Language and an expression of identities: Japanese sentence-final particles ne and na

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Language and an expression of identities:Japanese sentence-final particles ne and na

www.elsevier.com/locate/pragmaJournal of Pragmatics 64 (2014) 72--84

Naomi OgiDepartment of East Asian Studies, School of Culture, History and Language, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific,

The Australian National University, Australia

Received 3 July 2013; received in revised form 28 January 2014; accepted 1 February 2014

Abstract

This study explores the interrelationship between language and the biographical characteristics of the speaker, including gender, ageand social status, by examining the interactional functions of two Japanese sentence-final particles ne and na. A major claim in theliterature is that although these particles share some similar functions, they differ markedly in terms of gender, age and social status of thespeaker: for example, na is used by male speakers only while ne does not have such a restriction. To date, however, little research hassystematically examined their differences, and consequently the use of na including its connection with the speaker’s gender, age andsocial status has also been neglected. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the functions of ne and na by exploring not onlytheir similarities, but also their differences, and sheds light on some aspects of the nature of the identity-language interface. The study willclaim that the use of na does not directly indicate the speaker’s biographical characteristics. Rather, its special tone of ‘camaraderie’ isclosely linked to sociocultural values on gender and formality in the Japanese language, and consequently its use manifests the particulargender, age and social status of the speaker.© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Sentence-final particles; Ne and na; Identities; Gender; Formality; Spoken discourse

1. Introduction

This study explores the interrelationship between language and the biographical characteristics of the speaker,including gender, age and social status, by examining the interactional functions of two Japanese sentence-final particlesne and na.1 In Japanese, sentence-final particles (hereafter, SFPs) are one of the most frequently used linguistic items inspoken conversation, and, it is difficult and unnatural to have a conversation without using these particles (McGloin, 1990;Ide and Sakurai, 1997; Katagiri, 2007; Ogi, 2012). The particles ne and na are no exception to this, and numerous studieshave been dedicated to the issues surrounding their usages (e.g. Uyeno, 1971; Cheng, 1987; McGloin, 1990; Izuhara,1996; Miyazaki et al., 2002; Asano, 2003; and many others). A major claim in the literature is that, although these twoparticles share some similar functions, they differ from each other in terms of gender, age and social status of the speaker.For example, Cheng (1987) notes that na is used when the speaker attempts to confirm his thoughts with the hearer, andfurther points out that na can be replaced with ne, although when na is used the hearer should be socially equal to, or lowerthan, the speaker. Miyazaki et al. (2002) state that although na is used by male speakers, it has the same function as ne.

Abbreviations: BE, various forms of the ‘be’ verb; CD, conditional; LK, linker (linking nominals); NEG, negative marker; NOM, nominaliser;OBJ, object marker; PASS, passive form; PROG, progressive form; QT, quotation marker; QUE, question marker; RES, result marker; SFP,sentence-final particles; SUB, subject marker; TOP, topic marker.

E-mail address: Naomi.Ogi@anu.edu.au.1 Na is also used in monologues (e.g. Cheng, 1987; McGloin, 1990; Miyazaki et al., 2002), however the scope of this study excludes such a

usage as the purpose of the study is to reveal the mechanism of how the interactional function of the particle is related to its use by a specificgender, age and social status.

N. Ogi / Journal of Pragmatics 64 (2014) 72--84 73

Similarly, Asano (2003) claims that the replacement of ne with na simply makes the utterance sound masculine, and thedifference between ne and na is only stylistic.

Keeping this in mind, let us look at the example utterances below. No SFP is attached to the utterance in (1), while ne isattached in (2) and na in (3).

3 In thin exam

details

e data,

ples are

of the MTatchi is

oishii

odern Tokyo abbreviatedonyms, using

-Standa to T and

letters

(1), (2) and (3) denote the same propositional information, ‘This is delicious’, and yet what is notable here is that theseutterances differ from each other in the following points. First of all, (2) and (3) differ from (1) in that these sentences areuttered in a two-way conversation, and indicate that the speaker is ‘markedly’ seeking the hearer’s alignment with thepropositional information (see section 2 for details). (1) is ‘neutral’ in this regard, and may be used to simply describe thepropositional information. It may be used in a monologue, and when used in a two-way conversation, it could beinformative to the hearer but this is only by virtue of the conversational setting that ‘while I am talking you are the hearerand are supposed to pay attention to what I am saying’. Furthermore, (3) with na differs from (2) with ne in that the speakerin (3) is an aged male talking to the hearer who is equal to, or younger and/or socially lower than him, while (2) with ne doesnot in particular indicate such information.

As illustrated in these examples, what has been claimed in the literature is indeed true in the sense that ne and na mayhave some similar functions, and their use is different in accordance with gender, age and social status of the speaker.Nonetheless, to date little research has systematically examined how these misleadingly simple particles can create suchdifferences. By providing a comprehensive analysis of the functions of ne and na, the current study sheds light on someaspects of how the speaker’s gender, age and social status can be expressed through the use of language.

