Prosodic Analysis of the Interactional Particle Ne in Japanese Gendered Speech VICTORIA ANDERSON, MIE HIRAMOTO, AND ANDREW WONG University of Hawai‘i at Ma noa 1. Introduction Gendered speech in contemporary standard Japanese has been well- researched (e.g., Ide 1982; Okamoto 1995a; McGloin 1990; Reynolds 1985; Shibamoto 1985). Studies of Japanese gendered speech reveal that women and men differ in their use of interactional particles, pronouns, lexical items, and discourse styles. However, the literature is sparser on the subject of the prosodic characteristics that differentiate masculine and feminine speech in Japanese, and the prosodic studies that exist mainly concern themselves with fundamental frequency (F0) rather than duration. Ohara (1992; 2001), Loveday (1986) and others have investigated women’s use of high F0 and its social meanings. High F0 is generally associated with the expression of politeness, cuteness, and other positive feminine images (Loveday 1982, 1986; Ohara 1993, in press). Ide and Yoshida (1999), McGloin (1990), and Reynolds (1985) have also associated rising intonation and wide pitch range with feminine speech. On the other hand, little research has focused on pos- sible differences in duration patterns in masculine and feminine speech. To