This study analyzed the uses and functions of speech levels and speech level shifts in natural conversations between two unacquainted males. Similarities and differences between Japanese and Korean languages have been investigated. For the Japanese language, speech levels do not clearly reflect the hierarchical relationships based on the interlocutors’ age by utilizing “non-marked utterance (NM)” This finding implies that modern Japanese people tend to avoid the use of honorifics which clearly indicates the hierarchical relationships between speakers at the sentence level. On the other hand, speech level shifts reflect hierarchical relationships between speakers, which means that Japanese seem to conform to normative language use at the discourse level. For the Korean language, both speech levels and speech level shifts clearly reflect the hierarchical relationships based on the interlocutors’ age. This result suggests that Korean have a strong tendency to preserve the normative honorific usage of polite forms according to age difference both at the sentence level and at the discourse level. These results suggest that speech levels, considered to be socio-pragmatically obligatory, have a strategic-use aspect for both languages, including the use of “non-marked utterances” and that of downshifts. It was also discovered that Japanese tend to use speech levels more strategically than Korean. Consequently, Japanese uses honorifics strategically in order to evade hierarchical relationships based on age, whereas Koreans tend to conform to social norms that derive from tenets of Confucianism, a philosophy emphasizing politeness toward older people; such practice encourages younger people to use polite forms to their elders.

中文翻译：

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男性和女性日韩对话中的礼貌策略分析

这项研究分析了两个陌生男性之间自然对话中语音水平和语音水平转换的用途和功能。已经研究了日语和朝鲜语之间的异同。对于日语，语音水平不能通过使用“无标记话语（NM）”清晰地反映出对话者年龄的等级关系。这一发现表明，现代日本人倾向于避免使用明显表示等级的敬语。句子层次上说话者之间的关系。另一方面，言语水平的变化反映了说话者之间的等级关系，这意味着日语似乎符合话语级别的规范语言使用。对于朝鲜语，语音水平和语音水平转移都清楚地反映了基于对话者年龄的等级关系。这个结果表明，韩国人有很大的倾向根据句子层次和语篇层次上的年龄差异保留礼貌形式的规范性尊敬用法。这些结果表明，语音水平被认为是社会实用的，对于两种语言都具有策略性使用方面，包括使用“无标记的发声”和降档使用。人们还发现，日语比朝鲜语更倾向于使用语音水平。因此，日本人策略性地使用了敬语，以逃避基于年龄的等级关系，而韩国人则倾向于遵循源自儒教宗旨的社会规范，强调对老年人礼貌的哲学；这种做法鼓励年轻人对老年人使用礼貌形式。