Development Of Honorifics Within Cultures Cultural Studies Essay

Development Of Honorifics Within Cultures Cultural Studies EssayHow does kind pecking order affect linguistic politeness and the development of honorifics within cultures. Japanese, Chinese English will be examined.Politeness is a cultural phenomenon. What is considered polite in superstar culture coffin nail be quite rude or just simply strange in another. An honorific on the other hand is a word, title or expression, which conveys politeness under certain cultural norms when addressing or referring to another person (Brown, 1987). In languages such as Chinese, honorifics enmesh under a self-denigration Maxim where iodine either elevates the other partys posturement and therefore conveying esteem or respect, and/or denigrating the self and so elevating the relative status of a second or third person (Gu, 1990). To do otherwise is seen as world arrogant boasting, or self-conceited. In some languages such as Japanese, honorifics are also often utilise together with alt er systems of honorific expression, which are grammatical or morphological ways of encoding the relative mixer status of speakers (Haugh et. al., 2003). Agha (1994) goes on to suggest individuals who use much honorifics are further educated and mature, and therefore, of higher social status. Thus it can be hypothesized that politeness is as such intertwined with the speakers cultural understanding and subsequent social status. This paper will explore how social hierarchy affects politeness through the changing use of honorifics. Chinese, Japanese and English will be examined to gain a wider understanding of this phenomenon.The closest Chinese translation of politeness is , meaning polite appearance. is derived from the archaic Chinese word. To do a better understanding of the modern conception of , it may be helpful to review the Graeco-Roman notion of formulated by Confucius. Confucius lived at a time when there was constant war between feudal states, partly due to a rapi dly deteriorating slavery system. The former aristocratic social hierarchy was shattered, and chaos practically reigned over the land. One of the measures Confucius advocated towards stability was to restore . This does not mean politeness it refers to the social hierarchy and order of the slavery system of the chow chow Dynasty, which was regarded by Confucius as an ideal model of any society. In order to restore it is necessary to i.e. rectify names. To is to put each individual in his/her place in the web of relationships that create community, and behaving accordingly to his/her social position so as to ensure social harmony (Taylor, 2003 Warren, 1980).This is important becauseif ming is not properly rectified, idiom cannot be used appropriately if speech is not used appropriately, nothing can be achieved if nothing is achieved, li cannot be restored if li is not restored, equity and justice cannot be exercised and if law and justice are not exercised, people will not kno w how to behave. (Confucius, zilu , quoted by Yang (1987))Thus speech had to be used appropriately in accordance with the users status in the social hierarchy so thatcould be restored. For instance, a servant was required to call himself or herself (slave), part addressing his/her master as (great man) or (master). Deviation from this usage, in Confucius view, would disrupt the established social order, hence creating social chaos. An inferiors violation of this usage, at that time, would have been considered as creation (offending the superior). This was a serious breach of which could result in the severe punishment of the offender (Gu, 1990).Since the founding of the Peoples Republic in 1949, the feudal system, which has overseen China for over 5000 years, was abolished. A new order of social structure, the communist system was adapted where ideologically, everyone is an equal. Politeness and its economic consumption in this new way of life among the people were drasticall y dislodged as the pre-existing social hierarchy was viciously torn down. Consequently, many classical terms, which sounded either too denigrative or elevative in the contemporary political atmosphere, became obsolete.Examples of classical and contemporary denigrating and elevating honorifics from Gu (1990) include(Attachment 1)After the communist revolution, honorifics are only used for formal or volatile circumstances. Extreme honorifics such as the ones mentioned above are saved for TV shows and situations of extreme emphasis. A prime example of modern use of the self-denigration maxim is extracted from Gu (1990) below.(Attachment 2)Gu (1990) explains as thusWhen M refers to Ss surname I, he elevates it as precious surname, whereas in mentioning his own surname 4, he denigrates it by calling it worthless surname. S, on his part, though he does not denigrate his surname in response to As enquiry 2, denigrates instead himself as little brother (implicating that he is inferior to M). In his enquiry about Ms surname, on the other hand, S exhilarates it as respectable surname 3.It is evident that the distance between self-denigration and other elevation was much big in ancient China than that in modern China. Elevated honorifics are rarely used outside formal occasions however the self-denigration maxim salvage underlines linguistic constructs in Chinese social interaction.The self-denigration maxim is also present in the Japanese politeness or teineisa known as rei. As the Japanese language was greatly influenced by Chinese, some parts copied directly such as the Kanji system, there are bound to be similarities pertaining to social hierarchy and its role in politeness. Rei is a Japanese version of the original Chinese , however slightly diverged from the original concept. In spoken Japanese, with an honorific o-prefix, o-rei is commonly used in such expressions as o-rei wo suru (to do rei) meaning to express rei as an action to give a gift to someone whom o ne is indebted to, or to postpone (with no o-prefix). Also o-rei wo iu (to say rei) means to verbally express rei. It is often associated with using the arigatou thanking speech formula, and other speech formulae for apology, such as sumimasen, moushiwake arimasen (Ohashi, 2008).Before populace War II, Japan was a Feudal society which placed extreme emphasis on class distinctions and social hierarchies. The variant factor which differentiated Japanese with Chinas changing attitude to politeness was the lack of