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In:Informality in Japanese: Getting close in a formal context
Edited by Haruko Minegishi Cook and Momoko Nakamura
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 357] 2027
► pp. 92–123

Chapter 5
The use of Standard and Kansai Japanese in business manners training camp

Style shifts and the reconfiguration of indexical fields

 | Temple University, Japan Campus
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
This chapter explores how an instructor at a Japanese business manners training camp utilizes Standard Japanese (SJ) desu/masu (honorific) forms, SJ plain (non-honorific) forms, and Kansai Japanese (KJ). The study focuses on how the instructor’s stancetaking and style-shifting express his shifting relationships to the trainees. The analysis reveals that both SJ and KJ convey epistemic stance, but in different types of talk, during training sessions. Additionally, although the SJ plain forms and KJ are considered to share some indexical meanings, in this setting KJ tends to index more emotionally charged interpersonal stances than the SJ plain form. By elucidating how KJ encroaches on the indexical values of the SJ plain form, the study argues for regional dialects’ power to reconfigure the indexical fields of both SJ and the dialects themselves. This study thus contributes to understanding the complexities of style shifts in relation to indexicality in Japanese and other languages.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Analytical approaches
  • 3.Standard Japanese, Kansai Japanese, and their indices
    • 3.1Standard Japanese
    • 3.2Kansai Japanese
  • 4.Data
  • 5.Analysis
    • 5.1The use of SJ desu/masu and plain forms
    • 5.2The use of KJ
  • 6.Discussion and conclusion
  • Author queries
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
References (62)
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