1 Analyzing Honorifics in Asian Community The English language, to which most people have been used to in the United States, has very little regarding honorifics. These are the words that are supposed to show particular relationships between individuals who are in communication. The Japanese culture is one that has been known to have these honorifics, but even the Korean culture has and uses different honorifics. As a matter of fact, the use of honorifics in the Korean culture is supposed to take several levels, with any breach of this order being considered as being offensive. Therefore, the essay seeks to validate the use of honorifics in the Korean culture, especially regarding the women. The Korean honorifics are very complex but enjoy a rich texture regarding their usage, and the complexity of the Korean honorifics arises from its usage, it is not only used in the written communication but also daily in the verbal communication. The major reason as to why the honorifics are so much important in the Korean culture is because there is a general demand for respect among individuals, even if just for a few months, so long as there exists an age difference between the individuals. Most of the strangers who find themselves visiting Korea have always had difficulties in coming to grasp the importance of honorifics in the society. There is always a way in which each society creates social order by having its honorifics. It does not matter the honorifics are determined by the social status, age or even the occupations that the people are involved in. The fact remains that honorifics are an everyday reality that each has to contend with in their lives. It raises an important point about honorifics; they are practiced and understood differently in each culture. For example, in the western culture, people can start calling each other by the first name even after they have met for just a short period. However, this is not applicable in the Korean culture. In the English language, the word Mr., Mrs and Miss 2 are all used to show respect depending on the relationship between the two individuals who are in communication. To come up with a clear order on how the aspect of honorifics operates in the Korean culture, research was randomly conducted to get the views of the Korean women regarding the view of honorifics. The respondents were randomly selected as earlier mentioned, and most of them had to be among different age groups. The whole aspect of the research was to be based on women, as the essay seeks to understand the position of women in the Korean culture and the honorifics that governs this relationship. The interview was to be conducted over a period of two months, with the questions that were to be focused being to getting the relationship between the women and the rest of the society. Dome of the questions that were to be asked included the use of honorifics, the words that are to be used, and the perception of women towards the honorifics and generally, their understanding of honorifics of regarding the women. It would also be proper to have an understanding of women regarding how the honorifics govern their interaction with other women. The interview that was to be conducted would be systematic in that it would seek to have an understanding of how honorifics operate. It would start by going to the particular areas in which the women would be operating. It would also be instrumental that the interview seeks to have data that would be based on people who have been living in Korean culture for a long tie. As such, the native Koreans that would be qualified to participate as respondents in the interviewing process. The data that would be collected would also be compared and analyzed through the various social statistics method to ensure that there is minimal space for error. It should be clear that social research allows that there should only be 5% space for errors in the social statistics. As such, it would be helpful to come up with a method that comes up with the 3 conventional methods that have been approved, both empirically and scientifically to come up with the data. After the interviews have been collected, some findings were made in regarding the honorifics that have been existence in the Korean culture. One of the major findings is that the women have been using the honorifics because they feel that it is the way of life. The inclination being that the women do not find the honorifics as a way of oppression, even though the honorifics system is largely based on them using the words to their male counterparts. Another interesting finding is that the women find that the women from other cultures, especially the western culture as lacking in the depths of the respect and culture. The other finding that was also consistent was that the women have no problem with the men overlooking some of their responsibilities in the whole system, of honorifics. So, do the women feel that the honorifics are useful to the Korean society? It is this finding that was of interest in the interview as there was a consistency regarding the position that each took. There were those who felt that the honorifics are a way of defining the Korean culture and that some of the aspects make it unique. There were those who indicated that the honorifics had outlived its utility and perhaps it was time to embrace the liberalism that was taking place in the whole world. There were those who felt that the honorifics did not have any meaning at all in the society, the inclination being that it is just there, with little meaning to the utility it brings to the society. It was also interesting that the data indicated that the most Korean women felt that the honorifics would be in existence would be in existence for long, but it would lose its meaning for a long time. The inclination being that the society was most likely to embrace the liberalism that is being experienced in the rest of the world. 