Bibliography - Japanese Language and Culture



Jennifer Berman December 10, 2011JAPN 306Andrew PainterHonorifics in JapaneseIn many languages, there are different ways of addressing someone that vary in politeness. There is the “T-V distinction” in Romance languages like Spanish and French, for example, in which there are two words that correspond to the word “you”: an informal one (tú/tu) and a formal one (usted/vous). The Japanese language, on the other hand, has a complex system of honorifics known as keigo. The keigo system is considered to be one of the most noticeable aspects of Japanese and is said to be richer than ones in other languages CITATION Tsu96 \p 363 \l 1033 (Tsujimura 363). Knowing keigo is especially important in business situations, so much that not only are there numerous how-to guides on how to master it but companies also give their new employees keigo training CITATION Wet99 \p 72 \t \l 1033 (Wetzel and Inoue 72). The complexity and many different forms of keigo reflect the Japanese society, where knowing one’s place in the group and showing respect to those “above” oneself is important.There are three different classes of keigo: sonkeigo (尊敬語) or “respectful language,” kenjougo (謙譲語) or “humble language,” and finally teineigo (丁寧語) or “polite language.” Which type of keigo to use depends heavily on the relationship between the speaker and listener, and the situation the speaker is in. Sonkeigo forms are used to show respect for someone who is a higher rank than oneself, and thus, is to be respected CITATION Tsu96 \p 363 \l 1033 (Tsujimura 363). They are also used to refer to that person’s activities, but are never used to refer to one’s own actions. Kenjougo is used to humble the speaker or his/her in-group in front of the hearer, who is of a higher rank than the speakerCITATION Tsu96 \p 363 \l 1033 (Tsujimura 363) and it is only used for one’s own actions. Teineigo is neutral with regards to the target of respect, and thus can be used when a conversation does not require the use of sonkeigo or kenjougo but is still formal CITATION Tsu96 \p 363 \l 1033 (Tsujimura 363).Here is a table of some common verbs and their conjugations in all three types of keigo:Verb (in dictionary form)SonkeigoKenjougoTeineigoEnglish Meaningiku （行く）irassharu（いらっしゃる）(can also mean “to be”)mairu （参る）ikimasu （行きます）to gotaberu（食べる）meshiagaru（召し上がる）itadaku（頂く）tabemasu （食べます）to eatmiru（見る）goran ni naru（ご覧になる）haiken suru（拝見する）mimasu（見ます）to see/to look/to watchau（会う）o-ai ni naru（お会いになる）o-me ni kakaru（お目にかかる）aimasu （会います）to meetsuru（する）nasaru（なさる）itasu（致す）shimasu（します）to doHow are all these different verb forms used together? Here is an example conversation between a student and a professor in his music class:Tanaka: Ano, sumimasen…Shinoda-sensei wa irasshaimasu ka? (Um, excuse me…is Prof. Shinoda [here]?)Shinoda: Hai, imasu yo. Nanika no shitsumon ga arimasu ka? (Yes, I’m here. Do you have a question about something?)Tanaka: Ee…ashita no happyoukai de watashi no gitaa ensou o goran ni narimasu ka? Zutto renshuu itashimashite…(Yes…will you see my guitar performance at tomorrow’s recital? I’ve been practicing it for a long time…)Shinoda: Mochiron mimasu. (Of course I’ll see it.)In this conversation, Tanaka used sonkeigo to address Prof. Shinoda with words like irassharu and goran ni naru, and kenjougo when he was referring to his own action of practicing the guitar for a long time. Prof. Shinoda, on the other hand, used teineigo when speaking to him because, as her student, he is considered to hold a lower social rank and thus it would be inappropriate to use sonkeigo or kenjougo in this situation. Using teineigo kept the conversation formal, and also maintained some social distance between the two of them CITATION Tsu96 \p 364 \l 1033 (Tsujimura 364).Another important part of Japanese honorifics is the “beautification honorifics,” two prefixes that are commonly placed in front of nouns: o- and go-. O- is placed before native Japanese words, while go- is placed before borrowed words from ChineseCITATION Tsu96 \p 376 \l 1033 (Tsujimura 376). In Old Japanese, the main beautification honorific was mi-, which is reflected in words like miko (shrine maiden), miya (palace), and mikado (emperor). CITATION Fre10 \p 370 \l 1033 (Frellesvig 370) Beautification honorifics are often used for things belonging to someone the speaker respects. CITATION Tsu96 \p 376 \l 1033 (Tsujimura 376) For instance, in the sentence “Shachou no o-bentou wa oishisou desu,” or “The company president’s box lunch looks delicious,” the prefix o- is placed before bentou, to express the speaker’s respect towards the company president. If the speaker was talking about, say, a friend’s lunch, they would just say bentou.Women also often use o- and go- to “beautify” words for things even if they are not