Girls changing the language : a comparison between the Meiji schoolgirls and the present day kogals

Författare

Elin Nilsson

Summary, in English

When girls in Japan acquired the right to higher education in the wake of the Meiji reformation in the 19th century, these girls began to talk in a way that was considered vulgar by the public. It was called teyo dawa kotoba (teyo dawa speech) – and over time it became what we call female speech today. During the Meiji and Taisho periods proper ladies did not talk that way, and it was considered to be vulgar slang. Today that is the way proper ladies are expected to talk. Teyo dawa kotoba was not considered to be female speech until the 1930s. Kogals (a subculture of girls in their late teens) have been around since early 1990s, and they have their own vocabulary also considered to be vulgar slang – are there any signs that the same thing is happening today? Are present day Japanese people aware of which words they use (if any) that originated as kogal slang? If not, can this be considered the beginning of a similar assimilation of slang of teenage girls? A comparison between the Meiji schoolgirls and the present day kogals is possible and certain similarities can be found at just a quick glance.

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