Exercise
1: Observing
Compliments in Japanese - 1
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These
two compliments are both about some performance well done. One noticeable difference between
complimenting a friend and a professor would be the use (and non-use) of
honorifics. In talking to a professor,
at least the use of desu/masu style
would be expected, while the same style would sound too polite, distant, and
unnatural if used with a good friend.
So, using
an appropriate level of politeness is a key strategy here, just as
it is in performing other speech acts.
Although
complimenting a friend would not be problematic, complimenting someone of
higher status can be face-threatening.
Because your complimenting his/her performance can be seen as evaluating
it, you would need to be careful about how you phrase your compliment. The following compliments might be
inappropriate to a senior professor:
先生の授業、よかったです。
Senseino jugyou, yokatta
desu. ‘Your class was very
good.’
先生の説明、上手ですね。
Senseino setsumei, jouzu
desune. ‘Your explanation is very
good.’
先生のあの本、とてもよく書けていますね。
Senseino ano
hon, totemo yoku kakete imasune. ‘That book of yours is very well
written.’
These three
compliments may sound too evaluative and unsuitable to be used with your
teacher. Instead, you might wish to
stress the fact that you learned or
benefited a lot from the professor’s class, such as:
先生の授業、とても参考になりました。
Senseino
jugyou, totemo sankouni nari mashita. ‘Your class was very helpful.’
先生の説明のおかげで、だいぶわかってきました。 Senseino
setsumeino okagede, daibu wakatte
kimashita. ‘Thanks to your
explanation, I have begun to understand
a lot.’
先生のあの本、非常にためになりました。
Senseino ano
hon, hijouni tameni narimashita. ‘That book of yours was very instructive to me.’
(Furukawa, 2000, 2001)
So note
that using appropriate
phrasing in relation to the recipient of the compliment is the
strategy here.
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