Pimsleur Japanese I

Notes on Unit 5 Language of Social Levels, Age, Position, and Deference

The complex rules governing status in Japan play an important role in the expressions used in various social situations. In this unit, you have learned how to ask a person whether s/he wants to eat or drink: tabemasu ka? and nomimasu ka? These expressions are used when there is no need for the speaker to show deference, i.e., between friends, family members, and colleagues. If, however, a native Japanese speaker is in a lower position than the hearer, s/he must carefully choose the most appropriate level of politeness. O tabe ni nari masu ka? is more polite than tabemasu ka? and o meshiagari ni nari masu ka? is far more polite. A great variety of expressions are available, depending on the degree of courtesy needed. As a non-native speaker of Japanese, however, you are seldom, if ever, expected to be able to use these expressions, but you will hear them used, so it is better if you are aware of them. Defilers note: This polite language is called keigo. For more information, try this page: http://www.mindspring.com/~kimall/Japanese/polite.html If that has vanished from the Internet, here is Googles cache of it: http://216.239.35.100/search? q=cache:FowHJZbO9WwC:www.mindspring.com/~kimall/Japanese/polite.html Note: If this course is your first exposure to Japanese, you wont know enough grammar yet to make a lot of sense out of this page. Thats OK.