In the culture(s) where 'your' language is spoken, are there significant differences in the language when you are talking to family rather than strangers? older people rather than younger? men rather than women?
You need to be a member of The SDLAP Ning to add comments!
Replies
There are many different distinguishing features of Turkish when it comes to formality. There is a specific way to speak to someone who is in your presence versus someone who is not present, different ways to speak about someone when you know their name versus when you do not know their name. Once names are known then bey and hanım are used after the first name. This usage is formal and semi-formal. These titles follow the fırst name/Chrıstıan name. The titles are written without a capital letter. These are used in formal situations when you know the person's first name but also in informal situations to acquaintances, friends and even to you own family members.
In semi formal situations there is a four stage greeting procedure:
For an informal greeting like Hi! in English, Turkish uses Selam! to which the answer is the same selam! Also one can use What's up? Na'ber? Na'ber? is commonly used in everyday language. Another informal greeting is ne var ne yok? What is happening?
The Korean language has different grammar and vocabulary depending on the level of formality in a situation. In Korea, age difference and social position (”job status”) often take precedence over social ranking in Korea. Formal speech is called "jondaemal" (존댓말) and familiar/informal speech is called "banmal" (반말).
Honorifics are used with “jondaemal” and are used to differentiate between the formal and informal speech. Words like –yo and –seumnida are often added at the end of a sentence to show respect. Jondaemal is more directed to adults, seniors andacquaintances. Banmal, on the other hand, is less formal, but not necessarily disrespectful. Banmal is often used between friends of the same age or to people who are younger than you. Banmal in Korean literally translates into “half-words” in English, and it can be viewed as disrespectful in certain situations.
Below is a Youtube video that discusses when and how to use honorifics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsfuwvjIeTg
While in the United States, people are individualist. In Korea, society emphasizes collectivism, meaning that the public interest is higher than private interest. Therefore, there is strict hierarchy in terms of one's age and social status. There are significant differences in Korea when people talk to elders and people of higher level, and youngsters & peers. In general, adding "yo" after a phrase indicates a formal tone and it's used in talking to elders and in formal situation. Also, sometimes men and women call family member differently. For example, younger brother calls his older brother "Hyung" while younger sister calls her older brother "Oppa". Even when both call their older brother, they use different name to address him.
In Korea, there are a lot of differences when talk to elder people, strangers and younger. When talk to elder people and strangers, the most polite and respective form is required. If not, they will feel offensive and sometimes angry. Also, there is a different way to talk with a friend or with an elder. When talk to elder, like I mentioned before, the most polite form is needed. Yet, when talking to a close friend or younger, just use the informal form will be fine. About talking to the men or women, I think there are no significant differences.
In addition, in Korea, whether to use formal form or informal form depends on the age and the relationship between each other as well. If there is an age difference between two people but they are very close, informal form can be used. Yet, if the same age people who are not very close, they will use formal form instead of the informal one. Thus, from my observation, using formal form or informal form depends on how close the two speakers are more than on the age differences.
In Portuguese there are formal and informal tenses. Similar to Spanish you use the tense when addressing a formal group of people. It is a conjugation that switches ar verbs to an ending with e and er and ir verbs to and ending with a. This rule is different for each tense such as future or conditional, but the difference between formal and informal tenses does exist in Portuguese.
There are differences between formal and informal Turkish. Siz is a polite way to say you and sen is used for a family member or an adult acquaintance with whom you are on a first-name basis. I learned formal way to say "How are you?" is "siz nasilsiniz?" and casual way to say it is "Nasilsin?" through Mango Language Chapter 1. I noticed that formal languages are usually longer than casual languages in Turkish. Unlike English, there are lots of differences in words that are used in formal way. In that way, I thought Turkish is more like Korean because there are lots of differences among formal languages and informal languages in Korean, too. I will learn more about formality and informality in Turkish in this semester through classes with my language partner and my self-directed language learning.
In Turkish culture there is a great emphasis for respect which is also seen in the language itself. You must always talk to an elder or someone you don’t know in the formal language as a sign of respect. It is always recommended to use formal language over informal language in Turkey and it is preferred to call the person by their name instead of calling them 'o' which translates to ‘he or she’ in English.
There are also different greetings you say depending on your relationship to that person. For instance, when you speak to your friend or someone you know personally, you use ' sen' which translates to 'you' in English. However, when you to show your respect, speak to an elder, or you are in a job interview you use 'siz'. The same goes for when you ask someone their name. If you are speaking to an elder or someone you don’t know you will say, “Adiniz ne?” but when you are speaking to a close friend you say “Adin ne?” Lastly, to say goodbye to a boss or professor in the formal you would say “Gorusuruz” as opposed to “gule gule” which you would say if you’re saying goodbye to your best friend.
Formality is one of the key highlights in the Korean language. With its various levels of formality, it adds to the complexity of the language. The honorifics of the Korean language has strong ties with its culture. There are three different levels of formality in Korean. The first one being the most polite and formal (deferential), then the standard polite form, and lastly the informal form. It is necessary to address people who are older in a different way than you do if speaking to a friend. The deferential form is used when talking to people who are older and have authority over you. The standard polite form is used when talking to an older person who has an equal status as you are. And lastly, the informal form is used when speaking casually to a friend. Since the Korean culture really emphasizes honorifics, it is very important to stress my learning process into the area of formality in the Korean language.
Although Turkish language is gender neutral, it does consist of formal and informal language. How you would greet someone who is interviewing for a job position is different than the way that you would greet your friend. For example, an informal way to say hi is "selam" however, if you are greeting someone you wish to show respect you would say "merhaba." Formality and informality is also prevalent when it comes to age. If you are speaking to someone who is older than you, you are expected to speak more formally rather than if you are speaking to a friend in which you would speak more informally. For this reason, it is important to learn both the formal and informal versions of the Turkish language so that you are not seen as being rude or disrespectful.
Formality is very important in Korean culture and language. There are usually ways to say almost everything formally and informally, starting with even greetings, which was one of our learning task. Formality is especially important when speaking to elders because formal language shows respect. For example, to say hello to your friends, you can use the informal and simple version of “ahn-young.” But, to say hello to an adult, you add “ha-sae-yo,” to get “ahn-young-ha-sae-yo.” Ending a phrase with “yo” usually turns an informal phrase into formal, although there are exceptions. If a younger person does not speak formally to an older adult, it is considered very rude. As a result, I learned the importance of formality and informality in Korean and made sure to practice this in my daily life.