This study focuses on the Tokyo-standard variety, and throughout the article the term ‘Japanese’ indicates the Tokyo-standard variety of modern Japanese.2 Data for this study are two widely read manga series Tatchi and Hana yori Dango(see ‘Data sources’ for details).3 Manga provide valid data for the present study for the following two reasons. Firstly, asKabashima (1990) reports, language used in manga overlaps with that used in spontaneous conversation to a largeextent, and thus in terms of language use, manga are deemed to be valid conversational data for the analysis of spokenconversation. Secondly, manga provide various visualised contexts including the speaker’s gender, the conversationalparticipants’ age and social status, and the level of formality of the situation that are crucial for the current analysis of theidentity-language relationship.

This article is organised as follows. In section 2, I first adopt the involvement-based approach (Lee, 2007) into theanalysis of ne and na, and show that the common function of the particles is to indicate the speaker’s attitude of inviting thehearer’s involvement in an incorporative manner. Section 2 also discusses the common expressive effects of these twoparticles in relation to their incorporative function. Section 3 is then devoted to the unique features of na by exploring thedifference between ne and na. It will be shown that na has a special property that indicates the ‘camaraderie’ tone of thespeaker while ne does not, and this special tone associated with na is the primary factor that restricts its use in terms of thespeaker’s gender, age and social status. Section 4 presents the conclusion.

2. Shared properties of ne and na

2.1. Incorporative function of ne and na

‘Involvement’ (or ‘engagement’) is a fundamental element for the initiation and maintenance of verbal interaction. It isseen as a prerequisite to the success of any conversational encounter, and created and maintained by the consistent use

rd Japanese, see Koyama (2004). Hana yori Dango to HD. They are followed by the number of volume, e.g. T5 or HD8. All names usedsuch as ‘A’ or ‘B,’ unless specified.

N. Ogi / Journal of Pragmatics 64 (2014) 72--8474

of a variety of linguistic forms and strategies (e.g. Arndt and Janney, 1987; Danes, 1994; Lee, 2007). In dealing with SFPsne and yo, Lee (2007) adopts the notion of ‘involvement’ in connection with the role of a speaker’s attitude in conversation,and characterises ne as the incorporative particle and yo as the monopolistic particle. Observe (4):

4 It isconversbe used1992; Haccounadopts

utterancapproac

ational when

asunumt cannothe ‘inve and hh for th

noting tha participanthe speaka, 1998;

t sufficienolvementas been

e analys

omoshirokatta.

t in previous studiet possesses (e.g. Cer assumes that his/

Lee, 2007), due to

tly explain; for examp-based’ approach whproven to systematicis of the interactiona

her infthe prle, caich foally del func

funct1987ormaominses wcuseal witions

ion of ne has often been discussed; McGloin, 1990; Maynard, 1993). Wtion is shared with the hearer. Howevent focus on the informational aspechere ne is appended to information es on the interactional aspect of an uth a wide range of the usages of ne (c

of SFPs has also been discussed b

Lee notes that, while these utterances convey the same propositional information, i.e. the speaker’s positive evaluation ofthe movie, each utterance differs from the others in delivering the attitude of the speaker towards the hearer. (4a), withouteither ne or yo, indicates the speaker’s attitude of unilaterally delivering his/her positive evaluation of the movie. Being a‘simple’ statement without involvement, it may also be used in monologue or written language. In contrast, (4b), with ne,invites the hearer’s involvement in the way that the speaker encourages the hearer to align with his/her positiveevaluation. This can roughly be glossed as ‘I think that the movie was interesting. Don’t you think so?’ Furthermore, (4c),with yo, invites the hearer’s involvement in the way that the speaker enhances his/her position as a deliverer of his/herpositive evaluation. This can roughly be paraphrased as ‘Listen. I tell you that the movie was interesting’. (5) is a summaryof the functions of ne and yo extracted from Lee (2007:369):

(5) Functions of ne and yo (Ø = no SFP is appended)

Marked involvement

In what follows, I will expand the above approach to an analysis of na, and show that the particle shares the incorporativenature with ne.4 First, consider (6) below which illustrates the use of ne identified as the incorporative particle by Lee.

inithert oxcttef.

relationin this ‘in, as is alsf an uttelusively

rance raLee, 200Ogi (201

In this example, speakers O and K are talking about a film in which O featured as a main character. The film was shownvery late at night, and because of this O did not expect that many people would come to see it. O expresses his happinessin finding that in fact many people had turned up, and uses ne. By adding ne here, O wishes to align with K with regard tohis happiness. In responding to this, K uses the lengthened, emphatic, Nee, and shows her full alignment with O. Note thathere K’s role is as a receiver of O’s utterance, so the use of the monopolistic particle yo, instead of Nee, is not acceptable,

to ‘the state of information’ which eachformation-based’ approach ne is seen too pointed out in the literature (e.g. Cook,rance there are many cases where thisknown by the speaker. The current studyther than the informational aspect of an7). The validity of the involvement-based2).

since this particle signals the speaker’s attitude of enhancing his/her position as a producer of the utterance rather than as areceiver of the other participant’s utterance. As such, ne as the incorporative particle may be used when the speaker expectsto be a receiver of the other participant’s utterance, and indicates his/her alignment towards the utterance, while yo cannot beused in the same manner due to its monopolistic nature. What is informative to our current discussion is that unlike yo, na andits emphatic version naa can be used in the same manner as K’s use of Nee in (6), which is exemplified in (7).

