Dissertation Research: Honorifics as an Aspect of Japanese Speech Styles

长久以来，日语一直以其复杂的敬语词缀系统而闻名，这些词缀表示对谈话对象或所谈论对象的尊重。研究者将研究敬语的使用如何随着情境特征的变化而变化，以及敬语使用的变化是否与其他文体标记的变化相关。对西方语言的传统分析通常把风格看作是在形式的单一维度上的变化。人们一直认为共现规则的存在使得在一个维度（如词序）上是正式的言语在另一个维度（如选词）上也是正式的。虽然日语的敬语明显与正式有关，但研究者假设敬语与其他正式标志无关。因此，日本人有可能在对一种风格标记表示尊重的同时，对另一种风格标记表示亲近。重要的是，这表明形式不是一个单一的维度，而是涉及到影响语言系统不同层次的几个分析上截然不同的特征。

Japanese has long been known for its elaborate system of honorific affixes which show respect for the person to whom or about whom one is speaking. The researcher will investigate how honorific use varies in response to situational features and whether variation in honorific use correlates with variation in other stylistic markers. Conventional analyses of Western languages have generally treated style as involving variation along a single dimension of formality. It has been assumed that co- occurrence rules exist such that speech which is formal in one dimension (e.g., word order) will be formal in another (e.g., word choice). While Japanese honorifics are clearly related to formality, this investigator hypothesizes that honorifics are unrelated to other markers of formality. Therefore, it is possible that Japanese simultaneously show respect with one stylistic marker while showing intimacy with another. This importantly suggests that formality is not a single dimension, but rather involves several analytically distinct features which influence different levels of the linguistic system.