things belonging to a respected person. This is a prominent feature of Japanese female speech (onnakotoba), which traditionally uses more polite forms and expressions than male speech CITATION Smi92 \p 67 \l 1033 (Smith 67). For instance, in the previous “lunch” example, a male speaker would more likely use bentou if not talking about a superior’s lunch, but a female speaker would more likely use o-bentou in any situation. Using o- and go- in this way makes the speech sound “soft and feminine” CITATION Tsu96 \p 376 \l 1033 (Tsujimura 376). What does the complex keigo system reflect about Japanese culture and relationships? As Takie Lebra wrote, “Sensitivity to rank order entails a dichotomous differentiation of behavior-the up-faced orientation toward a superior, and the down-faced orientation toward an inferior. Such dichotomy is indicated in the Japanese language, especially in the variation of verbs. Verbs tend to be associated either with upward or downward action…the point is not that the Japanese language lacks in verbs that indicate horizontal motion, but that it is rather poor in status-neutral vocabulary, whereas status-indicative expressions are rich and elaborate…The cultural dearth of ways to express horizontal or status-neutral relationships forces [one] to make a binary choice between respectful, formal behavior and disrespectful, informal behavior” CITATION Leb76 \p 70-71 \l 1033 (Lebra 70-71).Some examples of verbs associated with upward or downward action are the many words for “giving” or “receiving” something in Japanese. There are about five verbs that correspond to the English verb “give,” and two verbs that correspond to “receive”CITATION Tsu96 \p 334 \l 1033 (Tsujimura 334). A table of these words is below.GiveReceivesashiageru（差し上げる）itadaku（頂く）ageru （上げる）morau（もらう）yaru （やる）kudasaru （下さる）kureru（くれる）Of the verbs for “give,” sashiageru is used when the receiver’s social rank is higher than the speaker or his/her in-group, in other words in an “upward relationship.” If both the giver and receiver’s statuses are equal, ageru or yaru is used (more often ageru), and this is the same if the receiver is lower in status than the giver CITATION Tsu96 \p 336 \l 1033 (Tsujimura 336). The other two “give” verbs, kudasaru and kureru, are used to express someone else giving the speaker or his/her in-group something. If the giver has a higher social status than the speaker, kudasaru is used, like in these examples:Sensei ga watashi ni chizu o kudasatta.(My teacher gave me a map.)Sensei ga musuko ni hon o kudasatta.(The teacher gave my son a book.)In the second example sentence, the son is part of the speaker’s in-group, so kudasaru is still used CITATION Tsu96 \p 338 \l 1033 (Tsujimura 338). In other cases, where the giver’s status is equal or lower than the speaker, kureru is used.As for the “receive” verbs, itadaku and morau, both are used to express the speaker receiving something from someone. As Tsujimura says, “When the speaker or the speaker’s in-group is the giver, the situation is viewed only as giving…it is extremely rare, or impossible, to describe a receiving event as the Japanese equivalent of ‘someone receives something from me or my in-group’” CITATION Tsu96 \p 339 \n \l 1033 (339). If the giver is higher than the speaker or the speaker’s in-group, itadaku is used, and otherwise morau is used. Aside from paying respect, keigo can be used in other ways. As Shozo Kurokawa writes:“Is it really necessary for us to use honorifics in communication? If so, why are honorifics considered so necessary? The traditional idea about honorifics is that one uses them when he respects some other person with whom he speaks or to whom he refers. But in reality a Japanese may be using honorifics not only to pay respect but also for a number of other reasons, as when the speaker tries to avoid hurting another's feelings or to display his educational background and protect his social position from damage because of language abuse. In other words, one may often use honorifics not so much to show respect for others but rather as a lubricant (junkatsuyu) to facilitate human relations in society.” CITATION Kur70 \p 18 \n \l 1033 (18)In Japan, one often hears about how young people make all sorts of mistakes in keigo, and how keigo is falling into disuse CITATION Wet94 \p 115 \t \l 1033 (Wetzel 115). These complaints have been around since the 1970s, as Lebra briefly mentioned in her 1976 book that “postwar schoolchildren are spared the learning of elaborate keigo, and as a result old-timers complain that young people today do not know how to speak” CITATION Leb76 \p 71 \l 1033 (Lebra 71). Recently there have been many articles about keigo mistakes made by young people doing part-time jobs at convenience stores and family restaurants. These mistakes are known