Personal Pronoun Project

There are three types of the personal pronoun, "I", in Japanese I will mention as follow:
1) Gender
Males:     俺、僕
Females: あたし
Both/Formal:      私、わたくし



2) Age
Childish: ウチ、自分の名前
Elder:   わし、吾輩

3) Local Culture

Kansai: ワイ、自分、オイラ、ウチ(Kyoto)

Kantou: 私

Overall, we may find at least three categories for Japanese individual pronoun as follow:

1. Gender

a) Males usually won’t use “あたし” or “ウチ”, and females won’t self-call “俺” or “オイラ” meanwhile.

b) The personal pronoun in the formal circulation is either males or females, like “私” or “わたくし”.

c) The line could be overlapped if males are girlish or females are boyish.

2. Age

a) Without local culture consideration, the Kansai residents probably sound their own name or girls may said “ウチ” during their childhood.

b) The elderly probably use “わし” or “吾輩” to emphasis their long-lived status, which is found respect for in Japanese society.

3. Local Culture

The personal pronouns in local dialect, such as “ワイ” in Oosaka or “ウチ” in Kyoto, refer to the local culture. Although the Kantou language is the offical one in Japan, the local charateristics are not phrased out.

 Reference:
Google Picture
http://www.google.com.hk/imghp?hl=zh-tw&tab=wi