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In [this answer](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/6139/119), the kanji `妾`
was defined as "mistress".

I'm not so familiar with this kanji, so I looked it up, and it seems to have
about four readings and two definitions. Although I think some of these
readings might be archaic, there's `めかけ`, `そばめ`, and `おんなめ` which all mean
"mistress" or "kept woman".

But then there's also the reading `わらわ` which seems to be a humble feminine
form of saying "I" or "me", similar to `あたし`.

Most of the examples I saw, were related to the "mistress" meaning, so I
wondered:

Is the feminine "I" meaning still in use? If so, when would it be used? Given
the other definition, it seems like that would be a very unpopular way for a
woman to refer to herself...

Also, with regards to the "mistress" meaning, which of the readings are still
in use?
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kanji definitions readings
Does the kanji 妾 still get used by women to refer to themselves?
I don't think that anyone alive still refers to themselves as /warawa/, which
is the first-person pronoun* denoted by 妾. You might find it (or some cognate)
in use by the very old or those speaking non-standard dialects (or other
Japonic languages), but I think you can safely call it extinct in "Standard
Japanese".

In a modern context I would be surprised to see 妾 used at all, but I guess
/mekake/ "mistress" seems more likely than the other readings, if only because
/mekake/ remained in common use longer (to judge from my non-rigorous sampling
of Japanese literature).

You don't specifically ask this, but if you were also wondering why 妾 came
into use at all to write a first-person pronoun... I don't know all the
details, but here's what I do know. /warawa/ is a very old (Man'yoshu old)
native Japanese word meaning "child". I forget the specifics, but I recall
that it was used for children who were old enough to walk around, talk, etc.,
but still not yet adults mentally or physically. I guess "late elementary
school" is about the right image. This was the meaning that was borrowed for
the first person pronoun, so the meaning is very humble.

The "standard" character for /warawa/ "child" was 童. I would imagine that 妾
was used for the female first-person pronoun because 妾 is the "definitely
female" version of 童. I doubt that the "mistress" meaning was a factor; it
might not even have been current in Japan then (I don't know much about the
history of the character).

You probably know this already, but /boku/ 僕 is kind of similar: depending on
how extreme you want to be, you could argue that it also means "servant" or
even "slave". They took humbleness seriously in pre-modern Japan!

> * Let's just stipulate that Japanese pronouns actually exist.
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answer
I am just guessing wildly. In Chinese TV dramas, married women would refer to
themselves as 妾身, especially to her husband. This would cover dramas depicting
all time period up to maybe 1900.

So maybe わらわ is written as 妾 due to Chinese influences?

You can do a search of 妾身 in google to find more info. Of course, the ability
to read Chinese would help.
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answer