4 Analysis There should be a way of establishing the lexicon of the honorifics in the Korean culture. Its implication being that there should be an understanding of whether the honorification is in the words of the sentences. It is what has been referred to like the texture of the communication process in the honorifics. There are examples of honorific nouns that need to be understood before any further analysis can take place concerning the Korean culture. The nouns include sengham, talk, sayngsin and yensey. They refer to name, house, birthday and age respectively. They are all Sino-Korean, and they all indicate some form of formality (Hee-young, pp.72-76). As a matter of fact, they are normal words but which are supposed to indicate respect for all the people that are to be addressed by the words. The point that is being reinforced is that in the Korean culture, no noun can be logically categorized as being formal or informal. It is as if the culture does not have any stratification, but has the normalcy in the application of its language. It is perhaps this relationship that comes to fore while trying to understand the nature of the women and the use of honorifics in the Korean culture. The first aspect that needs to be understood is the inclination of age in the honorifics. It does not matter whether a woman in the Korean culture is referring to a man or woman, the aspect of age always plays a critical role. The age is one of the major determinants that govern the way the women relate to men. Its implication could be that the findings that women did not find any offensiveness in trying to relate to the men. As a matter of fact, age is one of the things that tell about the hierarchal structure that an individual belongs to in the Korean culture. It does not matter the gender at this juncture, so long as there is an age difference, the social structure changes between the two 5 people conversing changes. One of the age structures is the equals. Its implication being that according to the Korean culture, so long as individuals are of the same, the hierarchal is clear that the people of the same age are friends. The position that the friendship places on individuals is that it seeks to make them comfortable around each other. The interview was clear that most of the women would like to interact with men who are of their age. It is as if one is of equal age, even the honorifics take a backseat. The inclination being that there is little or no responsibilities that come with being age mates. The people in this age group do not have to deal with the need to apply the young or the old, meaning that unless there is a relationship more than friendship, such as being husband and wife. If not, the whole conversation takes on a casual approach. There is a common Korean trend that even among people of equal age, the people who are quite young tend to overlook the honorifics that are expected among the people of this age group. However, the people who are quite older, there need to observe the honorifics. If an individual drops the honorifics among older people, there is the projection of such an individual as being immature or lacking some basic professional skills (Brown, pp. 110-115). It only becomes more severe if the women are seen to lack such honorifics. Perhaps, it arises from the fact that the Korean culture is largely patriarchal. It brings to a critical aspect of the data that had been collected in the interviews. There was a general resignation to the fact that the women are bound to the usage of the honorifics in the Korean society. To come up with a perspective on the dominance of men in various aspects of the Korean culture, it would be proper to have a statistical and historical background on the country. Out of the countries in South East Asia, which are the main areas in which the Korean culture is mainly practiced, there has been only one female president, who went out of office in 6 2017 after being impeached, or rather, hounded out of office by the patriarchal society. It is an obvious guess on who her replacement was in the office. Obviously, it was a man. Historically, the women in the Korean culture have been relegated to participate in the domestic responsibilities, and thus have been shut out of the political and economic roles of the Korean culture. There has been a systematic picture that is not only applicable in societies sharing in the Korean culture, but also in the Chinese and Japanese culture that shares most of the cultural inclinations. For example in China, history about the Chinese society shows women who were branded as terrorists as they tried to fight for the liberalism in the society. The picture goes further when one understands that the women in China and Japan have never held any senior position in the government, with the most prominent women being in the military. Perhaps, it would be better to understand the Korean culture even from its religious affiliations. There is little that has been given to the women. It raises the whole question of whether even the honorific is a perpetuation of the society to try and control the women per se. It could be a way that the society has tried to maintain the oppressive position that the woman has been assigned for ages in the Korean culture. It has been a way of making the women believe in a cultural order, nay, and a social order that has been in existence to ensure that they do not have their progression in the society. Which raises one of the disparities that was observed in the interview research. There were differing views on why the women felt the honorifics exist in the Korean culture (Yoon, pp. 198-208). Some women felt that the honorifics did not distinguish the Korean women or even the culture from other cultures. There has been an increased liberalism among the Korean women that has been as a result of high literacy levels among the individuals. It is also as a result of the increased technological use among the Korean women. 