Japan is a country that pays great attention to etiquette. The honorifics in Japanese are extremely developed, which is hard to see in other languages. So some people think that no nation in the world is as polite as the Japanese. On the contrary, some people think that strictly defining people's identity and rank in such a language is a proof of the feudal nature of society, and this kind of honorific words should be abandoned if democracy is to be promoted. Both views are misunderstandings of honorifics. The emergence, development and wide application of honorifics are by no means accidental. After World War II, some people thought honorific words were inconsistent with the spirit of the new era, so they once promoted the education of abandoning honorific words in schools, but it ended in failure. This shows the position of honorifics in the hearts of Japanese people. So, what kind of thinking and behavior can honorifics observe? I. honorific words What is honorific words? The language that shows respect for others is called "honorific words". Judging from the nature of honorifics, in any case, we need to have some contact with others, so we often need to consider our intimate relationship with others. If the listener or the characters in the topic are their elders, bosses or people with far-reaching relationships, they often use honorifics. Contrary to honorifics, a more casual expression is called "normal body". In addition, there are rude and contemptuous sayings, such as "saying" is a constant, while [ぉっしゃる,] Shen can be divided into three kinds according to different expressions: respect for others, respect for modesty and respect for politeness. Because respect for others, self-humility, solemnity and politeness are all ways to show respect for others, and the speaker uses "respect for others" to show respect for the other party or the third party and their actions and behaviors; The speaker uses "self-modesty and respect" when describing himself or his own people and things; The speaker uses "polite honorifics" when expressing things solemnly and politely to the other party. Polite honorifics include polite expressions (with strong object consciousness), such as "です, ます, ござぃます"; Euphemistic expression (strong sense of scene), also called beautification, has gradually become a word, such as "tea, rice" and so on. Commonly used honorifics include pronouns, nouns, verbs, conjunctions (including conjunctions and suffixes) and auxiliary verbs, among which the expressions of honorific verbs are the most developed and complicated. For example, verbs such as "する, Yan and Lai" have corresponding honorific verbs "な〧". Japanese honorifics have certain regularity and have formed a complete system. Even for the Japanese, it is not easy to use honorifics accurately and properly. It is said that college graduates who have just entered the society often have to practice many times before they can use honorifics correctly. People can't help asking: Why do Japanese people still like to use such complicated honorifics? Japanese tea ceremony II. The historical origin of honorific words probably originated from the relationship between God and man, and then spread to the relationship between monarch and minister. In ancient times, the monarch used honorifics when he spoke to his subordinates and talked about himself and his behavior. (This is probably similar to Emperor China calling himself "me, me". ) This kind of honorific is called "absolute honorific". Not only emperors and nobles, but also wives of ordinary families use absolute honorifics for their husbands. This stems from the feudal patriarchal clan system in Japan. "One family 100 people, one person in charge". Parents have the right to rule, and all family members should obey them. In addition, there is the eldest son inheritance system, even if the wife pays tribute to her son to some extent, because he is the next parent. Generally speaking, the main reason why women use honorifics for men also lies in the parental system. In addition to absolute honorifics, Japanese honorifics also have a more widely used "relative honorifics", that is, they are selected according to the identity of the speaker and the characters appearing in the topic, the relationship between superiors and subordinates, whether to use honorifics and the degree of honorifics. The expressions of honorifics vary with the times. The honorifics in Muromachi and Edo periods had the greatest influence on modern languages, or were closely related to the social structure of Japan, which embarked on the road of democratization after World War II. In addition, China's Confucianism, such as loyalty and filial piety, has a great influence on Japanese ideology, politics and social system, and its influence on honorifics is immeasurable. Third, the way of thinking and behavior expressed by honorifics is not an isolated existence, but the sum total of social relations. So we need to respect each other. There are two forms of expressing respect: ① verbal expression and ② nonverbal expression. In addition to honorifics, language expression also includes tone and speed of speech. Non-verbal expressions are mainly etiquette and etiquette. Language is the most important communication tool for human beings. Language, as a honorific word to respect others, is the most important communication tool for human beings, which is used to coordinate the relationship between people in order to achieve social harmony and interpersonal harmony. Honorific words were originally used based on the hierarchical relationship between superiors and subordinates. For example, the younger generation should use honorifics to their elders, and the lower generation should use honorifics to their superiors. This usage is still quite common