Linguistic politeness in Japanese and English

【Abstract】 This paper focuses on comparison between expression of “greeting and” and “acknowledgments” in English and Japanese in terms of linguistic politeness. As languages can reflect cultures from various perspectives， analyzing mainly the differences between English and Japanese language of politeness could mirror the cultural differences to some extent. Based on analysis from diversified corpus， this study maintains that， as a general principle， social norm and national consciousness form the base of expressing thanks. English is simple， direct， and usually has nothing to do with status， whereas in Japanese languages are often performed according to the social position and relationship of the participants. （Xiangdong Liu1， 2014） This thesis ends with possibilities for language learners to develop intercultural understanding through the process of correspondences with people from different cultural backgrounds.

【Key Words】Language politeness; Japanese; English; pragmatic differences

【作者簡介】孙丹宁 ，东北师范大学（净月校区）。

1. Introduction

Living means interaction. You cannot choose to shut yourself outside from the world. In that case， the expression of politeness serves as a lubricant for people to have a better exchange of ideas. Despite the great volume of studies politeness， however， the definition of politeness remains unclear since it often varies between people with different backgrounds.

2. Analysis

2.1 Pragmatic Differences in Greeting

Conversation begins by greeting， though here we try to translate Japanese version to English， the very translation may not reach the level of vividness due to the cultural gap. Despite of this， the functions of greeting in Japanese and English are of entirely different. （Ning， 2018）

In Japanese society， there is social norms called “keeping inside information from outsider.”  When to meet somebody at for the first time， using 「初めまして、よろしくお願いします」（meeting for the first time， please take care）「こんにちは。」（Hello！） between friends （Yu， 2015）. When leaving home， Japanese are used to say 「行ってきます」（Good bye） and the interlocutor reply as 「いってらっしゃい」（Be careful）.

In English， greeting like “Hello” can be used formal or informal， “Hello， Smith！” can be uttered to greet strangers or friends， and there are few greetings in English that have practical implications. Often after the greeting， strangers would just go by each other， while friends start talking about something concrete.

In Japanese， the relationship plays a crucial part on language choice. By using “と申します”  instead of “です”， which is a honorific form of self-introduction， using the polite and formal version is based on her understanding of the social norms and the relationship that he shares with the hearer in this particular interaction. （Xiangdong Liu1， 2014）. From this aspect， English is of linguistic vacancy. The American social norms are simple， direct， and have little connection with interlocutors.

2.2 Pragmatic Differences in Acknowledgement

No matter in Japanese or English， acknowledgement possesses two basic functions----express gratefulness or turn down roundabout. （Xuchang， 2012）. A shared feature of both languages is its immediacy---saying thank you is more like a widely followed social norms.

While the acknowledgement in Japanese is 「ありがとう」 or「ありがとうございます」， in English is “thank you”， “thank you very much” “I appreciate that”，etc.

As mentioned above， English is very concise and direct， so as its utterances in acknowledgement. “Thank……” “I appreciate……”“Its very nice/kind of you……”“Youre so……” （Shuang， 2015）These expression mainly focus on utility——that is really to express gratitude for being indebted. So the common expressions usually are known as “Thank you for （the time， the tea， the meal， the book……）”. （Shuang， 2015）.

However， in Japanese， things are completely different. Thanks is to be expressed in an euphemistic way. In Japan， although “thank you” could be used， the gratitude is often showed in a form of apology. Sentences like「すみません」 「お疲れ様でした」、「ご迷惑をかけました」are uttered to express sorry for troubling others.「すみません」 is actually “sorry ”in English. If we directly translate it into English， it turns out to be kind of weird——“Youve had a hard time”，“Im sorry to have caused you so much trouble” （Shuang， 2015）， English speaker may find it confused and offended， because they feel like they are forced to give you a hand.

3. Reasons

Japan， acting as a crucial part of East Asian culture， is somehow embodied with the Confucian culture， where informality is discouraged. Following this， the distinct grade characteristic is demonstrated. As people from public service agency， honorific verbs must be used to show the degree of formality.

Correspondingly， the word choices in English bear little relationship with the hearers social status; almost in any circumstances can you hear “Hello” or “Thank you” to different people.

Last but not least， theory of politeness （Brown， 1987）plays an important role in Japanese society. Japanese speakers do have face wants. They know that both they themselves and the other interlocutor（s） have positive and negative face wants， that is， people normally want their self-image to be appreciated and approved by others in the society. （Xiangdong Liu1， 2014）. Thats the intense collision of individualism and collectivism. English aims at perlocutionary act， while Japanese is an expert in performing illocutionary meaning， not its linguistic form but its communicative function or illocutionary force and the speakers intention within the social norms. （Xiangdong Liu1， 2014）

4. Conclusion

By analyzing differences in usage of English and Japanese in “greeting” and “acknowledgement”， a remarkable cultural difference is revealed. Although generally speaking， the basic functions of greeting and acknowledge are the same， there are still significant variants in pragmatic way， such as occasion， forms and the object members. English is simple， direct， and frequently used as a universal etiquette and usually have nothing to do with status， whereas in Japanese languages are often performed according to the social position and relationship of the participants. （Xiangdong Liu1， 2014）

After analyzing the specific linguistic phenomenon， value conflict is illustrated on a deeper level. The pursuit for face-saving and the freedom of personal expression reveal cultural diversity. Learning a language is inextricably bound with the culture， by getting to know the difference， the cross-cultural awareness is enhanced， thus prompting the communication between the language speakers.

References：

[1]Brown& Levinson， S. C.P.. Politeness： Some Universals in Language Usage[M]. CambridgeUniversity Press，1987：61-62.

[2]HsiehShin-Chieh. （Im）politeness in email communication： how English speakers and Chinese[J].2009.