a violent cultural revolution. Japans transition from a monarchy to the democracy it is straightaway, saw little change in the populaces feelings towards social hierarchy. Therefore we see a broad array of honorific used for addressing or referring to people beyond that of the self-denigration maxim in everyday life. Third-person honorifics such as ore-sama and name+suffix referring to one-self are rarely used outside of popular culture. Commonly seen honorifics are general ly gender-neutral and suffixed to first names as well as surnames.Some common affixual honorifics are as followsNominal(common) -sanThe minimal politeness necessary when there is a lack of familiarly between the speakers.Diminutive(common) -chan, -kunWhere the addressee is usually that of a dismount social status or has a close familiarity with the speaker.Elevative -sama, -sempai, -sensei, -shiWhere the addressee is that or a higher social status or held in great respect by the speaker.Dropping the honorific referred to as yobisute implies a high degree of intimacy, however if used mistakenly or out of such boundaries, social backlash can occur as this is a serious breach of teineisa. Okamoto (1999) views the use of honorifics as determined by features of the context. Honorifics are commonly said to be used in reference to the relevant individual who is perceived as distant from the speaker. Other factors such as formality of the setting, means of communication and topic discuss ed, have also been noted to affect the use of honorifics and honorific speech.In Japanese, honorifics are also often used together with varying systems of honorific speech, by either grammatically or morphologically changing what is being said. This results in varying ways of reflection the exact same thing albeit with varying levels of teineisa. For example, Haugh et al. (2003) illustrates the different ways of saying today is Saturday to varying circumstances below.(32a) (to a close friend)Kyoo wa doyoobi da.today Top Saturday Cop(NonPol)(32b) (to an acquaintance)Kyoo wa doyoobi desu.today Top Saturday Cop(Pol)(32c) (to a guest on a formal occasion)Kyoo wa doyoobi degozaimasu.today Top Saturday Cop(SuperPol) (ibid 415).The last sentence (32c) is what would be referred as keigo. To go a step further, we have three sub-categories of honorific speech sonkeigo , respectful language kensongo or kenjgo, humble language and teineigo, polite language. Below is a chart from Wikipedia whic h outlines the various morphological changes in words necessary for varying situations.(Attachment 3)To make a mistake in such complex mutilation of language is easy indeed Due to the complexity of honorific speech, Agha (1994) even suggests individuals who use more honorifics are further educated and mature, and therefore, are of a higher social status. However, one must keep in mind, similar to the many archaic honorifics in Chinese, these specialized forms are rarely if ever used outside extremely formal or special circumstances. Agha (1994) further notes modern Japanese, especially the newer generations, seem to deemphasize hierarchy, where those in higher standing would use honorifics towards their subordinates. The author interprets such use of honorifics as an attempt to reduce the hierarchically defined distance by reciprocating respect. This phenomenon suggests a change in the ideology of honorifics that reflects ongoing social change in Japan.Modern English has a very few Honorifics, all of which are titles pre-fixing a persons name. This stark(a) list from Wikipedia is shown belowMs default use for women regardless of marital status.Miss for use by unmarried women only.Mrs for use by married women only.Mr for men. tame for boys or very young men.Dr a person who has obtained a doctorate, such as the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) or Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)Rev for Christian clergyFr for priests in Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, and some Anglican or Episcopalian groupsThe first four are simple variations of standard title. Master is uncommonly heard and the latter three examples are titles of profession. There is also no official honorific speech in modern English, the closest relative to that in Chinese and Japanese would be the languages used towards royalty in old English. The lack of honorifics can be attributed to drastic cultural aversion towards large gaps in the social hierarchy. Most leading western countries operate under some form of d emocracy, where wars were fought over to take power out of a single persons detainment and spread equally to the populace. Regardless of how effective this is in practice, the people still perceive equality as paramount in social hierarchy that the loss leader of state is just another person elected by the masses. This is in direct contradiction to thought prevalent in the past when Asian languages were being developed. The head of state, otherwise, emperor was usually symbolized as a divine being with a god-given right to rule. This is similar to European feudal thought towards monarchies however one has to take into account the time it takes for languages to develop. Indeed if the English monarchy had a history as long as Chinas five thousand years, the western world today would be talking in flowery honorifics. Interestingly, in western culture, honorifics are more commonly used in religion, most notably Christianity. Every home in the Christian religion has an honorific, with the Pope associated with holiness at the pinnacle of the hierarchy. The development and contemporary usage of such honorifics can be attributed to the continual mankind and popular belief of the Christian religion over the last two millennia.Ultimately politeness and honorifics reflect cultural values towards social hierarchies. Many of these systems operate under a self-denigration maxim, to do otherwise is seen as breaching etiquette and may have severe repercussions. Honorifics are also often used together with varying systems of honorific speech, many of which are obsolete in modern society. Not only is politeness intrinsically intertwined with the cultural values, but as discussed, it takes a long flowing where a stable social hierarchy with clearly distinguished levels exists for the continual development and use of honorifics. Nevertheless, politeness will always be integral to valet nature and the manner or form of how we execute civility are fundamentally ever-changing.