Are honorifics polite? Uses of referent honorifics in a Japanese committee meeting

Abstract

Taking the view that honorifics are indexes, this paper examines uses of referent honorifics in a committee meeting in a Japanese company. The ways in which referent honorifics occur in this committee meeting defy the explanation that honorifics are markers of politeness. The paper finds that most of the referent honorifics that occur in the meeting are used in the speech act of requests and descriptions of the third party not present in the speech context. Furthermore, the male participants use referent honorifics more than the female participants. The paper argues that neither Brown and Levinson's politeness theory nor Ide's notion of wakimae ‘discernment’ alone can adequately account for the usages of the referent honorifics in the committee meeting talk. This paper illustrates ways in which the participants discursively construct their institutional identity through the use of referent honorifics.