Cover not available
Part of
Imperatives and Directive Strategies
Edited by Daniël Van Olmen and Simone Heinold
[Studies in Language Companion Series 184] 2017
► pp. 241–264

Directive strategies in Modern Korean and Japanese

With special reference to commands and requests

| Australian National University
| Australian National University

The current study discusses the use of directive strategies in Modern Korean and Japanese, commands and requests in particular. Directives constitute a very basic way in which tasks and activities of everyday life are organized. For both Korean and Japanese, a considerable amount of research has been undertaken on this speech act. However, no study has sufficiently explored the issue of directives in the two languages from a contrastive perspective, despite its significance for understanding the differences between the two languages in interacting with other people in daily life. The current study aims at identifying the linguistic resources that are available for commands and requests in Korean and Japanese, the factors that determine the choice of a particular directive strategy and the (dis)similarities in the use of the directive strategies between the languages. Based on data from Korean and Japanese TV drama series, the study looks into the frequency of various linguistic forms for commands and requests and shows that Korean directive strategies can be characterized as “imperative-honorific-oriented” and Japanese ones as “request-oriented”.

Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Commands and requests
  • 3.Command and request strategies in Korean
    • 3.1Commands
    • 3.2Benefactive request expressions
    • 3.3Other request expressions
  • 4.Command and request strategies in Japanese
    • 4.1Commands
    • 4.2Benefactive request expressions
    • 4.3Other request expressions
  • 5.Corpus study
    • 5.1Data
    • 5.2Commands
    • 5.3Benefactive request expressions
    • 5.4Formality and age factor
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Abbreviations
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 11 April 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.184.08lee
References
Backhouse, Anthony E
1993 The Japanese Language. An Introduction. Melbourne: OUP.Google Scholar
Chu, Joon-Soo
2012 Hankuk TV dulama tayhwa ey nathanan yocheng kwa ungtap hwahayng yenku (A Study of Speech Acts of Request and Response Discourse in Korean Soap Operas). PhD dissertation, Chungnam University.Google Scholar
Han, Chae-Young, An, Kyong-Hwa & Park, Ji-Young
2010 Hankukehak Yonge Haysel (Terminology in Korean Linguistics). Seoul: Shingu Munhwasha.Google Scholar
Kim, Mee-Sook
1997 Pwuceng myenglyengmwun yenku (A study of negative imperative sentences). Say Kuke Yenku 54: 323–342.Google Scholar
Kim, Soo Yeong & An, Byeong Kun
2012 A comparison of negation order expressions in Korean and Japanese. Ilpon Kundayhak Yenku 37: 63–79.Google Scholar
Kittilä, Seppo & Zúñiga, Fernando
2010 Benefaction and malefaction from a cross-linguistic perspective. In Benefactives and Malefactives. Typological Perspectives and Case Studies [Typological Studies in Langauge 92], Fernando Zúñiga & Seppo Kittilä (eds), 1–28. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ko, Seong-Hwan
2003 Kuke Myenglyengmwun ey Dayhan Yenku (A Study on Imperatives in Korean). Seoul: Yeograg Publishing.Google Scholar
Ko, Young-Hwan & Nam, Ki-Shim
1993 Phyojwun Kuke Mwunpeoplon (Standard Grammar of Korean). Seoul: Tap Publishing.Google Scholar
Kondo, Akira
2004 Jodooshi ‘ri, tari’ ga meireikeini naru baai (Cases the auxiliary -ri, -tari become an imperative). Kanazawa Daigaku Gogaku-Bungaku Kenkyuu 32: 1–12.Google Scholar
Kumatoridani, Tetsuo
1995 Hatsuwakooi riron kara mita irai hyoogen: Hatsuwakooi kara danwakoodoo e (Request expressions from the point of view of speech act theory: From speech act to discourse act). Nihongogaku 14(10): 12–21.Google Scholar
Lee, Duck-Young
1998 Korean Phonology: A Principle-based Approach. Munich: Lincom.Google Scholar
2007 Involvement and Japanese interactive particles ‘ne’ and ‘yo’. Journal of Pragmatics 39(2): 363–388. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lee, Joon-Hee
2001 Indirect speech acts of imperative sentences. Hankwuke Uymihak 8: 279–290.Google Scholar
Lee, Yik-Seob & Yim, Hong-Bin
1985 Kwuke Mwunpeplon (Grammatical Theory of Korean). Seoul: Hakyensa.Google Scholar
