aizuchi
{{Short description|Japanese backchannel responses in conversation}}
In the Japanese language, aizuchi ({{langx|ja|相槌|links=no}} or {{lang|ja|あいづち}}, {{IPA|ja|aizɯtɕi|IPA}}) are interjections during a conversation that indicate the listener is paying attention or understands the speaker (backchanneling). In linguistic terms, these are a form of phatic expression. Aizuchi are considered reassuring to the speaker, indicating that the listener is active and involved in the discussion.{{cite thesis |last=Miller |first=Laura |year=1983 |title=Aizuchi: Japanese Listening Behavior |degree=MA |publisher=UCLA |url=https://www.academia.edu/27659893/1983_MA_Thesis_Aizuchi_Japanese_Listening_Behavior_UCLA}}
Examples
Common aizuchi include:
- {{Nihongo3||はい|hai}}, {{Nihongo3||ええ|ee}}, or {{Nihongo3||うん|un|"yes", with varying degrees of formality}}
- {{Nihongo3||そうですね|sō desu ne|"I see"}}
- {{Nihongo3||そうですか|sō desu ka|"is that so?", "really?"}}
- {{Nihongo3||本当|hontō}}, {{Nihongo3||本当に|hontō ni}}, {{Nihongo3||マジ|maji}}, or (in Kansai) {{Nihongo3||本真|honma|"really?"}}
- {{Nihongo3||なるほど|naruhodo|"I see", "that's right"}}
- nodding{{cite journal |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-pragmatics/vol/39/issue/7 |pages=1242–1254 |first1=Sotaro |last1=Kita |first2=Sachiko |last2=Ide |title=Nodding, Aizuchi, and Final Particles in Japanese Conversation |volume=39 |issue=7 |date=July 2007 |journal=Journal of Pragmatics}} These have a similar function to English "yeah", "yup", "OK", "really?", "uh-huh", "oh", and so on.
Aizuchi are frequently misinterpreted by non-native speakers as the listener showing agreement and approval.{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Laura |year=1991 |chapter=Verbal listening behavior in conversations between Japanese and Americans |title=The Pragmatics of Intercultural and International Communication |editor1-first=Jan |editor1-last=Blommaert |editor2-first=Jef |editor2-last=Verschueren |publisher=John Benjamins |location=Amsterdam |pages=110–130}} Business relations in particular can be hampered by non-native speakers assuming that their Japanese counterparts have been agreeing to their suggestions all along, especially with {{Nihongo3||はい|hai|"yes"}}, when the native Japanese speaker meant only that they follow or understand the suggestions – "got it", not "agreed".{{cite web
|url=https://lingualift.com/blog/japanese-interjections-aizuchi/
|title=Are you listening to me? The Japanese art of aizuchi
|last=Seifi |first=Philip
|date=November 2, 2013
|website=Lingualift
|quote=This can cause serious confusion when Westerners and Japanese communicate because it sounds like the Japanese person is saying yes all along and then suddenly saying no, it's difficult, or [...] Japanese body language for, 'No way in hell, sorry.'
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223042015/https://lingualift.com/blog/japanese-interjections-aizuchi/
|archive-date=December 23, 2015
|url-status=live
}}
Aizuchi can also take the form of so-called echo questions, which consist of a noun plus {{Nihongo3||ですか|desu ka}}. After Speaker A asks a question, Speaker B may repeat a key noun followed by desu ka to confirm what Speaker A was talking about or simply to keep communication open while Speaker B thinks of an answer. A rough English analog would be "A ..., you say?", as in: "So I bought this new car"; reply: "A car, you say?".
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- Boye De Mente (2011). Japan's Cultural Code Words: 233 Key Terms That Explain the Attitudes and Behavior of the Japanese. Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing.
External links
- [https://www.lingualift.com/blog/japanese-interjections-aizuchi/ The Japanese art of aizuchi]
- [https://cotoacademy.com/conversational-japanese-aizuchi-conversational-interjections/ Japanese Conversational Interjections - What is Aizuchi?]