as baito keigo (“part-time job keigo”) or konbini keigo (“convenience store keigo”), among other names CITATION Hor06 \p 1 \l 1033 (Horasawa and Oka 1). In 2003, in response to complaints from customers about waiters’ usage of keigo, a family restaurant chain in Japan called Royal Host posted a list of “the 5 big forbidden phrases” (５大禁止語) , which were all common baito keigo mistakes. The phrases, as well as their corrections, were:Kochira kechappu ni narimasu.Correct form: Omatase shimashita. Kechappu de gozaimasu.English: “Here is your ketchup.” / “Thank you for waiting. Here is your ketchup.”Sen-en kara o-azukari shimasu.Correct form: Sen-en, o-azukari shimasu.English: “I will take 1000 yen.”O-tabako no hou, o-sui ni nararemasu ka.Correct form: O-tabako wa, suwaremasu ka.English: “Will you be smoking?”Yamada-sama de gozaimasu ne.Correct form: Yamada-sama de irasshaimasu ne.English: “You are Mr./Ms. Yamada (I see).”Ijou de yoroshikatta deshou ka.Correct form: Ijou de yoroshii desu ka.English: “Is that all for you?”CITATION Hor06 \p 2 \l 1033 (Horasawa and Oka 2)In the first example, …ni narimasu is incorrect because it is the teineigo form of …ni naru, which means “to transform into” or “to become.” It is being used in place of the copula desu (“to be”), however the correct keigo form of desu is de gozaimasu. In the second example, kara means “from,” and because the subject isn’t stated it could be misinterpreted as the 1000 yen itself literally handed something over to the waiter. ~No hou in the third example generally indicates a direction, and so the third example could be interpreted as “Will you be smoking in the direction of the tobacco?” It can also be used to express preference between two things (for instance, X yori Y no hou ga suki desu = “I like Y more than X”), but as there is only one suggestion in the third example then using ~no hou would still be problematic.In 2002, the Japanese government’s Agency for Cultural Affairs surveyed 3,000 men and women 16 years old and up from across Japan, asking them whether or not this language usage bothered them (Kotoba no tsukaikata – ki ni naru ka dou ka). This was a follow-up to a similar survey done in 1996 CITATION Hor06 \p 2 \l 1033 (Horasawa and Oka 2). The results are as follows:(Units in percents. Source: and Horasawa and Oka 2)(Units in percents. Source: and Horasawa and Oka 2)As one can see from the graphs, the total percentage of respondents who answered “Bothers me” to both baito keigo statements increased since 1996, while the number who answered “Doesn’t bother me” has decreased. The percentage of respondents who answered “Bothers me” to “O-kaikei no hou…” increased by 18.2 points from 1996, and for “Sen-en kara…” it increased by 6.8 points. However, Horasawa and Oka state that the percentage for “Bothers me” actually decreased among the younger respondents for both statements. Out of the 16-to-19-year-old respondents, about 60% answered “Doesn’t bother me” to the “~no hou” statement and about 70% did the same with the “~kara” statement CITATION Hor06 \p 2 \n \l 1033 (2).While baito keigo reflects changes in keigo usage, it seems unlikely that the keigo system will decrease in importance to Japanese any time soon. In any Japanese bookstore, one can find tons of how-to books on how to use proper keigo CITATION Wet94 \p 117 \t \l 1033 (Wetzel 117), with titles such as Keigo no Tsukaikata ga Wakaru Hon (“The Book for Understanding How to Use Keigo”)Keigo ni Tsuyoi Hito no Hon (“The Book for People Who are Good at Keigo”)Anata no Keigo Doko ka Okashii! Doko ga okashii? (“Somewhere Your Keigo is Odd! Where is it Odd?”)Mou Machigawanai Keigo no Hon (“The book for No More Mistaken Keigo”)Onna no Miryoku wa 'Hanashikata' Shidai – ‘Aisatsu’ kara ‘Keigo’ made, Shirazushirazu ni Mi ni Tsuku Hon (“A Woman's Charm is in her Language:The Book for How to Unconsciously Pick up Everything from Greetings to Keigo”)Keigo no Gokui (“Secrets of Keigo”) Keigo Joushiki (“Keigo Common Sense”) CITATION Wet99 \p 70 \t \l 1033 (Wetzel and Inoue 70)There are also many websites that explain proper keigo usage. Searching for 敬語 (keigo) on Google Japan brings up about 10,800,000 hits, and on Yahoo! Japan about 7,250,000. Many of these sites, such as Bijinesu Keigo no Tatsujin (“Business Keigo Experts”) are targeted at businesspeople and people who are looking for work:“’Business Keigo Experts’ is a site explaining correct keigo usage, a business manner you want to master, in an easy-to-understand way, targeting businesspeople who feel uneasy about their keigo, those who are job hunting or changing their occupation, and also foreign exchange students who wish to do activities using Japanese.” (Bijinesu; rough translation by me) The four sections of the website offer “keigo proficiency tests” (Keigoryoku Shindan Tesuto) divided