Abstract
This study offers a pragmalinguistic analysis of aruyo kotoba (アルヨ 言葉), a stylized and stereotypical speech pattern associated with Chinese-speaking characters in Japanese pop culture. Focusing on Kagura, a central figure in Sorachi Hideaki’s manga Gintama, the paper examines how aruyo speech functions as yakuwarigo – role-specific language that conveys alterity, social positioning, and humour. The research highlights the historical and sociolinguistic roots of aruyo kotoba, tracing its evolution from early 20th-century literary representations to its modern usage in manga. Through detailed linguistic and contextual analysis of selected utterances, the paper demonstrates how the pragmatic marker aru (アル) shapes Kagura’s identity as a foreign and comedic figure. It also explores the challenges of rendering these linguistic and cultural nuances into Romanian, proposing a translation strategy that preserves stylistic tone and character uniqueness via the emphatic phrase ‘chiar este’. The findings underscore how language in manga can perpetuate stereotypes while also functioning as a tool for stylization and character construction. Ultimately, this research contributes to broader discussions on fictional language, intercultural representation, and the translation of pragmalinguistic markers in pop culture narratives.