7 It should not be forgotten that South Korea is home to Samsung Electronics, one of the largest technological companies in the world. It means that the current technological trend has seen more and more Korean women immerse themselves in the world. Its implication being that the Korean culture, with a special exception to the North Korea, continue to be part of the globalization process that has been taking place over the last century. It has been one of the major aspects that have seen the world become more and more joined to each other. It has been a position that the Korean women have learned of the strides that other women have taken all over the world. More and more news about the liberalism in matters such as homosexuality, women engaged in politics, the women entrepreneurs among all other aspects that have changed in the world. Korea has not been influenced by world’s dynamics. It means that the Korean women can get involved in the belief that men and women are all equal, both physically and in their capabilities. It is in a way in which the Korean culture has continued to face questioning and scrutiny both from within and the without. It is one thing to keep people oppressed, but there comes a time when the topic changes to a different view altogether. Its inclination being that perhaps, if which the opinion expressed is personal, time will come when the Korean women will start questioning the utility of honorifics, and their interaction with the male gender. Of course, it should be with moderation that such a position is taken bearing in mind that cultures take centuries to cultivate, and as such, it would be illogical that such cultures can be destroyed overnight. Globalization is one of the things that have taken place in the modern times. Well, it has been one of the things that have been characterizing the basic human interactions. As time has shown, the Korean culture is largely concentrated in the South East Asia. Its inclination being 8 that it has not experienced much erosion from the other countries. However, the Korean culture continues to be influential because the world is opening up to the Korean nations. As a matter of fact, the Korean culture will most likely continue to face more and more erosion since the South East Asia continues to be more political and economic dominant players in the world. The world is opening up to Korea, with more and more people going to visit the geographical areas, in which Korean culture is practiced. It should not be seen as an advocacy for the erosion of the Korean culture but rather a pragmatic view of the whole world and how it is going in the current times (Lee, pp.120-127). The inclination being that even the honorifics of the Korean culture, even the women interacting with the men will continue to take more and more evolution shortly. While concluding on the debate of the Korean women and the use of honorifics, there is the analysis of the word nim- which is mostly used by the women while referring to their husband. Of concern is the fact that the name depicts some form of respect and politeness but which are of a lower level in the society. It is a way that talks volumes on the use of honorifics and the Korean culture. A word that would be of higher respect and superiority would be ssiwhich goes on with the name of the person being addressed. It all shows the complexity that has come to be integrated into the Korean culture. It is interesting to note that the whole relationship does not seek to interpret the way the men are supposed to address their women. It is like the honorifics elevate the men to a higher position, one that makes the women the gatekeepers of the honorifics system (Byon, pp.250-260). However, the addition of ssi to the name nim while addressing the individual also depicts the person being addressed is of lower social rank, which entirely shows the complexity of the honorifics in the Korean culture. It should also incline to a fact the three major aspects of the Korean culture: the people are very sensitive to the honorifics, the honorifics define the social ranks of the individuals and 9 vital importance, the honorifics area integral in coming to a definition on how different genders are perceived in the Korean society. It only shows on why the use of these words should be with a lot of care so as not to upset the social order and harmony. There is a way in which all the honorifics work I the culture to serve various relationships. It is a way in which the culture has been one of the ways in which it has continued to serve the interests of the culture. It should be noted that the Korean culture is very closely knit, with the society being shown to be communists. It is a way in which the culture has defied years of erosion, though some changes are being seen to remain still largely intact. Perhaps, all we can do is to observe with an external eye of the culture, hoping that it continues to remain as such. Culture is one of the things that have become so hard to find in the current societies. However, the honorifics should not be used to oppress the women in the Korean culture. As such, the honorifics are integral in defining the woman-man relationship in the Korean culture. Humble Humble can have two means. First, humble is can mean having a lower self-esteem, or not declaring one’s self-importance. In this case, one humbles themselves. As a result, they value others more than they value themselves; a quality that makes them reticent and avoidant to leadership and volunteering chances. The second context of humble is