into five levels of proficiency, from introductory level (nyuumon-hen) to expert level (tatsujin-hen); “the basics of modern keigo” (Gendai Keigo no Kiso Chishiki), a section showing example conversations using keigo in everyday business situations (Shiin-betsu Bijinesu Keigo Toreiningu), and a guide to converting plain-form verbs into keigo ones (Keigo Henkan Tora no Maki). CITATION 正しい10 \l 1033 (Bijinesu)As mentioned earlier, keigo training is also a part of companies’ training for new employees, particularly larger companies; smaller ones contract it to specialists CITATION Wet99 \p 72 \t \l 1033 (Wetzel and Inoue 72). Patricia Wetzel and Miyako Inoue describe some training materials:“After being recruited and undergoing the entrance ceremony, newly hired employees receive intensive training in how to behave and properly use language, including keigo, in the workplace. Often training programs are introduced as part of what is called "business manners/etiquette." The data can be divided into two sections: one a set of detailed instructions and helpful hints for those features that characterize all of the telephone calls that come into or go out of the office…such calls are in turn divided into three areas: fundamentals of telephone interaction, making a telephone call, and taking a telephone call. The second section or level of the program, then, is comprised of scripts for hands-on "telephone practice" covering (and presumably exhausting) the possible situations that any representative of [a company] might be required to handle in between initiating a telephone interaction and closing it: when transferring a telephone call, when you cannot understand the name of the caller, when the person the caller wants is on another line, when the person the caller wants is with a client, when the person the caller wants is in a conference.” CITATION Wet99 \p 74 \t \l 1033 (Wetzel and Inoue 74)These training materials place emphasis on keigo as an “inseparable part of locally meaningful social actions involving social acts, such as greeting, apologizing, etc.”, and remind readers to “take the caller’s perspective”:“’Seki o hazushite orimasu. [dake de naku]’ 'Not just “S/he’s away from his/her desk right now."' Rather, "Tadaima yonde mairimasu no de"... Aite no mi ni natte. 'Take the caller's perspective and use something like "I’ll go and call him/her right away."'”CITATION Wet99 \p 75 \t \l 1033 (Wetzel and Inoue 75)Acknowledging the other person’s perspective is a large part of using keigo properly, and Japanese descriptions of it use expressions like aite no mi ni naru (take the other’s perspective), hito o yomu (read people), and aite o tateru (pay due respect to the other) CITATION Wet99 \p 76 \t \l 1033 (Wetzel and Inoue 76).In conclusion, although usage of keigo is changing, keigo’s importance in the Japanese language has not decreased much. Many Japanese people want to be able to use it more skillfully CITATION Wet94 \p 134 \t \l 1033 (Wetzel 134), such that there are thousands of how-to books and websites. Knowing one’s place in the hierarchy is still important in Japanese society, particularly in the workplace, and Japanese people “come to realize early in their lives that to not use or to misuse keigo has serious repercussions” CITATION Wet94 \p 134 \t \l 1033 (Wetzel 134). As long as these social beliefs exist, keigo will continue to be around in some form in Japan.Bibliography BIBLIOGRAPHY 正しい敬語の使い方を学ぶなら【ビジネス敬語の達人】. 2010. 12 December 2011 <, Bjarke. A History of the Japanese Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.Horasawa, Shin and Eriko Oka. "The Use of "Baitokeigo" on Part-time Jobs by Young People: State of Mind of Speakers and Impression of Listeners." Bulletin of the Faculty of Regional Studies, Gifu University 19 (2006): 1-31.Ivana, Adrian and Hiromu Sakai. "Honorification and Light Verbs in Japanese." Journal of East Asian Linguistics 16.3 (2007): 171-191.Kurokawa, Shozo. "Speaker Evaluation of Some Honorific Usages: A Brief Survey." The Journal-Newsletter of the Association of Teachers of Japanese 6.3 (1970): 17-29.Lebra, Takie S. Japanese Patterns of Behavior. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1976.Smith, Janet S. "Women in Charge: Politeness and Directives in the Speech of Japanese Women." Language in Society 21.1 (1992): 59-82.Tsujimura, Natsuko. An Introduction to Japanese Linguistics. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers, 1996.Wetzel, Patricia J. and Miyako Inoue. "Vernacular Theories of Japanese Honorifics." The Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese 33.1 (1999): 68-101.Wetzel, Patricia J. "Contemporary Japanese Attitudes Towards Honorifics (Keigo)." Language Variation and Change (1994): 113-147. ................
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