The use of Naa above provides the same effect as Nee in (6) in that K fully aligns with O with regard to what O has said.The following example further illustrates that these two particles share the incorporative function.

In (8), a baseball coach confirms with a pitcher whether or not the pitcher knows that the lower half of the body such as legsand hips is important for pitchers. Here na is used to seek the pitcher’s alignment with the coach’s expectation that thepitcher knows how important the lower half of the body is for pitchers. In this case, na can be replaced with ne andsuccessfully delivers the coach’s incorporative attitude, whereas the use of yo is impossible. If yo were used here, i.e.wakatteru yo, the utterance would simply indicate the speaker’s attitude, ‘Listen. I tell you that I know it’, and cannotindicate the coach’s intended attitude of seeking the pitcher’s alignment. In fact, it does not even make sense in thiscontext.

As such, ne and na share the common property of signalling the speaker’s incorporative attitude. Both particlesindicate that the speaker invites the hearer’s involvement through which he/she is committed to align with the hearer withregard to the content and feeling conveyed in the utterance, thus they are often interchangeable with respect to thespeaker’s incorporative attitude. In section 2.2 I discuss the expressive effects shared by ne and na in relation to thespeaker’s incorporative attitude delivered by the use of these particles.

2.2. Expressive effects of ne and na

The effect of ne and na is seen as ‘softening’ the tone of a request in some studies (Usami, 1997; Asano, 2003; Lee,2007 for ne; Izuhara, 1996 for na). Interestingly, their effect is seen as ‘strengthening’ the tone of a negation in some others(Kamio, 1990; Hasunuma, 1998 for ne). Furthermore, some studies view their effect from a slightly different angle, andnote that the use of ne and na makes the utterance sound ‘friendly’ or ‘intimate’ (Izuhara, 1996; Asano, 2003 for ne; Imao,2000 for na). There are also some studies which point out that these particles are used more frequently in casualconversation than in formal conversation (Cook, 1992; Maynard, 1993; Izuhara, 2001 for ne; Uyeno, 1971 for na).

Below, I will provide a systematic account for the above-mentioned effects of ne and na and other relevant issues, andshow that these effects/issues will be consistently accountable in terms of the perspective of involvement and theincorporative nature of ne and na.

2.2.1. Softening vs. strengtheningWe first focus on the conflicting two views, and address how the single particle, ne/na, can be interpreted in such

completely opposing ways. Let us consider the case of softening the tone of a request. For example, Lee (2007) for ne andIzuhara (1996) for na, claim that these particles have an effect of softening the force of a request and provide the followingexamples (9) and (10), respectively.

(9) a. Ashita hayaku kite kudasai.

5 Thistone of

does nvoice,

ot mean that

would also so

e or na is the solene of (9a) without

determ ne an

tomorrow

iner which softens a tone of the utterance. Prosodic features, for example, a sd (10a) without na.

(9a) and (9b) are the same in that they both indicate the speaker’s request to come early tomorrow, except that (9b) employsne, while (9a) does not. However, as suggested by Lee (2007), the force conveyed by (9a) and (9b) is different. According toLee, in (9b) the speaker’s invitation of the hearer’s involvement expressed by ne implies the speaker’s recognition andacceptance of the hearer as his/her conversation partner as well as his/her willingness to continue the conversation with thehearer. This speaker’s recognition of, and feeling towards, the hearer, results in the effect of softening the force of the request.In contrast, (9a) without ne does not markedly invite the hearer’s involvement, hence it lacks the expression of the speaker’sconcern towards the hearer. The assertiveness of the request tone is thus straightforwardly expressed, and that results indelivering the request in an ‘official’ tone, implying ‘I request you to come here early, and have no more to say’. This is alsoapplicable to the case of na in (10). In (10a) without na, the speaker expresses the request (to have a look) unilaterally withoutmarkedly indicating his recognition of the hearer as his conversation partner and his willingness to maintain the conversationwith the hearer. Thus, the request tends to be firmly delivered in an ‘official’ tone. On the other hand, in (10b) with na, thespeaker conveys his concern towards the hearer in inviting the hearer’s involvement, and thus the force of the request ismoderated. As such, if we focus on the delivery manner of ne and na with the speaker’s marked invitation of the hearer’sinvolvement, their effect can be interpreted as softening the tone of the utterance.5

Next, let us observe the cases in which the effect of the particles is seen as strengthening the tone of the utterance. Aspointed out by Kamio (1990), the use of ne in (11) would be considered to strengthen the tone of the negations.

In (11), A invites B to go (somewhere) together, and B refuses A’s invitation. B’s use of ne here can be interpreted asenhancing his tone of refusal of going, because it indicates that he does not simply say no, but further seeks A’s alignmentwith regard to his feeling of refusal, ‘(I don’t go) and wish that you too understand my feeling’. Since A’s invitation isunderstandably based on his/her wish that B accompanies him/her, B’s such an attitude appears as pressure on A.Therefore, the tone of the refusal sounds stronger.

