Standards for Non-usage of -si- in Modern Korean: From Sociolinguistic and Grammatical Perspectives

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K13449
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Linguistics
• Research Institution: Sophia University
• Principal Investigator: KIM AHRAN 上智大学, 言語教育研究センター, 准教授 (90711135)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 尊敬語の不使用 / 韓国語 / -si- / 社会言語学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The Korean honorific form -si- has a wider range of use compared with Japanese honorifics. However, -si- is not always used for those who should be regarded as higher in status. It may or may not be used in a series of conversations, but the criteria for when it is used are not yet clear. This study analysed drama scenarios and spoken language corpora, and conducted a questionnaire survey on Korean native speakers to clarify the criteria for non-usage of -si-. The results confirmed that social relationships and intimacy, the speaker’s psychological attitude during an utterance, the content of the utterance, the function of the sentence, and grammatical elements comprehensively influenced the usage or non-usage of -si-. Some of the research results have been presented at academic conferences in Japan and overseas and have been summarised in papers.

Free Research Field

社会言語学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

既存の敬語に関する研究は、どのような関係の人に対して、どのような状況で敬語が用いられるかに主な焦点を当ててきたが、本研究は丁寧体を使用する間柄における尊敬形の不使用基準を明らかにしたものである。また本研究は、会話の丁寧さを維持しながら相手との心的距離を縮めるという高度なコミュニケーションの実現様相を明らかにしており、その結果は学習者はもちろん、母語話者にとっても実用的に活用できるものである。