Trends in the use of final particle wa seen in Josei no kotoba

shokuba-hen

Abstract

　This study examines the actual state of use of the final particle wa, based on the natural language data provided in Josei no kotoba: shokuba-hen (Women's Speech: The Workplace). Building on previous research that has given a quantitative overview of the data, this study focuses on a qualitative analysis. The following three relative characteristics were observed:(1)Final particle wa is predominately used in informal settings with listeners of the same age or younger with whom the speaker has frequent contact. Accordingly wa is never found co-occurring with the polite forms desu and -masu. (2) Younger speakers have a greater tendency to use final particle wa without co-occurring final particles ne and yo, and is often uttered with an extended intonation. (3) Among younger speakers, the use of wa is particularly common with certain topics. While the overall frequency of use of wa among younger speakers is certainly not great, they do use it as one means affective expression, which suggests that it would be premature to conclude that it is in the process of dying out.