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Shop assistants should speak differently to
customers | |
Japanese people need help to brush up
on their polite language, a government panel has proposed.
A report for the Agency for Cultural Affairs said
'keigo' - honorific
Japanese - was being widely misused.
Keigo is a complicated form of the language which
involves different conjugations
of regular nouns and verbs, or different words entirely.
It is used to address seniors - a customer, for example - and is meant
to humble speakers and elevate listeners.
The government panel has proposed publishing manuals explaining to
people how the language should be used.
"Not just young people, but grown-ups are not using honorific Japanese
properly. With the language guidelines, we hope to spread the correct use
of the Japanese language," education ministry official Osamu Kubota was
quoted as saying by the French news agency AFP.
The government panel cited a 2003 survey on the Japanese language which
found that 96% of people believe keigo remains important, but the
researchers noted that it was nevertheless being used incorrectly.
For example, the verb "to be" is iru in informal Japanese, imasu in
polite Japanese, and irrashaimasu in honorific Japanese.
The government report also suggested that the
country's ability to read and write Chinese characters - the mainstay
of the Japanese language - be
re-evaluated.
A survey in November found that 20% of students at private universities
had poorer language abilities than high school pupils.
Adults sometimes find it difficult to remember how to write characters
because they rely on computers, and have to ask their children for help.
(BBC) |
日本一個政府小組委員會最近提議，日本人民應該好好復習一下他們的“禮貌敬語”了。
日本文化事務部的一份報告指出，日本語言中的敬語正被普遍濫用或誤用。
敬語是一種復雜的語言形式，包括規則名詞和動詞的各種變化，或者是完全不同的單詞。
在對長輩或職位、資歷比自己高的人講話時，通常要用敬語，比如在對顧客講話時就要用敬語，用來顯示講話者謙遜的態度，表示對聆聽者的尊重。
政府小組委員會提議出版一些解釋敬語正確用法的手冊。
“不僅僅是年輕人，一些成年人也不會正確使用敬語。我們希望能通過語言方面的指導來推廣日語的正確用法。”法新社援引日本教育部官員和久保田修的話說。
政府小組委員會引用了2003年的一份關于日語的調研報告，報告顯示96%的日本人認為敬語仍然很重要，但研究者們指出敬語還是無法避免被誤用的厄運。
比如說，“是”這個動詞在非正式日語中是iru，在禮貌日語中是imasu，而在敬語中則是irrashaimasu。
政府報告還建議重新評估國民讀寫漢字的能力，漢字是日語的支柱。
11月的一項調查顯示，日本私立大學有20%的學生的語言能力比高中生還差。
有些成年人因為（過度）依賴電腦，有時很難記住漢字的書寫方法，不得不向他們的孩子們請教。
（中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2005-02-13 08:24