Aizuchi: Politeness Strategy in Japanese Conversation

Rina Yuniastuti1, Rahtu Nila Sepni2

1,2
Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Andalas, Padang, Indonesia
[email protected], [email protected]

Abstract

This research is focused on the use of aizuchi as a politeness strategy in Japanese conversation.
The data source of this research was taken from the utterance, which contained the aizuchi
expression. The use of aizuchi in a conversation can provide a good impression. It shows that
the listener is paying attention to the speaker's utterance even though the listener doesn't
understand the topic of the conversation. Aizuchi, which is the response of the listener to the
topic discussed by the speaker, has a variety of functions. The functions contained by the
aizuchi utterances can make communication more lively and smooth. The use of aizuchi as a
politeness strategy can be seen from the listener constantly encourages the speakers with
expressions such as hai, ee, un, haa, naruhodo, which can be translated as 'yes', 'sure', 'right',
'yeah', 'I see', 'indeed'. The speaker is always conscious of them, slowing down in the last part
of the phrase to invite the listener to include them.

Keywords: aizuchi, politeness strategy, Japanese conversation.

INTRODUCTION
In communications, there is an exchange of turns between the utterance participants. Tur-
taking enables the participants to have the opportunity to contribute to the conversation. The
response of the listener can be identified through certain behaviors when the listener listens to
the speaker's speech. Feedback functions as a system of checking responses, which, if shown,
the speaker can adjust to convey the next message or speech.
Turn exchanges in speech have a reciprocal relationship in communication, which
certainly cannot be separated in everyday life. One example of a change in speech turnover in
Japanese society is the response or in Japanese known as aizuchi ( ). According to the
etymology dictionary gogenyuraijiten, the term aizuchi has meaning, ai means
'doing something together,' and tsuchi means ‘a hammer’. In other words, this is what describes
two people talking and adjusting words. Aizuchi or in English is called a
backchannel which includes verbal and also non-verbal responses that are done while someone
is talking.
For Indonesian speakers themselves, there is a feeling of discomfort if the speech is often
interrupted by the speaker. It is because interrupting in the middle of a conversation is
considered impolite. In contrast to Japanese speakers, interrupting the conversation with the
aizuchi expression in the middle of conversations such as hai, ee, soudesuka, soudesune,
naruhodo is normal and recommended. It is because the use of aizuchi in a conversation will
give a good impression. It indicates that the listener is really paying attention to the speaker's
speech even though the listener does not understand the topic of the conversation.
Research on aizuchi or known as backchannel, develops along with the development of
the turn-taking system. During a conversation, there must be an indicator that the message
delivered by the speaker reaches the listener. Thus, the speaker and listener must always check

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the response so that the conversation takes place comfortably. The speaker can check the status
of the message he is conveying by reviewing the response given by the listener.
Pragmatic understanding is needed to understand the use of aizuchi in conversation. It is
due to the response (aizuchi) given in the exchange of communication interactions involving
the social and cultural context of Japanese society. A listener needs Pragmalinguistic and
sociopragmatic knowledge to be competent in a certain language [1]. A pragmalinguistic
failure is a failure to use forms of language that are in accordance with the intentions or
speaking power of speech in the original language [2]. Meanwhile, sociopragmatics is a
pragmatic domain which is closer to sociology or social culture. Sociopragmatic failure is the
failure to use forms of language that are in accordance with the socio-cultural rules.