The use of na in (12) below can also be seen as having the effect of strengthening the tone of the utterance.

In this example, A asks B if B remembers A, and B answers that he does not know A. Here, the use of na in B’s responseseeks A’s alignment with it, ‘I do not know you and wish that you too understand the fact’. This adds pressure on A to accept it,hence B’s utterance as a whole can be heard as B’s stronger negation, compared to the utterance without na, i.e. Shiranee.

In sum, with their incorporative function, the use of ne and na indicates the speaker’s recognition of the hearer as his/herconversation partner and his/her willingness to continue the conversation with the hearer. Such concern towards the hearerexpressed by the speaker’s use of particles moderates the tone of the utterance, and can be interpreted as softening the toneof the utterance. However, the use of ne and na cannot be always interpreted as softening the tone of the utterance. Due totheir incorporative nature, the use of the particles may be seen as forcing the hearer or adding pressure on the hearer tounderstand and accept what the speaker says, and this appears as strengthening the tone of the utterance.

2.2.2. More frequent use in casual conversationAs noted earlier, ne and na are more frequently used in casual conversation than in formal conversation. As in the case

of the softening/strengthening effects discussed above, this case is also comprehensively explainable from theperspective of involvement and the incorporative nature of the particles.

Note that formality/informality is generally ensured not only by the formality of verbal forms, but also by the differentways the speaker expresses his/her attitude and feelings/emotions towards the hearer. For instance, Lee (2002) pointsout that the speaker in principle more directly and strongly expresses his/her attitude and feelings/emotions in a situationwhere he/she has a close relationship rather than a formal relationship with the hearer. With this in mind, recall (9b), (10b),(11) and (12) given above. In the softening cases of (9b) and (10b), it has been shown that the use of ne/na with therequest directly and strongly indicates the speaker’s willingness to continue the conversation with the hearer. It has alsobeen demonstrated in the strengthening cases of (11) and (12) that the use of ne/na with the negative expression directlyand strongly expresses the speaker’s feeling and emotion of refusing towards the hearer. What is clearly observed inthese examples is that the use of ne/na, whether it softens or strengthens the tone of the utterance, directly and stronglyexpresses the speaker’s attitude and feelings/emotions towards the hearer. Such a direct and strong expression of thespeaker’s attitude and feelings/emotions is generally allowed in casual conversion, as noted by Lee (2002). This accountsfor the reason why ne and na are more frequently used in casual conversation than in formal conversation.

This also provides a straightforward explanation for why the use of ne and na is often viewed as making the utterancesound ‘friendly’ or ‘intimate’ (Izuhara, 1996; Asano, 2003 for ne; Imao, 2000 for na). Recall that the speaker in generalmore directly and strongly expresses his/her attitude and feelings/emotions when he/she has a close relationship with thehearer. The use of ne and na, thus, implies that the speaker treats the hearer as a person who is close enough to him/herso that he/she can express his/her attitude and feelings/emotions in a direct and strong fashion. This is seen as friendly orintimate. Therefore, in a conversational situation that requires a high level of formality, the use of ne and na isinappropriate. For example, (13) is a conversation between an interviewer, A, and an interviewee, B, at a job interview.

b. ? Chotto

The use of ne/na in interviewee B’s utterance (B’s reply in b) indicates his/her friendly feeling towards interviewer A. Thus,the utterance sounds inappropriate for the official job interview as in (13), which in general requires a high level offormality. Furthermore, with ne/na B’s utterance adds his/her attitude of aligning with A, wishing that A will also understandhis/her (B’s) feeling. This would be interpreted as imposing B’s feelings and wishes onto interviewer A, and could even beseen as rude, despite the use of the polite verbal form -desu in muzukashikatta desu ‘was difficult (polite)’.

3. Special property of na

Thus far, I have discussed the function and expressive effects, that are shared by ne and na. In this section I willdiscuss a special property of na by exploring the difference between ne and na. The relevant issues that are to beaddressed are:

he use of na is restricted to male speakers, while ne is not as restricted and can be used by both male and femalespeakers (Uyeno, 1971; Cheng, 1987; McGloin, 1990; Izuhara, 1996; Imao, 2000; Miyazaki, 2002; Asano, 2003);

(ii) T

(iii) N

3.1. Notion of ‘camaraderie’

What is observed in the above issues is that na does have restrictions with regard to the speaker’s gender, age andsocial status, while the use of ne does not. Look at utterances in (14). In each utterance, the speaker expresses his/hergood feeling about the weather, and the use of ne/na shows that the speaker wants to align with the hearer with regard tohis/her feeling, expecting that the hearer will also feel the same.

the terms what I

‘camarader mean by ‘n

ie’ ratherakama-

na/ne.

