女性語の"わ"。

So I (think I) know all about わ and it's expressive and or tender feminine effect when latched onto the end of sentences.

However...

I think I can sometimes hear it being used by characters who aren't so "feminine" at all. Ranging from old characters to undescribable monsters hell-bent on destroying everything within close proximity. I hear it in multiple places (and by that I mean multiple games and anime).

Could just be me mistaking it for something else (but it can't be は...), In which case I will try to find an example of where I thought it occurred, or it could be fine and completely normal which means everything I thought about わ has been ripped apart with images of non femininity. But I am sure that's not it...

I know just cause it's 女性語 doesn't mean that it's 100% restricted to women. But I still find it odd. To be used in the places I have heard...

Q. Is what I am hearing possible? If it is, please reconstruct my knowledge of わ.

Else, ignore everything and I just tell me my thoughts on わ are correct.

Thanks in advance.

わ is used also by male, mostly not young male.
e.g.
この世界を滅ぼしてくれるわ。
いや、いいわ。自分でやるから。
多分間違ってると思うわ。

Although the first one, which would be the same usage as the ones you heard, is rarely used in real conversation, as same as the feminine sentence final particle わ.

Just expanding on Toritoribe ,It also has a lot to do with the way it is said.

Could they be using kansai ben? I hear it all the time from guys talking in kansai.

Toritoribe said:

わ is used also by male, mostly not young male.
e.g.
この世界を滅ぼしてくれるわ。
いや、いいわ。自分でやるから。
多分間違ってると思うわ。
Although the first one, which would be the same usage as the ones you heard, is rarely used in real conversation, as same as the feminine sentence final particle わ.

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Yeah. These were the type of things I heard exactly. When I heard something simillar to the first one I was like, lol what? That's what confused me. The second two I can easily come to terms with, seeing as they are the /soft/gentle/kind type of sentences. As for the first one, I don't see why they would use わ there. I hardly would have thought a sentence like that has the necessary connotations for わ usage.

FrustratedDave said:

Just expanding on Toritoribe ,It also has a lot to do with the way it is said.

Click to expand...

The way it is said... What like the first example being not so nice?

Could they be using kansai ben? I hear it all the time from guys talking in kansai.

Click to expand...

I wonder. I wouldn't know.

I will be honest. I do not hear the "feminine-by-the-book" sentence-ender わ in real life nearly as often as I did as a kid a few decades ago. This is particularly noticeable among younger women. These days, I hear it much more often in older films and dramas.

If a younger woman of today used this わ more often than her average friend, she would probably end up sounding comically upper-middle class. Japanese women know that instinctively, so they will not use it like the textbooks used by Japanese-learners may tell you.

The わ that I hear way more often is in the other usage of わ, which is to express a mild exclamation or surprise, and I dare say I hear it said more often by men than women. I live in central Tokyo if that matters.

I will be honest. I do not hear the "feminine-by-the-book" sentence-ender わ in real life nearly as often as I did as a kid a few decades ago. This is particularly noticeable among younger women. These days, I hear it much more often in older films and dramas.

If a younger woman of today used this わ more often than her average friend, she would probably end up sounding comically upper-middle class. Japanese women know that instinctively, so they will not use it like the textbooks used by Japanese-learners may tell you.

Click to expand...

That is a really useful and interesting insight you have given me. Yeah I've read that it isn't used in real life much nowadays. Seems to me like, from what I have heard, that it is almost exclusively used in anime/games or dramas.

Interesting about the "upper-middle class" thing. Nowhere I have read would have said something like that, instead they would stick to the usual "used to show expression or soften a sentence" type thing. It may have existed for that reason at one point primarily, but now it has changed. Thanks for that rather exclusive piece of information.

And this other わ. Is that just a general noise someone makes when they are surprised? ahh! whoa! etc.

LewiiG said:

And this other わ. Is that just a general noise someone makes when they are surprised? ahh! whoa! etc.

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No, not at all. I am referring to the clear-cut, sentence-ending particle わ.

LewiiG said:

Yeah. These were the type of things I heard exactly. When I heard something similar to the first one I was like, lol what? That's what confused me. The second two I can easily come to terms with, seeing as they are the /soft/gentle/kind type of sentences. As for the first one, I don't see why they would use わ there. I hardly would have thought a sentence like that has the necessary connotations for わ usage.

Click to expand...

わ in my first example has a nuance of arrogant/haughty. (FYI, the male version わ is always said with a falling intonation.)

Kansai dialect is another thing. It has completely different nuance, usage, and intonation.

masaegu said:

No, not at all. I am referring to the clear-cut, sentence-ending particle わ.

Click to expand...

Oh wow. Okay. Thanks. I shall keep that in mind.

Toritoribe said:

わ in my first example has a nuance of arrogant/haughty. (FYI, the male vesion わ is always said with a falling intonation.)

Kansai dialect is another thing. It has completely different nuance, usage, and intonation.

Click to expand...

Alright. Now I finally understand everything. Not a shred of doubt left. Thanks Toritoribe

I thank you all for your help and information. It is greatly appriciated