Politeness
Polite and ethical language is relative, depending on the social distance of the speaker and
the speech partner. According to Thomas [3], the meanings of polite and politeness that are
understood in general are different. According to him, the term polite refers to the grammatical
arrangement of mind-based speech that everyone has the right to be served with respect, while
politeness means awareness of social distance.
Being politeness is caring about the "face" both of the speaker, and of the speech partner
[4]. "Face" in this case, is not in the sense of physical appearance, but "face" in the sense of a
public image, or perhaps the exact equivalent of the word is "self-esteem" in the eyes of the
public. The face is a personal attribute possessed by every human being and is universal. In
this theory, faces are divided into two types: faces with positive desires, and faces with negative
desires. A positive face is related to the values of solidarity, informality, recognition, and
inconsistency. Meanwhile, the negative face boils down to one's desire to remain independent,
free from outside interference, and the existence of external respect for that independence.
Politeness strategy is a strategy that is used to prevent a violation of the hearer's face.
Brown and Levinson [2] mention "...any rational agent will seek to avoid these face-threatening
acts or will employ certain strategies to minimize the threat”. Meanwhile, Barešová [5] mention
in the Japanese culture, politeness is based on preserving a social distance between in-group
and out-group members. Mizutani [6] identify factors that influence Japanese politeness in
communication with their speech partners, namely: (1) familiarity with speech partners, (2)
age, (3) social relations, (4) social status, (5) gender, (6) membership in groups, and (6) speech
situations.

Aizuchi
The term backchannel was first introduced by Yngve [7]. Backchannel is defined as the
activity of the listener that supports the speech utterance of the speaker without the aim of
requesting a change of speech turn [7]. Yngve explained that the backchannel includes all
utterances that show attention to the conversation.
Backchannel or in Japanese known as aizuchi has been introduced in Japanese textbooks
for children. According to Yoshida in Walker [8], a good listener should use aizuchi because
it can make the conversation run comfortably. Yoshida cites examples of aizuchi such as sou
desuka ‘really?’, Sou desu ne ‘yes, right’, naruhodo desu ‘I understand’ and hontou desuka
‘really?’. Aizuchi's textbook is taught in a Japanese language class aimed at giving an
understanding of the level of politeness and matching the situation in conversation.
Aizuchi is often likened to a backchannel. It is because aizuchi in Japanese can be matched
with a backchannel in English. Kubota [9] revealed that in addition to being a means for
listeners to participate in talks actively, aizuchi was also used as a guide for the speaker to
predict the next conversation. Mizuno [10] compared the notion of aizuchi and backchannel,

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he concluded that aizuchi uses the listener's perspective while the backchannel is viewed from
the speaker's point of view. Mizuno explained that this difference was due to cultural
differences in behavior in responding to conversation.

METHODS
This research is done using a qualitative approach. Qualitative research is research that
intends to understand the experience of the subject. It may include behavior, perception,
motivation, action, etc. The analysis is done using a descriptive language, in a particular
context, which is natural, and by utilizing various scientific methods. Because this research is
qualitative, the method used is the descriptive method.
The object of this research is the aizuchi expression contained in the conversation
Vol. 2 (DVD de Manabu Nihongo,
Erin ga Chousen! Nihongo Dekimasu) [11]. The natural conversation analysis method used by
Maynard [12] and politeness theory by Brown and Levinson [4].

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

In the data analysis found utterances that contain politeness.
Data (1)

Saki : Erin
Doushitano?
Erin : Ano…bukatsu, mite mo ii desuka?
Saki : Un, ii kedo…
Erin, Watashi ni ha “mite mo ii” de, ii yo.
Erin : Mite mo ii?
Saki : Un.

Saki : Erin
What’s wrong?
Erin : So…club activities, may I see it?
Saki : Yeah, it’s okay but…
Erin, good for me to use “can I”

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Erin : Can I?
Saki : Yeah.
(Japan Foundation, 2007:80)
Situation: Erin is a foreign student who participates in a student exchange program in a
Japanese school and Saki is Erin's friend in her new school.
In data (1) seen that Erin wants to see a list of club activities that exist in Saki. The words
"mite mo ii desuka?" "may I see?" that Erin said to Saki was a polite form of speech. This
speech is grammatically correct and does not violate the norm. She was even impressed by
respecting Saki as her speech partner. However, this speech violates politeness and contains
face-threatening acts because of the uneasy feelings arising from the speech uttered by Erin to
Saki. Saki felt that Erin's speech made a gap between them, so Saki asked Erin to use the speech
"mite mo ii" "Can I see". The form "mite mo ii" is an informal form used in informal situations.
By asking Erin to use the words "mite mo ii", It indicates that Saki wanted to emphasize that
she and Erin had a friendship.
Meanwhile, the use of aizuchi as a politeness strategy in Japanese conversation can be seen
in the following utterances,
Data (2)

