The Japanese Keigo Verbal Marker

Abstract

This research studies Japanese keigo in the office domain, a case study at XXX Corporation Japan. Keigo consists of sonkeigo, kenjougo, and teineigo. Each of those speech levels is going to be analyzed based on linguistic and nonlinguistic factors. In this qualitative research, the data are in form of natural conversations gained by using several techniques such as recording, observation, and interview. Natural conversations were obtained through the recording process done with a tape recorder at XXX Corporation. There were 20 respondents coming from business fields to fill in the questionnaire and five informants for the interview.This research shows that keigo has lexical, morphological, and syntactical verbal markers. There are some nonlinguistic factors influencing the implementation of keigo in the office domain, especially the position gap and age.