Abstract
: This research focuses on the topic of Korean speech style shifts from polite to casual between men and women in romantic relationships. This study used data from the Korean reality TV show We Got Married, which was broadcast in Korea for 9 years. After reviewing the system of Korean speech styles and manners of shifts, the study explores who is the first one to offer a shift, what they say, and how an offer is given. According to the analysis, older people were more likely to offer shifts first in the case of romantic relationships. In the TV show, older women tended to offer first a little more through indirect means, while older men offered rather directly. As for expressions used in the offers, the phrase ‘drop the honorifics’ and ‘talk comfortably’ were the most frequently used. They might offer in either polite or casual language, with sudden shifts. However, it was more common for speakers to offer shifts while talking in polite language. During conversations, two types of offers were observed: symmetrical shifts and asymmetrical shifts. In the first type, one speaker suggests shifts from both sides. The second type has more variations: one speaker requests the other’s permission to use casual language, allows the other to use casual language, or shows the speaker’s decision to use casual language. In the samples, symmetrical shifts occurred more often.
Highlights
When two adult strangers come across one another on the street and they are about to engage in small talk, they will attempt to talk politely to give a nice impression without causing any conflicts
1 This paper has further developed an analysis of the reality TV show that is first introduced in a research poster, “Korean Speech Style Shifts from Polite to Casual: Focused on New Couples” by Baštanová Kwak (2019)
Unless a significant age gap exists between the two people, they will first begin to use a polite speech style (존댓말 jon-daes-mal) with each other
Summary
When two adult strangers come across one another on the street and they are about to engage in small talk, they will attempt to talk politely to give a nice impression without causing any conflicts. Unless a significant age gap exists between the two people, they will first begin to use a polite speech style (존댓말 jon-daes-mal) with each other. When they get to know each other and become closer, the. There has been minimal research regarding speech style shifts, especially from a polite speech style (존댓말 jon-daes-mal) to a casual speech style (반말 ban-mal). After reviewing the Korean system of polite speech styles and Korean manners of offering shifts, Chapter 5.1 shows who makes the first offer to shift speech styles between a couple based on the Korean reality TV show We Got Married.
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