open access

https://hdl.handle.net/2115/85252

Analysis of Japanese Honorific Verbs from Deictic and Contextual Points of View

日本語

2022-04-22

Graduate School of International Media, Communication, and Tourism Studies, Hokkaido University

The Journal of International Media, Communication, and Tourism Studies

34

47-59

In Japanese there are special verb forms which show the speaker's respect to the listener or the person being referred to: respectful verbs and humble verbs. This study aims to analyze the use of these verbs from deictic and contextual points of view. As for respectful verb forms there are three types: RERU type, NARU type and special types. In deictic situations, where the speaker and the hearer communicate with each other, the RERU type is not preferred. By contrast, in contextual situations where third person respected participants are introduced, RERU type verbs are used. In the case of humble verbs, there are two types: SURU type and special types. Within special types, two subtypes are recognized: humble form 1 and humble form 2 including MOOSU, ORU, ITASU, MAIRU, ZONJIRU and GOZARU. Humble form 2 verbs are used in deictic situations and only in polite style sentences. Finally I recommend that at the beginner level of Japanese, O / GO ~ NI NARU and O / GO ~ SURU type verb forms should be avoided and ~ NASARU and ~ ITASU forms preferred.

紀要論文

Version of Record

AA1224631X