An historical perspective on women’s speech in japanese

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.)There are cases in Japanese language when the linguistic options of men differ slightly from those of women. The distinguishing differences between these types of language are much more fine-tuned, encompassing phonetic, lexical and even morphological categories. In Japanese diachronic linguistics there is a series of words whose origins have long been forgotten by the modem speakers, such as the words referring to food: musubi (a rice ball), o-hiya (water); tableware; pronouns: kimi (you) or polite forms of the verbs: arinsu (in modem Japanese arimasu , used for [-animate] beings) or omasu (in modem Japanese imasu , used for [+animate] beings). Such words were employed by women of different social statuses, starting with nyobo (court ladies) and proceeding with nimonzeki (nuns from aristocratic families) or even with yujo (courtesans). Most of these words pointed at everyday objects and events: food, phrases connected to feminine physiology, with a slang-like euphemistic usage.In the Heian period (794-1185) people began to be aware of language differences between men and women. Sei Shonagon, an accurate observer of the spirit of the time, wrote down in her book, Makura no soshi (The Pillow Book, 1002):(1) Kotonaru mono. Hoshi no kotoba. Otoko, onna no kotoba.Things that are different. The words of priests. The words of men and women.In the Nara period (710-794) we can already encounter different sets of pronouns for men and women in a book called Man 'yoshu (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves), compiled in 705:(2) Wasimoko ni waga ko(f)u raku wa yamu toki mo nashi.My passion for you, my love, will never end.Man 'yoshu 3260(3) Kimi ni awazute toshi no henureba.Time went by without seeing you, my love!Man 'yoshu 3261The first poem was written by a man who was addressing his sweetheart wagimoko, while the second poem was conceived from the point of view of a woman who was calling her lover kimi. We can infer that in romantic relationships men addressed women imo, wagimo or wagimoko, whereas women spoke to men using the pronoun kimi.1.1. Saugu imi-kotoba ... - Linguistic taboos of the priestessesThe term saigu refers to a priestess or a nun attending at the Great Shrine of Ise. The priestesses avoided naming directly certain words that were believed to be impure or unlucky, that is why they resorted to roundabout statements, imi-kotoba (euphemisms or linguistic taboos). Traditionally speaking, there were 14 imi-kotobas, grouped into two categories.1.1.1 Imi-kotoba for inner useThese words were related to all sorts of Buddhist ceremonies taking place all year round.(4) araragi a Japanese yew... meaning: pagoda(5) kawarabuki tile roofing... meaning: temple(6) kaminaga long hair... meaning: Buddhist monk(7) mekaminaga woman with long hair... meaning: Buddhist nun(8) katazen (half of the) meal on the tray... meaning: purification, abstinence1.1.2 Imi-kotoba for outer useUnlike the above-mentioned group, this category does not necessarily refer to Buddhism:(9) na(h)ori healing... meaning: death(10 )yasumi rest... meaning: sickness(11) shiotare salt drop... meaning: shedding tears(12) ase perspiration... meaning: blood(13) nazu to brush gently, to stroke... meaning: to beat, to hit(14) kusabira germ... meaning: meat(15) tsuchikure earth, soil... meaning: tombThus, we can classify the words used by these priestesses from the semantic point of view.a) antonyms: kaminaga (long hair Buddhist monk); naori (healing death)b) paronyms (words which are almost homonyms, but have slight differences in spelling or pronunciation and have different meanings): ase (sweat -> blood); yasumi (rest -> sickness); shiotare (salt drop -* shedding tears); kusabira (germ -> meat)c) words describing the outward appearance of things: kawarabuki (tile roofing -> temple)Some of the phrases originate in the Japanese belief in kotodama (the magic force of the words), therefore one must avoid the usage of such ill-fated, impure words. …