USE OF JAPANESE HONORIFIC EXPRESSIONS BY NATIVE CHINESE SPEAKERS

Abstract

The present study investigated the degree of acquisition of honorific expressions by native Chinese speakers with respect to both aspects of grammar and knowledge of Japanese personal relations. Thirty-two native Chinese speakers studying Japanese participated in this study. Sixty incorrect sentences containing honorific expressions (36 with exalted and 24 with humble terms) were used as stimulus items. Participants were required to correct the errors in the sentences. Scores for proper usage of honorific terms for others were higher than those for expressions requiring grammatical changes. Furthermore, scores for proper usage of honorific terms (both exalted and humble) pertaining to others were higher than those for proper usage of such terms pertaining to oneself/family members. The result of the analysis on scores pertaining to the proper reference to the object of politeness showed that native Chinese speakers had quite a lot of difficulty editing sentences requiring humble terms for the object of politeness in the third person.