now. Japan, which experienced a long and strict feudal social hierarchy, embarked on the road of democratization after the war, but the concept of social hierarchy has penetrated into the hearts of the Japanese. In fact, Japan is a vertically structured society. No matter the government, enterprises or other organizations, they are strictly graded, and the people of each group are also graded. For example, in an enterprise, in addition to the level of president, minister, director, etc., the general employees are naturally graded according to their length of service and age. Therefore, we always humbly pay tribute to our elders or superiors. Generally speaking, people always have "scruples" about "influential beings", so-called "stay at a respectful distance", while in Japanese, people seem to have stronger feelings for language, not only for gods and kings, but also for human partners. Japanese tend to show respect to their superiors in language in exchange for their good feelings and seek their protection and help. But honorifics are also used for people who have no relationship between superiors and subordinates, that is, people whose status is equivalent to or even lower than their own. This is to draw closer to each other's feelings by raising each other and belittling themselves, so that each other can feel about themselves. Japanese psychologist Shi Jujianlang wrote a book called "The Structure of Spooling", which is to analyze that Japanese people like to be spoiled by others and pamper others in exchange for their good feelings. I think honorifics reflect the Japanese psychology. Nowadays, people often have to deal with people they don't know. Usually, Japanese people think it is absolutely beyond reproach to talk with honorifics, which is probably the reason why honorifics are still popular in social life. Therefore, the proper use of honorifics is considered to represent the proper education as a member of society. But if honorifics are used to a certain extent, they may be demeaning themselves and flattering each other. In addition, some people think that using honorifics is an elegant way of speaking, and try to make themselves elegant, which leads to the tendency of abusing honorifics. There is a kind of official wives called "ざぁます", whose characteristics are that they are eager to improve their taste and lack consideration for the audience. The language of department stores and other occasions pays too much attention to customers, while "ざぁます" is self-centered, regardless of each other's ideas. Therefore, no matter what people who also like "elegance" think, on the whole, it is unpleasant. In addition, Japanese society uses "ぉ" on more and more occasions, and some of them have reached the point of abuse. The original intention is to improve the aesthetic feeling of language, but it makes language unnatural. For example, you can use "tea", but "coffee" sounds awkward in Japanese. No matter what kind of person the other person is, there are not a few Japanese who use honorifics in the sense of recognizing the other person's character. However, honorifics can also bring people a sense of alienation and seriousness, so people with close relationships often talk freely without honorifics. In this sense, honorifics can now be regarded as depending on the relationship between far and near. In other words, honorifics may become the language spoken by foreigners. Nowadays, the usage of honorifics is undergoing great changes, but the history that honorifics were originally based on hierarchical relations has not completely disappeared. Although the difference between identity and class is disappearing, the standard of using honorific words is becoming blurred, and the phenomenon that whether to use honorific words based on clothes and other things and only from appearance has not disappeared. The use of the highest honorific words by customers-oriented businessmen is actually based on the historical origin of honorific words and the honorific words are still based on the hierarchical relationship between superiors and subordinates. This is the secret of modern honorifics. In a closed society, if the same group of people live in the same area for a long time, the relationship between people will become dull. Therefore, in order to achieve a balance and expand the distance between the two as much as possible, it can be said that honorifics are one of the manifestations. Fourth, the enlightenment of honorifics People may show respect for their superiors (for their own interests), but their attitudes towards elders, strangers and people from different countries are quite different. However, due to the relatively complete and rich honorifics in Japan, it is easy to pay tribute. Although they may not respect each other psychologically, polite language and humility at least make the listener feel comfortable. This long-term etiquette habit has reduced the number of people. There are few honorifics in Chinese, at least not a system. We often only use a few honorifics such as "please" and "you", while "expensive ××××" and "shortcomings ……" are rarely used. If you want to pay tribute, you have to rely on attitude and intonation, which is difficult to grasp. Besides, China people are not used to bowing, so it seems that we in China are not used to it. Comparing the service industries in China and China, this feeling may be stronger. Some people in China said, "The Japanese don't know what service is!" China is called "the state of etiquette". Tracing back to the source, many Japanese etiquette were introduced from China in Sui and Tang Dynasties. Now it is necessary for China, as a "teacher", to learn Japanese honorifics as a "student", which will definitely help us regain the reputation of "the country of etiquette"!