lowering another person’s importance, also termed as degrading the person. In most cases, rivals tend to degrade each other in public in a bid to appear superior in qualities. Humble is, therefore, either a self-inflicted social position or an imposed social position. This applies to the Korean and the Japanese communication, where, in communication, someone really lacks confidence in their selves. An 10 example is in the sentence: I am not as intelligent as my brother. In this case, one is looking down at themselves and exhausting the brother above them. In these cultures, humility in communication is a higher form of politeness. Honorific and Humble Forms Considering the Japanese communication, the three levels of politeness in language are casual, humble and honorific. As seen from the text above the casual is language that has no polite standards, and is used in communication that is not that serious. In addition the humble forms have been seen in the context of one speaking in a manner that they degrade their selves or others. Humility, compared to casual communication structure, is seen as a higher level of politeness. However, the honorifics are the highest level of polite, and they express high politeness and status. In most cases, honorific endings such as kun have been embraced in the Japanese language when referring to a person who is respected. If is simply a friend or an age mate, I will not have to mention the conjugation of honorific ending, but while talking, for instance, about a respected Buddhist, a president, a parent, a teacher and other respected people in the society, it is essential to use the honorific ending. It is also common in stores where the seller will communicate to the customer and use honorific endings or conjugate the Chinese verbs to increase courtesy in the sound (Peterson PP 2320-2320). Japanese Honorifics are closely related to the Korean honorifics. Considering a whole speech, there are also honorific speeches, which are commonly used in social gatherings and institutions. In some institution in the Japanese culture, it is mandatory to use honorific language, and the same case applies in some Korean institutions. As aforementioned, honorific sentences will have the extensions mentioned. Most of the honorific endings or verb conjugations used are 11 unisex, as a point o note, for instance kun. These extensions make a sentence longer, and it is clear that a conversation that embraces the honorific is longer than one that does not embrace the same. Consider the example below: for instance: Kite ii? It can be translated to “ok to ask?” which is in the Japanese casual communication language. Kikasete-itadakeru to ureshii no desuga. It can be translated to “I would, however, be delighted if I may be permitted to ask.” This is the honorific form of the above casual question, but it seems lengthier and very wordy, but the honorific element makes it official. The first example above is not an official way to ask, but is formal in some contexts, for instance in advertisements such as fliers or billboards where fewer words are required. The second is the kind of courteous language that is mainly embraced in institutions mandatorily in the Korean and Japanese cultures. However, it is not mandatory in all institution, as urbanization and Westernization have changed protocols in most cities in these two world destinations. Types of Honorifics Kiego is a term in Japanese that describes honorifics. The three forms of honorifics include teniego, which is a honorific used for someone who is part of the conversation, kenjogo is the humble language, and sonkeigo is the respectful language, and the two are used for people who are not part of the conversation. In an expansion, word beautification bikago, and courteous language teichogo are seen as the other two forms of Japanese and Korean honorifics, but they are all contained in the three basic forms aforementioned. Each form has varied verb ending and vocabulary. An example is the alternate use of the word suru and shimasu in Japanese. In 12 English, suru is “do” while shimasu is “to do.” They are used in different contexts to imply the honorific differences. Humble Language Humble language in the Japanese and Korean sense seems to have the element of selflessness and the elment of sacrifice. As aforementioned, each horrific form has its own vocabulary, and so does each humble form. Consider a case of a word used above suru; in English it translates to “do.” Its humble form is morau, which translate to “receive” in English. Morau can translate to “welcome”, in the context where one is being served a meal. It s responded to with itadakimasu which is a horrific form of a humble verb meaning “I humbly receive.” The humble language is first and second person, but it is not used for people who are not part of one’s group, or in other words, a third party (Peterson PP 2320-2320). 13 Works Cited Brown, Lucien. "Korean honorifics and ‘revealed’,‘ignored’and ‘suppressed’aspects of Korean culture and politeness." Politeness across cultures. Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2011. 106127. Byon, Andrew Sangpil. "The role of linguistic indirectness and honorifics in achieving linguistic politeness in Korean requests." (2006): 247-276. Hee-young, Kwon. "The position of women and depression in traditional Korea." 한국라깡과현대정신분석학회학술발표대회프로시딩 (2000): 71-79. Lee, Jin Sook. "The Korean language in America: The role of cultural identity in heritage language learning." Language culture and curriculum 15.2 (2002): 117-133. Yoon, Kyung-Joo. "Not just words: Korean social models and the use of honorifics." Intercultural Pragmatics 1.2 (2004): 189-210. Peterson, Jane, et al. "The NIH human microbiome project." Genome research 19.12 (2009): 2317-2323.
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