Tenin : Irasshaimase.
Kyou ha dou itta kanji de osagashideshouka?
Kyaku : Soudesune. Kawaii no ga iindesu yo ne.
Tenin : Kashikomarimashita.
Soudesunee.
Okyakusama nara, kochira no furemu ga oniai kamoshiremasen ne.
Kyaku : Iidesuka.
Tenin : Douzo.

Clerk : Welcome.
How are you looking for today?
Customer: Is that so. I like cute things.
Clerk : Understood.

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I see.
For you, this frame might be your favorite.
Customer: May I?
Clerk : Please.

(Japan Foundation, 2007: 133)

Situation: The conversation took place at an optician.
From the data (2) found the use of aizuchi soudesune "is that so". Aizuchi is used
by customer (speaker) to respond the speech of the clerk (listener). The aizuchi form is a verbal
lexical expression. Responding to the greeting given by the clerk, the customer starts his speech
by giving aizuchi expression before answering the question. Aizuchi given by the speaker is
used to convey to the listener that the speaker agrees with him. The speaker confirmed the
listener's assertion that he was looking for something in the optician. Meanwhile, the speech
soudesunee "I see" delivered by the clerk (speaker) to the customer (listener) is
used to express understanding. The speaker understands the listener's desire to look for a good
one in the store. This argument is supported by a statement from the speaker after the aizuchi
speech that is recommending one of the glasses frames to the listener.

CONCLUSION
Aizuchi, which is the response of the listener to the topic discussed by the speaker, has a variety
of functions. The functions contained by the aizuchi utterances can make communication more
lively and smooth. The use of aizuchi as a politeness strategy can be seen from the listener
constantly encourages the speakers. The speaker is always conscious of them, slowing down
in the last part of the phrase to invite the listener to include them.

REFERENCES

[1] S. Miyazaki. 2010. Learners’ Performance and Awareness of Japanese Listening

Behavior in JFL and JSL Environments. Sophia Junior College Faculty Journal Vol.
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[2] G. N. Leech. 1983. Principle of Pragmatics. London: Longman.
[3] J. Thomas. Meaning in Interaction: An Introduction to Pragmatics. New York:
Longman (1995)
[4] P. Brown, and S.C. Levinson: Universals in Language Usage: Politeness Phenomena.
In E.N. Goody (ed). Questions and Politeness: Strategies in Social Interaction.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1987)
[5] I. Barešová. Politeness Strategies In Cross-Cultural Perspective: Study of American
and Japanese Employment Rejection Letters. Olomouc. Filozofická Fakulta p. 44
(2008)
[6] N. Mizutani. 1988. Aizuchi-ron. Nihongogaku.
[7] V. H Yngve. 1970. On Getting a Word in Edgewise.Papers from the Sixth Regional
Meeting: Chicago Linguistic Society (pp. 567-578). Chicago: Chicago Linguistic
Society.
[8] N. L. Walker. Recipient Response Behaviour during Japanese Storytelling: A
Combined Quantitative/Multimodal Approach. Thesis. University of Alberta (2010)

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[9] M. Kubota. 2001. Aizuchi wa Hito wo Ikasu. Tokyo: Kouseidou.
[10] Y. Mizuno. 1988. Chuugoku Go no Aizuchi. Nihongogaku.
[11] Japan Foundation. 2007.
Vol. 2. Japan: JF
[12] S. K. Maynard. (1993). Kaiwa Bunseki. Tokyo: Kusasshio Shuppan

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