A study of the use of honorific expressions by speakers of Japanese in Fresno, California

One distinctive characteristic of the Japanese language is its use of honorific expressions. For example, in Japanese there are more than ten ways to express the first person singular subject. In one situation, if a person speaks to his superior, he uses humble forms such as watashi, wata-kushi, boku, etc. On the other hand, when speaking to his inferior, he will usually use condescending expressions such as ore, washi, or atai. This paper will describe the use of honorific expressions by Fresno speakers of Japanese and compare this use with that of the speakers of standard Japanese. Based on his own experiences and conversations with informants, the writer will suggest some possible reasons for the divergence in honorific usage between America and Japan.