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Manipulation of Honorifics in First- Encounter Conversations in Japanese

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Manipulation of Honorifics in First- Encounter Conversations in Japanese Manipulation of Honorifics in First- Encounter Conversations in Japanese Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Yamaji, Harumi Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 26/09/2021 04:52:43 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/195228 MANIPULATION OF HONORIFICS IN FIRST-ENCOUNTER CONVERSATIONS IN JAPANESE by Harumi Yamaji _____________________ A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF EAST ASIAN STUDIES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2008 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Harumi Yamaji entitled Manipulation of Honorifics in First-Encounter Conversations in Japanese and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy ___________________________________________ Date: 12/6/2007 Kimberly Jones ___________________________________________ Date: 12/6/2007 Timothy Vance ___________________________________________ Date: 12/6/2007 Mariko Karatsu Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date: 12/6/2007 Dissertation Director: Kimberly Jones 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: Harumi Yamaji 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Drs. Kimberly Jones, Timothy Vance, and Mariko Karatsu for their valuable support and feedback on my work as the members of my committee. I am especially indebted to Dr. Jones for the continuous encouragement and patience that she extended to me throughout this project. I could not have completed this dissertation without her willingness to help me through. Dr. Tsuyoshi Ono offered me critical insight and advice in the initial stages of this project, which I deeply appreciate. I am also extremely grateful to the participants of the study, without whom my research would have been impossible. There were a number of people in Tucson whose support was invaluable though indirect. Janet Kania and Brenda Fraker, our department secretaries, kindly served as my liaisons with the Graduate College for registration and paperwork after I returned to Japan. For their friendship and particularly for opening their home to me at the time of my final oral examination, Chieko Nakano, Rodd Lancaster, and Brad Lancaster deserve special thanks. The late Mark Thielen treated me as his adopted daughter during my time in Tucson, for which I will always fondly remember him. I am thankful for the encouragement and support of my family: Nobue and Takashi Yamaji, Wanda and Paul Elmegreen, and Jennifer and Thomas Funk. My best friend and life-time partner, James, is always there for me. Lastly, I would like to thank my son, Shouma, who suffered my considerably divided attention with few complaints as I completed this project. Now, it's time to play, Shouma. 5 TABLE OF CONENTS LIST OF TABLES········································································································· 7 ABSTRACT··················································································································· 9 1. INTRODUCTION ····································································································· 11 1.1. Previous Studies of Honorifics ··········································································· 12 1.2. Research Questions····························································································· 19 1.3. Procedure & Hypotheses····················································································· 20 2. DATA ························································································································ 25 2.1. Participants·········································································································· 25 2.2. Data Collection ··································································································· 27 3. OVERVIEW OF THE DATA ··················································································· 29 3.1. What do Japanese People Talk about in First-Encounter Conversations?·········· 29 3.2. Participants’ Impression about Their Partners & Conversations– Seen from the Results of the Follow-Up Questionnaire ·························································· 32 4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION······················································································ 40 4.1. Addressee Honorifics·························································································· 40 4.2. Referent Honorifics - Sonkee-go ········································································· 50 4.2.1. Sonkee-go in Reference to the Addressee···················································· 51 4.2.2. Sonkee-go in Reference to a Third Person··················································· 58 4.2.3. Sonkee-go of Verbs······················································································ 63 4.3. Referent Honorifics - Kenjoo-go ········································································ 71 4.4. Gender Differences in the Use of Referent Honorifics······································· 76 4.5. Speech Style Shifts between Addressee Honorifics and Plain Forms ················ 79 4.5.1. Self-Directed Questions··············································································· 80 4.5.2. Expression of Feelings, Thoughts, & Opinions··········································· 87 4.5.3. Comments of Realization············································································· 94 4.5.4. Repetition····································································································· 100 4.5.5. Confirmation Check····················································································· 106 4.5.6. Answers········································································································ 109 4.5.7. Elaboration··································································································· 111 4.5.8. Co-Construction··························································································· 114 4.5.9. Quantitative Analysis & Discussion ···························································· 118 4.6. Speech Style Shifts between Referent Honorifics and Non-Honorific Forms ··· 120 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued 5. CONCLUSION·········································································································· 127 5.1. Findings··············································································································· 127 5.2. Pedagogical Implications···················································································· 130 APPENDIX A: TRANSCRIPTION CONVENTIONS················································· 134 APPENDIX B: FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONNAIRE (JAPANESE) ······························ 135 APPENDIX C: FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH TRANSLATION)···· 140 REFERENCES ·············································································································· 143 7 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Participants’ Backgrounds ··············································································· 26 Table 2. Conversation Topics ························································································ 30 Table 3. Impression of the Partner’s Age ······································································ 32 Table 4. Accuracy of the Judgment of the Partner’s Age·············································· 33 Table 5. Clues to Guess the Partner’s Age ···································································· 33 Table 6. Impression of the Partner’s Social Status ························································ 34 Table 7. Clues to Guess the Partner’s Social Status ······················································ 34 Table 8. Ease/Difficulty of Talking ··············································································· 35 Table
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