Japanese Honorifics Research Articles

The Use of Digitized Films for Teaching Honorifics in Japanese

In-depth diachronic and synchronic analysis of five Japanese films revealed that with careful planning and film-clip selection, teachers can profitably use films in interactive video (IV) format to teach honorifics in the Japanese classroom. The framework for analysis included influence of Confucianism, Bourdieu's work on “language and symbolic power,” the Japanese concept of kejime, Bachnik's notion of variability, Lebra's concept of “bun” and what Hendry termed “linguistic wrapping” or “keigo.”

The Relative Effectiveness of Production and Comprehension Practice in Second Language Acquisition

The present study concerns the relative effectiveness of computer-assisted production (output) practice and comprehension (input) practice in second language acquisition. An earlier study (Nagata, 1998) indicates that, given the same grammatical instruction, output-focused practice is more effective than input-focused practice for the production of Japanese honorifics and is equally effective for the comprehension of those structures. Japanese honorifics are fairly complicated structures. The present study addresses the question whether the advantage of production practice over comprehension practice still obtains when the target structures are relatively simple. Two computer programs were developed: (1) an input-focused program which provides students with explicit grammatical instruction and comprehension exercises and (2) an output-focused program which provides the same grammatical instruction together with production exercises. The results of the study are consistent with those in the previous study: the output-focused group developed more grammatical skill than the input-focused group, suggesting that the production practice required more syntactic processing on the part of the learner than the comprehension practice.

The dynamics of honorific behavior in a rural community in Japan

When honorifics in Japanese are broadly divided into old honorifics and modern honorifics, one of the greatest differences we find is in patterns of honorific behavior. Today, the transition to relative honorifics has been completed in standard Japanese, but in regional communities there are dialects in which absolute honorifics can still be found.In this paper, the A. examines specifics of the transition from absolute honorifics to relative honorifics by examining one dialect community which is in the midst of such a transition.

A comparison of honorifics in Japanese and English languages

A comparison of honorifics in Japanese and English languages

A sociolinguistic analysis of the Japanese honorifics

Choice of linguistic forms is not only determined by the interlocutors' sex as such, but also, and to a high degree, by social networks and social motivations, according to Brown (1980). The present study is an attempt to fill in some of the gaps in current sociolinguistic research by correlating linguistic and sociological data along a politeness scale that is not exclusively sex-oriented. The data looked at comprise the so-called honorific forms of the verb; they were gathered during field-work in the Tokyo area among males and females of different social status.

Japanese Honorifics and Situation Semantics.

Japanese Honorifics and Situation Semantics.

The semantic development of honorific expressions in Japanese

Abstract Honorifics in Japanese have been studied historically by Tsujimura (1968,1971), Lewin (1967,1969), and others, while honorification has been studied diachronically in Javanese by Silverstein (1979). The present paper investigates the semantic changes internal to Japanese grammar that neutral items undergo when they become honorifics. It focuses upon honorific expressions for the concepts BE, COME, GO, GIVE, and RECEIVE. For example, oide ni naru, respectful for BE, COME, and GO in NJ, consists of a form of the verb idzu (>NJ deru) go out”; in a productive honorific formula built on the pattern “become HONORIFIC NOMINAL”;. This example reveals two important strategies for expressing deference in Japanese: the use of a particular conceptual subtype to signify the general concept, and the avoidance of the naming of actions in respectful expressions.

Some Strategies for Teaching Japanese Honorifics

Some Strategies for Teaching Japanese Honorifics

Prideaux, Gary D., The Syntax of Japanese Honorifics.

Prideaux, Gary D., The Syntax of Japanese Honorifics.

The Syntax of Japanese Honorifics

The Syntax of Japanese Honorifics