Arashi Narukami And Feminine Language (Joseigo, 女性語）
Hello! This isn't a usual style of post of mine, but I had been wanting to make something related to it for a little while.
In the source material, Arashi Narukami uses a style of speech known as Joseigo, or literally, female words/language. It is as the name suggests, a style of speaking predominantly used by women with the intention of sounding softer and more feminine usually spoken in a higher cadence. However there is no comfortable English equivalent for this, and much of it is lost in translation due to it. So I wanted to take a moment to shine a light on this language for people who may not be as familiar with it, as I believe it's a big element in how voice is written for Arashi.
The following will just use certain examples of language to illustrate how this speech comes up in Arashi's normal talking.
(All examples used are direct quotes from Arashi, they are romanised for ease of reading)
In Joseigo, different particles are used at the end of a sentence to soften it. Some common ones are, wa, wa yo, da wa, na no, or opting more often for the polite invitational mashou.
Kyou wa nakanaka haado na ichinichi datta wa ne.
Saikin, oishii ranchi wo dasu omise wo mizuketa no.
Ufufu, sou na na yo~! Ureshii wa, Ritsu-chan. Kizuitekureta no ne ♪
"No" in particular is often a more feminine grammatical replacement for -ndesu or -nda or -nandesu which go on the end of sentences. Attaching this grammar element to the end of nouns or the short form of verbs can indicate there being an implicit reason or explanation for something. The second example used above follows a sentence that is an invitation to eat together, the "no" indicates that the sentence is an implicit explanation for the question that came before, mentioning she recently discovered a new shop.
Another very common ending element that comes up in Arashi's speech is the well known "kashira", which can be used as a replacement for "kana". Used for wondering and questioning.
Tama ni wa issho ni ohiru demo dou kashira?
You will also notice in this example the use of o + noun, adding o or go to the front of certain nouns makes them more polite, which is also used in Joseigo, likely borrowed from Japanese polite language, particularly Sonkeigo.
In more neutral or masculine language, nai + ka can be used to indicate an invitation or prompting intention to perform an action, a more casual form of the verb conjugation -masenka. Similar to English's "won't you do-" or "don't you want to- or "why don't you-" in how it adapts an otherwise negative conjugation into a positive question. However Joseigo commonly omits the final ka, making the question implicit to the sentence's intonation.
Yokattara, tameshiteminai?
I don't have much more to mention, it's hard to expand beyond "this is how it works and Arashi uses it" but gendered language in Japanese is very interesting, there are also more masculine speaking styles. I find this side of Arashi's speaking is really important to how she is communicated as a character, providing a brighter and cuter charm to normal language that aligns well with her personality. Arashi is already very expressive and I find her Joseigo is a part of it, bringing a flair of individuality to her language that accompanies her cheerful demeanor. It's a shame that English doesn't have a straight forward equivalent to it, much of it is lost in my work. I hope in the future more people will be able to recognize her Joseigo and appreciate the extra sparkle it brings to her.
I'll finish off this post with another one of Arashi's more common integrated phrases. "Ara" or "ara ara" you have likely come across in Japanese media before, and is used to express amusement or surprise, think along the lines of "oh dear" and "oh my ". It is a general expression for anything that piques interest or causes astonishment.
areudirty
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