본 연구는 폴라이트네스이론에 근거하여 언급영역이라는 관점에서 일본어의 중도종료형발화의 성질을 규명하고자 한 것이다. 처음 만난 두 사람이 2-5일 간의 간격을 두고 총 3회 만나서 나눈 대화를 자료로 중도종료형발화를 추출하여 사용빈도가 높은 형식을 중심으로 발화 내용이 화자, 청자, 중립 중 어느 영역에 속하는가를 회차별로 분석하였다. 그 결과를 폴라이트네스이론에 근거하여 해석하였다. 언어형식별로 주로 청자영역 언급에 사용되는 것도 있는가 하면 화자영역을 언급하는 데 다용되는 것, 세 영역에 두루 사용되는 것도 있었다. 중도종료형발화는 연구자에 따라 정중함에 대한 의식이 상이한데 본 연구 결과, 그것은 중도종료형발화를 구성하고 있는 다양한 언어형식의 다채로운 성질에 의한 것임이 시사되었다.

This study aims to clarify the properties of the Japanese incomplete utterance from the viewpoint of the mention area on the basis of the Politeness Theory. The data are based on conversations between two Japanese women. They met for the first time for this research and engaged in conversation for a total of three times at intervals of two to five days. Incomplete utterances were classified by whether the content of the utterance belongs to the speaker, the listener, or is neutral, focusing on the most frequent utterances used ones. The results were interpreted on the basis of the Politeness Theory. Some types of utterances are mainly used to refer to the listener’s area, others are inclined toward the speaker’s area, and still others are used freely across all areas. The Japanese incomplete utterance is evaluated differently with regard to “politeness” depending on the researcher. This study shows that this is due to the diverse nature of various language forms that make up the Japanese incomplete utterances.

本研究はポライトネス理論に基づき、言及領域という観点から日本語の中途終了型発話の性質を明らかにしようとしたものである。初対面の二人が日にちを開け3回会って話したデータを文字化し、中途終了型発話を抽出、使用頻度の高いものを中心に発話の内容が話し手、聞き手、中立のうち、どちらの領域に属するかを回別に分析した。その結果をポライトネス理論に基づいて解釈した。言語形式別に主に聞き手領域の言及に用いられているものもあれば、話し手領域に傾いているもの、全ての領域に渡って自由に使われているものもあった。中途終了型発話は研究者によって「丁寧さ」についての意識が異なってきたが、本研究の結果、それは、中途終了型発話を成している多様な言語形式の多様な性質によるものと考えられる。

incomplete utterance, Japanese, area of mention, Politeness

This study aims to clarify the properties of the Japanese incomplete utterance from the viewpoint of the mention area on the basis of the Politeness Theory. The data are based on conversations between two Japanese women. They met for the first time for this research and engaged in conversation for a total of three times at intervals of two to five days. Incomplete utterances were classified by whether the content of the utterance belongs to the speaker, the listener, or is neutral, focusing on the most frequent utterances used ones. The results were interpreted on the basis of the Politeness Theory. Some types of utterances are mainly used to refer to the listener’s area, others are inclined toward the speaker’s area, and still others are used freely across all areas. The Japanese incomplete utterance is evaluated differently with regard to “politeness” depending on the researcher. This study shows that this is due to the diverse nature of various language forms that make up the Japanese incomplete utterances.