Questions tagged [gender]
男女の言葉遣い. For questions about gender-specific speech or how to address or refer to people depending on their gender. Note that Japanese doesn't have grammatical gender.
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Is ニュー・ハーフ considered a derogatory/offensive term in Japan for a transsexual individual?
Also, as a follow-up, is it used solely to refer to MtF trans individuals? From what I've read online in Japanese, that seems to be the case, but I just wanted to confirm. And if so, what is the most ...
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Kaguya-sama: 女の子 (onnanoko) as an opposite for 男子 (danshi)?
Related: Kaguya-sama: Dropping keigo when narrating?
In Kaguya-sama Chapter 52 / S02E02, there's a character named Moeha Fujiwara (the imouto of a main character Chika Fujiwara) who talks about Kei ...
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Stubbornly gender-neutral way to address or refer to your older sibling? (Wait a minute...what about non-binary?)
I believe Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog/Filipino/Philippine and English (I'm a monolinguist from HK and the Philippines) don't have this, and so Japanese probably doesn't either, but here goes:
Is ...
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How relevant is gender in comparing last name-kun/chan compare to 1st name-san?
Re these questions:
How does last name-kun/chan compare to 1st name-san?
(Danganronpa) Why does Naegi call Togami "kun" and Aoi "san"?
(Kaguya-sama) WWhy does Chika call Miyuki ...
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What's up with males named Miyuki?
Edit 1: It's like A Boy Named Sue or something.
Edit 2: Should I split this question into 2 posts so I can accept both answers? Huhuhu. I think I'll just accept 1 and bounty the other. It's a ...
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Is "Shinya" gender-neutral name? Would it be too weird as female name? [closed]
I'm creating a female character. I really like that name but afraid that it's too weird for a woman, as every character or person I seen with that name were male.
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Is ending a statement with の really feminine?
I saw this very interesting and useful Q&A: Is ending question sentences with の really feminine? a while back, and it seemed to align with my own understanding of the 終助詞の. But I have heard this ...
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Can the [くん]{kun} suffix be used for non-binary people?
I recently played a videogame with a non-binary character and wanted to affectionately refer to them as [ロワン]{Rowan}[くん]{kun} but realized that this suffix is normally applied to males.
I also found ...
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Gender disparity in use of terms for children (女の子, 男の子) for adults
According to a paper I read some time ago for a class, words such as 女の子、女子 etc. are sometimes used for adults, where the coordinate male terms would generally not be used. Do we have some evidence ...
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～のね used by male speakers
I'd heard that the 「（名詞）ね」form was sometimes used by male speakers before, and I've been reminded by something in Dragon Quest IX. There is a character late in the game known as 大賢者, and while they're ...
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Japanese Interjections (Danseigo-Joseigo)
Do Japanese people still use danseigo and joseigo (especially interjection)?
Can joseigo be used by men? Such as まあ and あら.
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What's the significance of this female character's use of おまえ?
I'm accustomed to thinking of おまえ, in modern Japanese, as a second-person pronoun and form of address that is used by men and boys with their inferiors or equals. But in 『少年と犬』, by 馳星周, there's a ...
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When does 彼 refer to a person of indeterminate gender?
I've seen 彼 and even sometimes 彼氏 described in several dictionaries as a pronoun that can refer to a person of any gender, while 彼女 is explicitly female. However in the wild ive never seen a woman ...
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Use of 自分 in terms of dialect, formality, and gender
I was wondering in terms of Tokyo dialect, if there is a difference in gender and formality in the use of 自分 as a reflexive pronoun 'I'?
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Statistics on common readings for Japanese names
I am looking for statistics (raw data) on the most common readings for kanji used in names (family name or first name) and the most common gender for a name. Existing dictionaries tend to just spit ...
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Formal, feminine first-person pronoun
よろしくお願いします。 I am writing a scene (in English, with occasional
Japanese for flavor and difficult-to-translate terms) where a rather
androgynous woman is in a Tokyo department store, speaking with a ...
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What is the function of よ in this context, and is this よ a deliberate imitation of "feminine" てよだわ言葉?
In the Ghibli film The Castle of Cagliostro, there is a scene where Lupin, a male character who mainly makes use of stereotypical-masculine language throughout the whole movie, utters the following ...
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Usage of いる/います and ある/あります in combined words and sentences
Actually, this has been lingering for sometime in my mind about how Japanese convey a sentence which has both the living and non-living things. Will Japanese use いる or ある? or whichever comes first? or ...
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Is おっすused by both men and women?
I know the term means hi or hello, but is it used by both genders? My research indicates a male usage, particularly in chats. Thank you.
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What are the meaning of the sufix ちゃん in an adult man?
Hi one of my japanese friends calls my other friend with the suffix ちゃん but he is a man and is older than her so I dunno if this is a correct way to use this suffix between a woman (younger) and a man ...
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Does the term 女性語 identify words only used by women?
Women speak with certain word differences when compared with men and I want to verify if this term is used to describe them. Thank you.
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Is there a casual gender-neutral first-person pronoun?
I know that 私, while being used by both men and women, is relatively formal or at least polite and so wouldn't necessarily be used when talking to a close friend, etc. On the other hand, 俺、僕、and あたし ...
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"お休みなさい" not appropriate between male neighbours?