Makino, Yukiko
2008 Taishootekina shakaikankei ni okeru kooishiji: Nyuutaun Jichikai deno sagyoobamen kara miru (Directive Acts in Symmetric Social Relationships: From the Viewpoint of Work Situations in a New Town Neighborhood Council). PhD dissertation, Osaka University.Google Scholar
Mauri, Caterina & Sansò, Andrea
2011 How directive constructions emerge: Grammaticalization, constructionalization, cooptation. Journal of Pragmatics 43(14): 3489–3521. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mori, Hideki
2011 Nichieigo meireikei no kinoo ryooiki no sooi (The difference in functional domains of Japanese and English imperatives). Gifu Seitoku Gakuin Daigaku 50: 61–70.Google Scholar
2013 Nihongo hitei meireibun no rekishitekina hensen (The historical change of the negative imperative sentence in Japanese). Fukui Kenritsu Daigaku Ronshuu 40: 1–13.Google Scholar
Najima, Yoshinao
2003 Meirei, ketsui, tyuukoku, ganboo no noda bun (Noda-sentence for command, decision, advice, desire). Issues in Language and Culture 4: 227–244.Google Scholar
Nitta, Yoshio
1991 Nihongo no Modariti to Ninshoo (Modality and Person Reference in Japanese). Tokyo: Hituzi Syobo.Google Scholar
Ogi, Naomi
2012 The interactional function of Japanese interactive markers ‘yo’ and ‘sa’. Linguistics and the Human Sciences 5(3): 329–349. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2014 Language and an expression of identities: Japanese sentence-final particles ne and na . Journal of Pragmatics 64: 72–84. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ono, Masaki
2010 Gendai nihongo no meireikei ni tsuite: Nihongo no shuutoku to ishiki (On imperative forms in Modern Japanese: Acquisition and recognition of Japanese). Kokusai Nihon Kenkyuu 2: 79–98.Google Scholar
Park, Hye-Ran
2013 Cosene myenglyengmwun uy hwahayngloncek pwunsek (An analysis of imperative sentences in Korean from the perspective of speech act theory). Kochal kwa Yenkwu 159: 26–32.Google Scholar
Park, Kum Ja
1987 Kwuke uy myenglyengphyohyen yenkwu (A study of imperative expressions in Korean). Kwanokemwun Yenkwu 12: 65–91.Google Scholar
Park, Young Joon
1991 Myenglyengmwun uy Kaynyem kwa pemcwu (Concept and categories of imperative sentences). Emwunloncip 20: 331–349.Google Scholar
1994 Myenglyengmwun uy Kwukesacek Yenkwu (A Study of the History of Imperative Sentences in Korean). Seoul: Kughag Jaryowon.Google Scholar
Pérez Hernández, Lorena & Ruiz de Mendoza, Francisco José
2002 Grounding, semantic motivation and conceptual interaction in indirect directive speech act. Journal of Pragmatics 34(3): 259–284. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Saito, Junko
2011 Managing confrontational situations: Japanese male superiors’ interactional styles in directive discourse in the workplace. Journal of Pragmatics 43(6): 1689–1706. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sato, Satomi
1992 Iraibun -shitekure, -shitekudasai (Request sentences). In Kotoba no Kagaku (Language Science), Vol. V, Gengogaku Kenkyukai (ed.), 109–174. Tokyo: Mugi Shobo.Google Scholar
Searle, John R
1969 Speech Acts. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1975 Indirect speech acts. In Syntax and Semantics, Vol. III, Peter Cole & Jerry L. Morgan (eds), 59–82. New York NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Takano, Shoji
2005 Re-examining linguistic power: Strategic uses of directives by professional Japanese women in positions of authority and leadership. Journal of Pragmatics 37(5): 633–666. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yang, Taeg Seon
1984 Kwuke uy myenglyengepep ey tayhan sacek kochal (A Historical Study of Imperatives in Korean). MA dissertation, Seoul University.Google Scholar
Yamada, Toshihiro
2004 Nihongo no Benefakutibu: ‘te yaru’, ‘te kureru’ ‘te morau’ no Bunpoo (Japanese Benefactives: Grammar of -te yaru, -te kureru, -te morau). Tokyo: Meiji Shoin.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 2 other publications

Robertson, Wesley Cooper
2022. Register phenomena as international news: risk, register, and translation in Japanese coverage of quotes from the 2020 US presidential debate. Continuum 36:3 ► pp. 448 ff. DOI logo
Suh, Sora
2020. An examination of the language socialization practices of three Korean American families through honorifics. Bilingual Research Journal 43:1 ► pp. 6 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.