More importantly for the current discussion, the utterance with na denotes that the speaker is typically an aged male, whohas a certain social status. It also indicates that the speaker is socially higher than, or at least equal to, the hearer, and yettries to be friendly, or to share ‘camaraderie’ with the hearer. The utterance with ne does not particularly denote suchinformation.

Note that the concept of ‘camaraderie’ is thought to be the key characteristic of na, which differentiates the particle fromne. Some previous studies have pointed out that, compared to ne, na has a nuance that the participants are in a ‘closerrelationship’ (Imao, 2000) or provides a ‘more informal tone’ (Uyeno, 1971). The current study also agrees with theseviews, and formally proposes that na indicates the speaker’s attitude of sharing ‘camaraderie’ or ‘nakama-ishiki’ inJapanese, which denotes ‘one’s psychological closeness to another’,6 with the hearer.

Having said that, there is another possibility when dealing with the behaviour of na. That is to assume that the feature of‘male’ and ‘age’ (the speaker being an aged male) is a genuine property of na. If it were the case, it would indeed be muchmore straightforward than the ‘camaraderie’ account. However, first of all, the indication of the speaker’s age cannot be agenuine property of na, as demonstrated by the following examples in which na is used with the da/ru form (the plain form).

sugokatta

than other possible

hiki’.

transla

tions such as

‘matesh

ip’,

In (15) A makes a compliment to B on his winning of the baseball game held the day before. The particle na is used by A(who is in fact middle-aged). However, unlike the case in which na is used with the desu/masu form, the use of na with theplain form here, i.e. sugokatta, does not provide any clue about the age of speaker A. In (16), A visits B’s house and statesthat the size of the living room in B’s house is the same as that of the toilet in his (A’s) house. Unlike (15), in this case na isused by A who is a high school student. As such, na with the da/ru form can be used by either an aged or young speaker,and by just hearing the expression, da/ru-na, it is impossible to tell the speaker’s age without knowing the context of thegiven conversation. This suggests that the use of na does not directly indicate the speaker’s age.

‘friendship’ ‘intimacy’ and ‘fellowship’ because it better

The direct indication of the speaker’s gender as male cannot be a genuine property of na, either, since it cannot explainhow the use of na indicates that the speaker is aged (and male) when used with the desu/masu form. There is no directlogical connection between ‘being male’ and ‘being aged’, and it cannot provide a convincing ground for why indicating thespeaker ‘being male’ is automatically interpreted as the speaker ‘being aged’, when used with the desu/masu form (we willreturn to this issue in section 3.3).

Having reached this point, it is rather plausible to assume that na has a certain property, other than the direct indicationof the speaker’s age or gender, and this property is the major cause for the special effects of na. As already noted above, Iclaim that na has the characteristic to indicate the speaker’s attitude of sharing ‘camaraderie’ with the hearer, and this isthe property that produces the related effects of the particle. Below, I examine cases in which na is used with the da/ru formin section 3.2 and with the desu/masu form in section 3.3, in connection with the notion of ‘camaraderie’.

3.2. Plain form da/ru and na

I have already provided some examples of na with the da/ru form in (15) and (16) above. Note that in Japanese societythe relative age and social status between the speaker and the hearer play a crucial role in the choice of formal/informalspeech style, and someone younger and/or socially lower is in general required to speak in a formal and polite way tosomeone older and/or socially higher (Sugito, 1983; Mizutani, 1983). Furthermore, the polite form desu/masu, and theplain form da/ru, are a typical device used to indicate the level of formality in the Japanese language, and it is mandatory inthe language to indicate the level of formality, by choosing either the polite-ending desu/masu or the casual-ending da/rufor each main predicate of every utterance. This means that when the casual-ending da/ru is used the speaker ispresupposed to be in a close relationship with the hearer, or socially higher and/or older than the hearer, and thusspeaking in a tone of camaraderie is naturally accepted. For example, in (15) earlier, A uses na, i.e. sugokatta na ‘it waswonderful-NA’, and what underlies is the fact that A is superior to B (B’s teacher), and thus naturally allowed to express atone of camaraderie. The use of na in this case expresses speaker A’s attitude of sharing camaraderie with hearer B. Thisfurther reinforces the friendly feeling of A towards B (as discussed in section 2.2.2, ‘friendliness’ has already beenexpressed by the use of na to some extent due to its incorporative function). Similarly, in (16), i.e. toire no ookisa da na ‘thesame as that of the toilet-NA’, since A and B are classmates and in a very close relationship, it is so natural that they usethe da/ru form, and that A uses na and indicates his attitude of sharing camaraderie with B. With the incorporative nature ofna A seeks B’s alignment with respect to his comment on the size of the living room in B’s house, exaggeratedly comparedto the size of the toilet in his (A’s) house. A’s attitude of seeking B’s alignment in terms of his comment on the size of B’stoilet may be rude to B. However, A’s attitude here implies that A treats B as a close friend who will accept his rudeness,and more importantly, the tone of camaraderie of na further reinforces such an attitude of A towards B, e.g. ‘I treat you asmy ‘buddy’ whom I can speak with camaraderie, and make my utterance sound as if I am just teasing you rather than beingrude’.

