neutral in gender 
issues, which could benefit the public in having a nuanced understanding outside gender 
ideology.  
Women’s language symbolizes a good woman image in Japan’s society. It is a framework 
 45 
that orders how women behave and speak, removes their means of expressing themselves, and 
makes their speech less authoritative to keep their identity marginal (Lakoff, 1973, p.45). My 
study mainly focuses on analyzing women’s language from one TV drama and classifying the 
discourses by generation, aiming to find the different expressions of women in three age groups. 
My study concentrates on how women express themselves through women’s language and 
whether they can identify themselves outside the societal “good woman” framework.  
Previous studies relevant to media material consider that the women portrayed in TV 
dramas are far from real life, illustrating a bias in shaping female characters, and the overusing 
of women’s language could be a stereotype. My study finds that women tend not to follow the 
expected route in life; returning home or having a temporary job without marital relations could 
also be far from a good woman’s image. These life choice changes are nearly real-life and 
minimize the gap between drama performance and real life. Under life choice changes, 
women’s language use also takes the dominant place back as a simple expression tool. Though 
feminine sentence-final particles are still broadly adopted in this TV drama, it shows not only 
a traditional female identity of the elder generation, but also a conflict expression for the 
younger generation; female language identifies their feminine identity, but the identity is not 
following the traditional “good wife, wise mother” route, and including more thoughts of 
individual life and social identity. This study contributes to the field by illustrating that gendered 
language, once tied to discrimination and rigid norms, is now being reshaped by some women 
as a tool for self-expression beyond conventional gender roles. In this context, women’s 
language is reappropriated as a form of personal identity and self-construction rather than a 
mechanism of social control. 
Though the analysis is based on the TV series, which may have dramatic performance on 
women’s language use (Mizumoto et al., 2006, p. 10), the tendency of women’s language 
decline and the identity cognition changes are still seen in this latest TV series. It could help 
understand women’s language, having a new definition nowadays, and women may identify 
women’s language more nuanced and neutrally. 
 
 46 
5.1 Limitation 
My study mainly employs a qualitative approach and focuses on text analysis of women’s 
language features. The analysis is brief, using text and audio samples and excluding visual 
materials, which have limitations due to the lack of facial and gesture expression analysis. At 
the same time, the dialogues were selected very specifically and representatively, and data 
resources were limited to one drama, which can not represent all contemporary women’s 
language trends. As mentioned, acoustic measurement relies more on phonetic analysis by 
software collection. However, this study is limited to earlier auditory analysis methods and 
focuses on comparing intonation changes across generations and situations.  
Future research could extend this study by expanding the sampling to multiple TV series 
during one period. It would be beneficial to apply a quantitative approach to calculating the 
frequency of sentence-final particles or to utilize phonetic software to visualize and objectively 
analyze voice data. In addition, investigating the adoption of women’s language strategies 
would also be valuable in understanding how women define their language and identity in 
changing societal norms. 
  
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