Word
文体
Meaning in Englishliterary style
Animated kanji stroke order
Sentence
Related sentences
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Word context
What it means
文体 refers to the distinctive manner of writing found in a text, encompassing word choice, sentence rhythm, and tonal quality. It signals formality, genre, and authorial voice, shaping how ideas are presented and perceived.
Main meanings
- The overall style of written language in a text, including diction and sentence structure.
- The stylistic manner of a particular author or work, signaling voice and register.
- A field of linguistic study that analyzes how form and tone convey meaning in writing.
How to use it
Used in literary analysis, linguistic study, education, and journalism to discuss how a text sounds across genres and registers; it helps describe narration, dialogue, and prose style, and can indicate formality, audience, and rhetorical strategy.
Variants and close terms
- 作風 (さくふう, sakufū) style of a writer or work
- 文調 (ぶんちょう, buntchō) tone or phrasing typical of a given register
- 語法 (ごほう, gohō) usage or expression patterns that characterize writing
Composition
- 文 stands for writing/text, 体 stands for form/body; together they describe the form or organization of writing, i.e., the style of expression in a text.
Word class
Noun (名詞)
Word
Related words by kanji and components
N1
和文
wabun
Japanese text, sentence in Japanese
N1
主体
shutai
subject, main constituent
N1
物体
buttai
object
N1
文化財
bunkazai
cultural assets, cultural property
N1
文語
bungo
written language, literary language
N1
文書
bunsho
document, writing
N1
本体
hontai
substance, body, trunk
N1
本文
hombun
text (of document), body (of letter)
N1
立体
rittai
solid body
Kanji