In short, when the speaker uses na with the da/ru form, the camaraderie expressed by the particle implies that thespeaker treats the hearer as a person who is close to him so that he can share camaraderie with the hearer, which in turnreinforces friendliness that is already conveyed in the utterance.

3.3. Polite form desu/masu and na

We now consider cases where na is used with the polite-ending desu/masu. Recall that in Japanese society someoneyounger and/or socially lower is generally required to speak in a formal and polite way to someone older and/or sociallyhigher. This means that the speaker who is younger and/or socially lower than the hearer is in principle not allowed toexpress his/her camaraderie to the hearer, since expressing such camaraderie presupposes the speaker’s psychologicalcloseness to the hearer, and is not interpreted as either formal or polite. Given that, the use of na presumes that thespeaker is in a position where he is allowed to show his attitude of sharing camaraderie with the hearer, through which heexpresses his friendliness or intimacy towards the hearer. This explains the fact that na is only used by the speaker who isequal to, or older and/or socially higher than, the hearer, as also pointed out by Cheng (1987) and Izuhara (1996). Keepingthese points in mind, let us consider (17).

7 Note

the uttera

that, if

na in (1o longe

7) or thar specif

t in (18)ies the

is replaced wspeaker’s ag

ith ne,

e unles

tanoshimi

i.e. tanoshimins other expre

i natte kssions

natte kimashita

imashita ne for (17)

which indicate the sp

and migeaker’s

(17) is a conversation between a male high school principal (speaker A) and a male manager of the high school baseballteam, Mr. Nishino (speaker B). After A saw that the pitcher in the baseball team played well in practice, he states that he isgetting excited about the big baseball competition held in summer. By using na in his second utterance (line 3), A expectsthat B will also fully understand his (A’s) excitement for the potential success of the baseball team in the competition, andattempts to seek B’s alignment with regard to his excitement. More importantly, A’s use of na here further adds his attitudeof sharing camaraderie with B. This in turn displays his somewhat overwhelming friendly attitude to B and straightfor-wardly exposes the speaker’s excited and pleasured feeling. Without na, i.e. tanoshimini natte kimashita, it simply stateshis feeling that ‘I am getting excited’ and the speaker’s camaraderie tone and friendly feeling would not be expressed.

Another example (18) further illustrates the use of na with the desu/masu form and confirms the special property(camaraderie tone) of na. The utterance is a statement of a gentleman who is around 60 years old and owns an expensiveJaguar. Before making this utterance, the speaker saw that a baseball player hit a homerun and the ball accidentally hit theside mirror of his (the speaker’s) car which was parked out of the baseball stadium. It was an unbelievably huge homerun,and the speaker has not only an unhappy feeling (i.e. his car was damaged) but also is expressing his amazement at sucha huge homerun. When the speaker met the player he made the following utterance.

The use of na here delivers the speaker’s attempt to seek the player’s alignment with regard to his feeling, ‘It was a reallyspectacular homerun, wasn’t it’. It further adds the speaker’s attitude of sharing camaraderie with the player, whichaccompanies his friendly feeling towards the hearer. This friendliness appears to strengthen the speaker’s joking andplayful attitude, and shows his mixed feelings, that is, ‘‘Your homerun ball has damaged my car’’ but ‘‘I am amazed by yourspectacular homerun’’.

Our next question is then how the use of na indicates that the speaker is aged when used with the desu/masu form. It isinteresting to note that when native speakers of Japanese hear an utterance with desu/masu na, they will instinctively feelthat the utterance is made by an aged male even without knowing his actual age.7 In fact, the speaker in (17) is an upper-middle-aged male and the speaker in (18) is a senior male speaker aged around 60 years old. According to Ide(1982:371), ‘‘the occurrence of formality and politeness are partially overlapping as formality is partially expressed bypoliteness and vice versa’’. In Japanese, the use of the desu/masu form represents that the conversation involves acertain level of formality as well as politeness of the conversational participants, while the level may vary depending onmany other factors such as the conversation topic, the conversational setting, and the interpersonal relationship betweenthe conversational participants. With its ‘camaraderie’ tone, the use of na with the desu/masu form implies that the speakeris someone who is entitled to offer camaraderie, and further to express his friendliness towards the hearer, even in asituation where the participants are supposed to maintain a certain level of formality and politeness. It is thought that sucha person is typically one who is relatively aged and already has a certain social status. To put it differently, the use of nawith the desu/masu form is a useful strategy for aged male speakers to indicate their confidence and ensure their socialstatus, and yet to express their friendly feeling towards the hearer.

