Japanese Politeness: An Enquiry

by Yasuko Obana

Overview

Although the Japanese language is one of the most quoted examples in politeness research, extant publications focus on particular areas of politeness, and very few of them enquire into the varied aspects of Japanese politeness. In this book, Yasuko Obana provides an integrated account of what'signifies Japanese politeness.

By examining how far previous assumptions can apply to Japanese, Obana exposes a variety of characteristics of Japanese politeness. By taking a diachronic approach, she probes into what constitutes politeness, extracts key elements of the term ‘polite’ in Japanese, and demonstrates how modern honorifics’ apparent diverse, divergent uses and effects can be integrated into a systematic matrix. Furthermore, by quoting traditional Japanese language scholars’ (kokugo gakusha) studies, Obana brings different views into the open. She also carves out politeness strategies in Japanese that have not been adequately explored to date, and which often conform to the way in which honorifi cs behave because they refl ect social indexicality.

This book is a good reference for scholars in pragmatics, particularly for those who are working on politeness. It is useful for Japanese language teachers who want to know how to teach Japanese politeness to non-native learners. Postgraduate students of Japanese or pragmatics may also find this book useful for self-study.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367612252
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/01/2022
Pages:	218
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Yasuko Obana is a Professor in the School of Science, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan, teaching English to science students. She has published a number of articles in the field of pragmatics, including politeness and anaphora in text processing. When she was teaching Japanese to university students in Australia, she was analysing learners’ errors in Japanese, which led her to publish Understanding Japanese: A Handbook for Learners and Teachers (Kurosio Publishers, Japan, 2000 ). She is now writing a co- authored book on Japanese pragmatics.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Some characteristics of this book ix

On a theory of politeness xi

Acknowledgements xiii

Note on transcriptions xiv

Part I Politeness begins 1

1 Definition of politeness 3

1.0 Introduction 3

1.1 The etymology of 'politeness' 4

1.2 Politeness as part of speech acts: A set of rules 6

1.3 Face-saving view: Brown and Levinson's politeness theory 9

1.4 Discursive politeness 14

2 The underlying meaning of politeness: How it begins and evolves 27

2.1 The recent development of politeness studies: What 'politeness' constitutes 27

2.2 A diachronic approach 34

2.3 Identity and role in Symbolic Interactionism 40

3 Politeness as a social norm, its contingency and discursiveness 48

3.1 The term 'social norm' as used in sociology 48

3.2 Politeness as a social norm and its contingencies 53

Summary of Part I 57

Part II Honorifics 59

4 The term 'polite' in English and Japanese: Conceptual differences 61

4.1 Etymology of the term 'polite' in Japanese: Reigi tadashii and teineina 61

4.2 Sociological significance of 'polite' in English and Japanese 63

4.3 Keigo, keii hyoogen and politeness 66

5 The origin of honorifics: Distance begins 69

5.1 The origin of honorifics as taboo? 69

5.2 Norito as the origin of honorifics 71

5.3 Characteristics of honorific use in norito 74

6 Understanding honorifics 77

6.1 Classification of honorific styles 77

6.2 Status of honorifics in pragmatic principles 83

6.3 Socio-pragmatic functions of honorifics: Ideology, image and reality 95

7 Variations and derivations of honorific use: Strategic honorifics 116

7.0 Introduction 116

7.1 Norms and contingencies: Bicchieri's (2006) 'grammar of society' 117

7.2 Speech-level shifts: The case of plus-level shifts 118

7.3 Other derivations of honorific use 131

Summary of Part II 141

Part III Politeness strategies 143

8 Strategies as the implementation of one's Role-Identity 145

8.1 The concept of Role-Identity 146

8.2 Role shifts and changes in politeness strategies 148

8.3 Summary 160

9 Honorific strategies 161

9.1 Pragmatic transfer as a source for distinguishing Japanese from English 161

9.2 Fundamental differences in strategic planning in English and Japanese: FTA based versus Role-Identity based 164

9.3 Praising, recognition and checking; Evaluative statements are condescending 168

9.4 Direct enquiries into seniors' wants are intrusive: The case of offer 170

9.5 Direct request: One's role entitlement prior to FTA considerations 173

Summary of Part III 176

Concluding remarks 178

What this book has offered 178

What this book has left out 182

References 185

Index 199