Japanese Word of the Day!

[dash]

Very interesting! Thanks for explaining that. It sounds complex compared to Western languages, that's for sure!

It is a shame that our culture doesn't this respect for elders—maybe even this level of respect in general for anyone. That's something I really admire about the Eastern cultures.

At least most European languages have one formal and and one familiar form; in English we've even discarded the familiar (thou / thee / thine).

[Fritz]

I expect that Western cultures had more of that in earlier times, but most European cultures abandoned their rigid class structures a lot sooner than the Asians.  In that time, the language adapted more.  In modern Korean, only 3 or 4 of the traditional speech levels are commonly in use.  The others you tend to only hear in the historical dramas.

[moderator]

Fritz explained it pretty well, so I don't have much to add except that Japanese has 3 levels of speech: casual speech (普通体 - futsuutai), polite speech (丁寧語 - teineigo), and honorific speech (尊敬語 - sonkeigo) and humble speech (謙譲語 - kenjougo). It gets pretty complicated, and I'm not quite up there yet. 

[dash]

I still don't understand, though, why something like a word for a date would be in levels of formality. A pronoun that refers to a person I can see, but why do they have that for just an ordinary noun or inanimate object?

[Fritz]

The subject matter has no bearing on the level of formality or politeness.  What matters is the relative relationship of the speaker to the listener and how deferential he or she wishes to be.

[Deleted]

In the K-dramas the respect for elders thing gets taken to the extreme all the time. You'll have elders behaving or speaking in disrespectful ways to the young, future mothers in law being nasty to their future daughters in law, for instance, yet the younger person STILL has to bend down multiple times and say I'm sorry multiple times, when they haven't done a darn thing wrong!

To me, respect needs to be earned, regardless of the age of the person. In some ways the Western ways are more honest. If someone is being cruel to me I will confront that person and tell them they are wrong to their face. That's far more brave, calling a spade a spade. The Asian way condones the bad behavior.

[Fritz]

I think that showing respect for one's elders is generally a good thing.  I'm not Asian, but that's just the way I was raised.

The fact that some elders may behave badly and seem unworthy of respect should not alone justify doing away with the practice.

[Deleted]

"The practice" is what is dumb a lot of the time because people have to EARN respect. You just don't give it to them because of days on a calendar. If some old man is going to cop a feel on you walking down the street, should you turn and bow and apologize to him, just because he's old? LOL. No, if you have any sense.

There was a scene in I'm Sorry, I Love You where So Jisub, coming from Australia where he was raised, was accosted by an old man with a cane. The character has a bullet in his brain and only has a few months to live, yet this old geezer is hitting him on the head with a cane! Su Jeong Im comes out of the store where they were standing and proceeds to HIT SO JISUB TOO! but at least spanking him on the butt, not the head. Why? Because he defended himself against the old man with the cane! Then she APOLOGIZES to the old man! I saw red in that scene.

[Fritz]

I wonder how realistic such scenes truly are, or are they intentionally exaggerated for dramatic (or perhaps even comedic) effect.

As a general rule, I afford everyone a certain level polite respect by default, regardless of age.  I think it is simply good manners.  For those who prove themselves unworthy of such respect, rather than respond with rudeness on my part, I will simply seek to avoid dealing with them at all.  Such people are not worth associating with.  For all intents, they become invisible to me.

[moderator]

The Japanese word of the day for June 8, 2015 is...

To Play - 遊ぶ - あそぶ
Godan Verb

Romanization: asobu (ah-soh-boo)

Plain Present: 遊ぶ (asobu)
Plain Past: 遊んだ (asonda)

Polite Present: 遊びます (asobimasu)
Polite Past: 遊びました (asobimashita)

[Deleted]

If someone smacks you on the head with a cane it's difficult to ignore them.

The problem with the "respect your elders at all costs" too is that as they get older and crotchety the elders lose patience and if the Korean elders know going in that the younger generation will be blamed automatically if they don't constantly defer to them with respect, even if not earned, then they feel they have even MORE license to continue to be ornery.

I hope what we often see in the dramas isn't "gospel" in their daily lives. In general yes it's wise to be respectful and can diffuse a difficult situation but some elders will actually be ENCOURAGED to misbehave if they know they'll always be given excuses for bad behavior simply because of their age.

[Fritz]

The dramas probably do exaggerate these situations, but I'm quite sure there is some reality to it.  It shows up all-too frequently in their dramas. 

I can hardly count the number of times I have seen the Queen Dowager in a sageuk exploit the King's sense of filial piety to get her way over his objections.  It happens all the time, so I'm sure it's a conundrum Koreans are certainly familiar with in real life.

[moderator]

The Japanese word of the day for June 9, 2015 is...

Toy - 玩具 - おもちゃ

Romanization: omocha (oh-moh-cha)

[moderator]

The Japanese word of the day for June 10, 2015 is...

Ball - ボール

Romanization: booru (boh-roo)

Booru can also mean bowl, but context will make the meaning obvious. 

[moderator]

The Japanese word of the day for June 11, 2015 is...

To Kick - 蹴る - ける
Godan Verb

Romanization: keru (keh-roo)

Plain Present: 蹴る (keru)
Plain Past: 蹴った (ketta)

Polite Present: 蹴ります (kerimasu)
Polite Past: 蹴りました (kerimashita)