This document summarizes a lecture on language and culture in manga, anime and beyond. It discusses topics like role language, characteristics of moe and tsundere characters, Japanese samurai language patterns versus English translations, and language features associated with character types. Examples are provided from works like Final Fantasy VI, black jack manga, and analyses of maid cafe language. References are listed from studies on role language, sound symbolism in maid names, and fictionalized orality in Japanese popular culture.

1. GE1133 Culture and Language
in Manga, Anime and Beyond
Yurie Hara
Department of
Linguistics and Translation

2. Give My Regards to Black Jack
(Shuho Sato)

3. ‘I know that.’
1. 俺知道的
2. 老朽明白
3. 人家曉得
(Kawasaki, 2013 )

4. Samurai in Final Fantasy VI
(Square-Enix, 1994)

5. Japanese Samurai Language
カイエン（Cyen）：
それはともかく、
君は何者でござる？
Sore wa tomokaku,
kimi wa nanimono de gozaru?
“In any case, who are you?”

6. English Samurai Language
Cyen:
Do simmer down, sirs!
And thou, o wild one…
Who might thou be?
(Kaneda, 2011)

7. Maid Cafe
(Kawahara, 2012)

8. Characters: Moe or Tsun?
• Moe （萌え）：cute, soft, accessible
• Tsun-tsun （ツンツン）：sharp, inaccessible, blunt
(Shinohara and Kawahara, 2013)

9. Names: Moe or Tsun?
Ginko, Miumi, Tsubasa,…

10. Role Language, 役割語 (yakuwarigo)
(Kinsui, 2003)
• Sets of language features associated with particular
character types
• E.g., vocabulary, grammar, intonation and accent
patterns
(Teshigawara and Kinsui, 2011)

11. References
Kaneda, J. (2011) ‘A contrastive study of role language focusing on universal characteristics’ Yakuwarigo Kenkyuu no Tenkai
[Extensions of Research on Role Language]. Tokyo: Kuroshio.
Kawahara, S. (2012) The phonetics of Japanese maid voice I: A preliminary study. The Spring Meeting of the
Phonological Association of Japan 2012. Akihabara, June 15th.
Kawasaki, M. (2013) A Study for Chinese “Role Language”. Ph.D Thesis. Huazhong University of Science & Technology.
Kinsui, S. (2003) Vācharu Nihongo Yakuwarigo no Nazo [The enigma of virtual Japanese role language]. Tokyo: Iwanami.
Shinohara, K. and S. Kawahara (2013) “The sound symbolic nature of Japanese maid names.” Proceeding of the
13th meeting of Japanese Cognitive Linguistics Association. pp. 183-193.
Teshigawara, M. and S. Kinsui (2011) ‘Modern Japanese “Role Language” (Yakuwarigo) fictionalised orality in Japanese literature
and popular culture’ Sociolinguistic Studies, ISSN 1750-8649, Vol. 5, No. 1, pages. 37-58
金水 敏 役割語カルタ 科学研究費補助金「役割語の総合的研究」（研究課題番号：23320087 2011年度～2014年度 代表者 金水 敏）
URLs:
http://dev.ontheroad.jp/archives/9014
http://bookstore.yahoo.co.jp/shoshi-184582/
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/Final_Fantasy_VI.jpg
http://www.ac-
illust.com/main/detail.php?id=108390&word=%E3%83%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%895%28%E7%99%BD%E6%8A%9C%E3%81%8D
%29
http://www.ac-
illust.com/main/detail.php?id=115077&word=%E6%80%92%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%82%8B%E5%A5%B3%E3%81%AE%E5
%AD%90
http://www.silhouette-ac.com/detail.html?id=111509&ct=&n=&sw=%E4%BE%8D
http://www.gamefaqs.com/gba/930370-final-fantasy-vi-advance/faqs/47016