In a japanese マンション I noticed that after sharing the common elevator when going back home at night, most of the female residents would greet by "お休みなさい" before leaving, while it seemed that male ...
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What final sentence particle can replace の and is used more commonly by men?
の has a female connotation and I wanted to obtain some alternative final sentence particles.
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What word can I use for 'they', when referring to a mixed gender group?
I.e. for a group of guys, you have: 彼たち、かれら
and for girls it's: 彼女たち 彼女ら
So if you have a mixed group, which one should you go with? Is there a different word?
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What does the Japanese diminutive suffix "chan" indicate?
Is chan a feminine or masculine suffix?
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Can かまってちゃん be used for males?
This word is used to describe someone who bothers or even annoys other people in order to get attention.
The most common translation to English is drama queen, and the Japanese version sounds ...
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How to shorten conjugations of "must" forms without sounding girly?
I know the full conjugations of expressing things that must/must not be done (ex:行かなくてはだめ）and their slang forms (ex:行かなくちゃ) but I've heard the ちゃ sounds like a little girl speaking? If that's true, ...
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The word いや - gender?
I've been told that いや (in its use similar to いいえ) is a mainly masculine word, but I've heard many female speakers use it, both as a filler and a content word expressing disagreement. Is it that young ...
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Gendered usage of 素敵
素敵 is often described as a feminine word. Just how feminine is it? What would be the impression of a male speaker using it, if he didn't already use feminine speech?
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Do even Kansai women use the ～ん negative?
As in 分からん and ならん. In Standard (?) speech, I'm fairly certain it's masculine.
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What is the female equivalent for 「ご主人様」 or "master?"
In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe novel, the character Aslan orders centaurs and eagles to chase a wolf, saying, "He will be going to his mistress." He is referring to the wolf's female master,...
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The positive ～じゃない
Just how feminine is it? How odd would it be if a male speaker said it? I have found one example of someone male using, in a piece of fiction: Lest レスト、 the main character of Rune Factory 4 ルーンファクトリー４、...
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Can a 皇帝 be female? [duplicate]
What would the word for empress (other than of Japan) be? Please give me the word for a ruling empress.
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Regarding the word あたくし [duplicate]
It seems too formal for casual use, but too casual for formal use. In what sort of situation would anyone use あたくし?
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Can 「奴」 be used to refer to a female?
Is the word 「奴」/「やつ」 (yatsu) ever used to refer to another female, or to refer to oneself if one is female? Or is it only used to refer to a male?
Answers to this question touched on the word 「奴」, ...
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Could ルフレ be considered a gender-neutral name?
In the Fire Emblem: Awakening game, the avatar character — that is, the main character whose name and gender you pick — has a default name. In English, the default name is Robin, because the character ...
user1316
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Is using 笑 to mean "lol" feminine or gender-neutral?
On Facebook, you see 笑 getting used a decent amount to mean "lol". To my American eyes, using something that literally means "smile" - and even looks semi-subconsciously kind of like an advanced ...
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「ね」 vs 「な」 in 「そうだね」 /「そうね」/ 「そうですね」
Another thread stated that when expressing agreement, we can choose between 「ね」 and 「な」. 「ね」 is more feminine and 「な」 is more masculine.
By that, would 「そうな」 be the masculine form of 「そうね」 ?
Also, ...
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how could a sentence end with (noun + "よ"?)
I'd thought you cannot end a sentence with a noun. Rather:
noun + だ。
noun + です。
noun + である。
noun + であります。
noun + でございます。
But in a movie dialogue, I heard: "大切なのは、心よ。"
Ending a sentence with a noun ...
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What's the female equivalent for the informal ぼく?
What's the female equivalent for the informal ぼく? I've heard that females will tend to use わたし, but then it's said to be formal. Doesn't there exist a female informal "I"?
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Can ぼくたち (bokutachi) be used for mixed-gender group?
*disclaimer:*I'am still learning hiragana, so forgive me for any wrong spelling
I've learnt that normally only males use ぼく (boku). What about ぼくたち (bokutachi)? Should it normally be reserved for ...
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Are there stereotypical speech patterns or inflections associated with gay Japanese speakers?
This is not intended to be a controversial or provocative question.
In English, there are "commonly accepted" stereotypes for how gay people sometimes speak. Are there corresponding characteristics ...
user1316
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Sounding slightly effeminate in Japanese
Sorry if this has already been asked somewhere or if this is an unconstructive question...
I feel that my English speech is sometimes a bit effeminate (in informal conversation, that is). I would ...
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Using な or ね when addressing a mixed-gender group?
I have the basic understanding that ね is generally more formal/feminine and な is generally more informal/masculine. I was told that you tend to use ね as an emphasis if you are a) a female yourself or ...
user1316
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The gender of 子
Is 子 ever used to refer to a boy, or is it always used for girls? Is 悪い子 used only for girls?
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How to sound more manly when sneaking popcorn into the cinema
OK, really esoteric question time:
So I went to the cinema with a female friend on the weekend.
I was going to buy some of the horrendously overpriced popcorn there, but then she said:
持ってきちゃった!
...
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When women use わ at the end of a sentence, is it different from よ?
My understanding of using わ at the end of a sentence is that it's essentially just for emphasis, just like using よ, and that only women can use it.
However, as far as I know, women can, and often do, ...
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