While it is understandable that, as discussed above, aged male speakers with a certain social status are typical usersof na with the desu/masu form, the exact reason why male speakers in their 20 s--40 s rarely use the particle in this way isnot clear. One conceivable reason is that younger generations in general indicate their close relationship more directly byusing the da/ru form. Another reason may be closely related to ‘demeanour’ expressed by the use of desu/masu form.According to Ide (1990), the polite strategy may be used not only for indicating the relationship with the hearer, but also for

otona hoomuran deshita ne for (18), age are used in the utterance.

presenting the speaker himself/herself as such that he/she is well educated, mannered and/or has a certain social status.Ide refers to the former as ‘deference’ and the latter as ‘demeanour’. The use of na presupposes that the speaker basicallyhas a friendly feeling towards the hearer. In such a situation, the use of the desu/masu form is seen as reflecting thespeaker’s polite strategy of ‘demeanour’, whereby he intends to present himself as a person who is educated and/or has acertain social status. Thus, the use of na for the camaraderie tone while using the desu/masu form in fact leads to a quite‘unique’ situation that requires the speaker to be with a ‘special’ status (the speaker is well educated and/or has a certainsocial status), as noted above. The fact that desu/masu na is not normally used by speakers in their 20 s--40 s, suggeststhat they are still too young to be qualified for this.

3.4. Gender and na

In the literature the gender restriction, i.e. ne may be used by male and female speakers, and na by male speakers only,is often referred to as the fundamental difference between these two particles (Uyeno, 1971; Cheng, 1987; McGloin, 1990;Izuhara, 1996; Imao, 2000; Miyazaki, 2002; Asano, 2003). However, the indication of the speaker being male cannot beconsidered as a genuine property of na because the particle is not necessarily used by any men. Recall the example (17)given above. In the conversational exchange, na is used by a male principal, A, and indicates his excitement to his juniorcolleague, B. Importantly, na cannot be used by teacher B to principal A in B’s response, i.e. *kitaishiteite kudasai na‘Please look forward to it-NA’, although teacher B is male and thus meets the gender criterion. Similarly, in (19) na is usedby a male manager of the middle school baseball team, A, to a male player, B, in his team.

Here, student B is not allowed to use na instead of ne to manager A, i.e. *Ore mo inakunarimasushi na, despite the fact thathe (B) is male. That is to say, it is true that na is used by male speakers only, but the indication of the speaker being male isnot a genuine property of the particle.

The male’s exclusive use of na can also be accountable in terms of the camaraderie tone associated with the particle. Ithas already been shown that the notion of camaraderie indicates the nuance of ‘mateship’ or a ‘buddy-feeling’. This natureof na does match well with the notion of otoko-rashisa ‘manliness’, but not with the notion of onna-rashisa ‘womanliness’.The emergence of the notions otoko-rashisa and onna-rashisa, and male-female distinction in Japanese is traced back tothe Meiji era (particularly from the late 19th century to the early 20th century) when the Japan’s modern nation-stateformation was pursued. It was the time when Japanese society rapidly moved from its old feudalism to a modern form,which brought fundamental changes in a wide range of fields including language. In 1879, the Meiji government enforcedan educational system in which men and women were forbidden to learn at the same school. What underlies theenforcement of this educational system was the government’s reinforcement of the ryoosai-kenbo ‘a good wife and wisemother’ education (Nakamura, 2006). The idea of ryoosai-kenbo was derived from Confucianism, and required women totake on a critical gendered role in Japanese modern society, which included an emphasis on motherhood, rational andscientific management, and saving (Inoue, 2002).

What is particularly significant for our present discussion is the fact that it was widely recognised among people thatwomen had to use good language as well as show a good behaviour and manner in order to be a ryoosai-kenbo ‘a goodwife and wise mother’. This point was, for example, explicitly stated in a textbook published in 1900 that women wereurged to be gentle and graceful in all things, not only in manners but also in speech (Shinpen Shuushin Kyooten, 1962:650via Endo, 2006:61). Similarly, according to Nakamura (2006), books that were used for ryoosai-kenbo education includedstrict norms about women’s language use such as Onna wa otonashiku, shitoyakani hanasu beki de aru ‘Women mustspeak gently and politely’ or Josei wa muyoo no kuchi wa kikazu, shizukanishite okuyukashiku iru beki de aru ‘Womenshould not say unnecessary things while stay calm and quiet’. Likewise, through the educational reform, the Meijieducational body established the social norm that Japanese women must be onna-rashii ‘womanly’ with the ideal role ofryoosai-kenbo ‘a good wife and wise mother’, and that they must speak gently, quietly and gracefully. Onna-kotoba‘women’s language’ that is associated with the notion onna-rashisa as such has, therefore, been characterised as polite,soft, non-assertive and indirect (e.g. Falconer, 1984; Reynolds, 1990; Suzuki, 1993; Masuoka and Takubo, 1994;Okamoto, 1997; Shibamoto Smith, 2001; Inoue, 2004).

