The Effect of Age on the Style of Discourse among Japanese Women

THE EFFECT OF AGE ON THE STYLE OF DISCOURSE AMONG JAPANESE WOMEN Andrew J. Barke Graduate School of International Cultural Studies Tohoku University Kawauchi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8576 JAPAN Email : abarke ginsc .tohoku ac.j p ABSTRACT This study looks at language differences found in the conversations of two groups of Japanese women differentiated by their age. In particular it investigates differences in the strategic use of such aspects of speech as personal pronouns, adverbs, sentence-final particles, and fillers and words of habit. The use of repetition and the lengthening and shortening of sounds are also taken into account. It is found that the younger Japanese women tend to use various techniques in conversation to express their loyalty and support to other members of their group, whereas older women are more likely to adopt strategies which appear to aid them in seeking support and holding the floor during the conversation. 1. INTRODUCTION Over the past three decades, attention from a variety of disciplines has increasingly focused on the area of gender research, largely as a response to the activities of the feminist movement. Linguists have been no exception to this trend, showing an increase in interest in the influence of gender on language use. As the number of studies in the area grew, inconsistency arose over the use of the terms 'gender' and 'sex', with both being used by linguists to refer to the biological categories 'male' and 'female'. Recently, however, the general opinion appears to be that 'gender' should refer to the culturally designated characteristics corresponding to the concepts of 'masculinity' and 'femininity', while 'sex' should refer to the biological distinctions of 'male' and 'female'. This is in recognition of the fact that masculine and feminine characteristics do not necessarily correspond to a person's biological sex. While 'male' and 'female' are regarded as being two fairly distinct categories within any population, 'masculinity' and 'femininity' are not so easily divided. It is possible for a single individual, regardless of their physical features, to show a mixture of both traits. Being characteristics that are culturally defined, the meanings of 'masculine' and 'feminine' can vary widely between different societies. To date, most studies in the area language and gender research have been concerned with contrasting language use based on the biological divisions of the two sexes, whether they purport to be looking at gender and differences in language use or sex and differences in language use. It is my belief that the focus of attention will move away from this dichotomic treatment of language, and shift towards a multifaceted approach. Two paths I think likely to be taken are investigations into: 1) the relations between gender characteristics displayed by the speaker (regardless of their biological sex) and language use; and 2) the interaction of gender/sex with other social factors such as age and socio-economic class. This presentation is a step in the direction of the latter. It investigates the differences in style within the bounds of the speech of Japanese women, with particular …

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