Exercise 2: Cross-cultural
Comparison of Apologies
Your response has been submitted to
speechacts@hotmail.com.
¬
The
key strategy to learn here is that repetition is
important in an informal setting as well as in a formal one. It's a sign of sincerity that shows how
sorry you are.
¬
Knowing
the most likely recipients of various apology expressions is another
strategy. Note that in informal
situations with close interlocutors, variants of gomen (e. g., ごめん gomen, ごめんね gomenne, 本当にごめん（ね）hontouni gomen(ne), ごめんなさい gomennasai
) can often be
repeated. ごめんなさいgomenasai is often used in relationships that
are a bit more distant or in somewhat more serious situations.
¬
Other
apology expressions, such as すみません sumimasen or 申し訳ありません moushiwake arimasen usually sound too formal or distant
for use with close friends.
¬
It's
also an important strategy to use an appropriate level of politeness in your
apology and language in general.
Let's review some
situational factors in Exercise 1 'apologizing to the landlord' and 'apologizing
to a friend' situations that influence the level of politeness in the language.
|
|
Situation
1 |
Situation
2 |
|
Age difference: |
you are younger |
equal |
|
Role/status difference: |
landlord-tenant |
equal |
|
Closeness or distance: |
more distant than Sit.1 |
close |
|
Magnitude of your infraction: (judging from the hearer's reaction) |
greater than Sit.1 |
lesser than Sit.2 |
Pay attention to the level of
politeness in the language. For
example, which level of politeness do you observe in the speaker's language in
Situations 1 and 2?
Example:
|
No keigo (no honorifics) |
忘れてきてしまった wasurete kite shimatta 'I left it' |
|
Desu/masu honorific
style |
忘れてきてしまったんです wasurete kite shimattan desu 'I left it' |
Notice
that in sample dialogues, the speaker uses honorifics (desu/masu, exalted/respect,
humble forms) in
talking
to someone
older and not very close (Sit. 1), but does not use the desu/masu style in talking to an equal-status close friend. In Japanese, it is crucial to use an
appropriate level of politeness according to the person you are speaking to.
Submit Your Questions and Comments about Exercise/Website