Returning to our discussion of the relationship between the camaraderie tone associated with na and the male’s exclusiveuse of na, it should be stressed here that ‘Japanese women’s language’ is a set of linguistic beliefs about forms and functions

of language used by, and associated with, Japanese women, and it is a culturally salient category and contains knowledgeabout how women usually speak or should speak. Also, as claimed by Suzuki (1993), polite speech is particularly interpretedas an index of femininity because the essence of women’s language is their concern with politeness. Furthermore, instead ofclaiming the same status and role as men, Japanese women tend to prefer a complementary version of status and roledifferences from men (Ide and McGloin, 1990:i--ii). That is, when they speak, Japanese women, with onna-rashisa‘womanliness’, are expected, or even prefer, to be seen as polite with a certain social distance, rather than to be ‘equal’ to, or a‘comrade’ with, the hearer. This is deemed to be the main reason for the fact that women in principle do not use na, whichwould otherwise be interpreted as speaking in a man’s way and claiming to be equal to, or a comrade with, the hearer. Theyuse ne instead, which has the same incorporative function with na, but does not have such a tone of camaraderie.8

4. Conclusion

This study has discussed the common and different properties of two Japanese SFPs ne and na, and demonstrated thatthe attitudinal meaning/tone associated with the particles mediate contextual effects relating to the speaker’s gender, ageand social status. The study firstly highlighted the common function of the particles as devices for expressing the speaker’sincorporative attitude. On the basis of this function, the study has provided explanations for the relevant phenomena such aseffects of softening/strengthening the tone of the utterance and of making the utterance sound friendly/intimate. Next thestudy explored the difference of the particles and argued that their difference is not directly motivated by gender, age andsocial status of the speaker, but it is determined by a tone (or the speaker’s attitude) associated with a particular particle; thatis, na has a special property to denote the speaker’s attitude of sharing ‘camaraderie’ with the hearer while ne does notpossess this property. This camaraderie-based analysis has demonstrated its capability of accounting for the relevant factsinvolving the speaker’s gender, age and social status in a systematic and unified fashion.

As pointed out throughout this study, the Japanese language has the polite form desu/masu and the plain form da/ruthat indicate the level of formality in each utterance. It also has an honorific system that markedly indicates social distancebetween the conversational participants (see Ide (1982) and Okamoto (1997) for details of the Japanese honorificsystem). Moreover, the language has a number of first and second person pronouns, which indicate the speaker’s genderas well as the social/interpersonal relationship between the conversational parties (Ide, 1982). For example, the firstpersonal pronoun boku indicates the speaker being male, while atashi indicates the speaker being female. Thesepronouns also indicate that the speaker is in an informal situation and/or socially equal to/higher than, the hearer. As such,the Japanese language has various linguistic devices that directly indicate the situational formality/informality, the social/interpersonal relationship of the speaker with the hearer, and the speaker’s gender.9 The current study implies that ne andna, and possibly other SFPs, are a unique linguistic device in the Japanese language which indirectly indexes thespeaker’s gender, age and social status by expressing the speaker’s particular attitude towards the hearer.

In this line of argument, the current study has also revealed some aspects of how the speaker’s identities areexpressed through the use of language. That is, an attitudinal meaning/tone associated with the particular linguistic item isclosely linked to the particular sociocultural values on gender and formality, and subsequently it turns out to indicate thespeaker’s particular gender (male or female), age (older or younger than the hearer; old or young) and social status (higheror lower than the hearer) in the given society.

Data sources

Adachi, Mitsuru, 1992. Tatchi, vol. 1--11. Shoogakkan, Tokyo.Kamio, Yoko, 1993. Hana yori Dango, vol. 1--20. Shuueisha, Tokyo.

8 It is important to acknowledge that the Japanese society has changed significantly since the Meiji era. In contemporary society, Confucianismfrom which the idea of ryoosai-kenbo ‘a good wife and wise mother’ was derived, has become less influential and the role of each gender and ourexpectation of otoko-rashii ‘manly’ and onna-rashii ‘womanly’ behaviours have also changed drastically (I owe this point to one of the anonymousreviewers of an earlier version of this study). In this regard it is not surprising to observe that the use of SFPs by a particular gender has changed,compared to those in the Meiji era. For example, it is reported that contemporary young female speakers rarely use female SFPs such as wa andkashira, whereas they sometimes use male SFPs such as zo and ze (e.g. Okamoto, 1997; Chen, 2010). Kinsui (2003, 2007) makes a furtherinteresting point, noting that some of the gendered SFPs previously used by a wide variety of people have become yakuwari-go ‘role language’which represents a stereotypical character in terms of age, gender, occupation, social status, appearance and so forth. For instance, according toKinsui (2003) teyo and koto which had been general female SFPs during the Meiji era became ojoosama-kotoba ‘language used by a young ladyof good family’ in contemporary Japanese. These studies offer insightful analyses in their own right. Nonetheless, what needs to be emphasisedhere is that the focus of the current discussion is on the historical development of how the particle came to indicate the speaker’s particularidentities, rather than on the current trends of using the particle.

9 There may also be many non-linguistic devices which indicate the social/interpersonal relationship between the speaker and the hearer suchas verbal intensity, pitch prominence, gesture and so forth.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Carol Hayes and Adam Croft for their detailed comments and invaluable suggestions on an earlierversion of this article. I would also like to thank Timothy Hassall, Shun Ikeda, Peter Hendriks, Janelle Mahoney and JillianMowbray-Tsutsumi for their time and helpful suggestions. I also wish to acknowledge the contributions of anonymousreviewers which have led to a great improvement in this study. However, I am solely responsible for all errors andmisinterpretations.

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Language and an expression of identities: Japanese sentence-final particles ne and na

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