How is politeness conveyed in Japanese apology strategies

Politeness in Japanese apology strategies is conveyed through various linguistic and interactional means that often reflect indirectness, responsibility-taking, and respect for social hierarchy and face needs. Key ways politeness is conveyed include:

• Use of specific apology expressions such as すみません (sumimasen) and ごめんなさい (gomen nasai), which differ in degree of formality and context of use.
• Employing linguistic markers like the verb-ending form -てしまう (-te shimau) that conveys regret and intensifies the apology.
• Using indirectness or mitigation through softening expressions such as ちょっと (chotto), meaning “a little,” to lessen the imposition of the apology.
• Politeness strategies are highly context-dependent, involving factors like the degree of the offense, social power relationships, social distance, and the interactional setting.
• Japanese often combine apology with additional moves such as explanation, responsibility-taking, offering repair or promises of forbearance.
• The use of keigo (honorific language) forms is common in apologies, especially in formal or hierarchical settings, to show respect and maintain face.
• Apologies in Japanese can carry multiple pragmatic layers, sometimes indicating humility, indirectness, and the maintenance of harmonious social relationships, reflecting a concern for the interlocutor’s face and social harmony.

Overall, Japanese apology politeness is a complex interplay of lexical choices, syntactic forms, pragmatic strategies, and social context, carefully calibrated to uphold respect and reduce face-threat to others in social interactions. ^{1, 2, 3, 4}

References

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