What are attitudes about time in the culture(s) you are studying? Are these attitudes reflected in the language?
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What are attitudes about time in the culture(s) you are studying? Are these attitudes reflected in the language?
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The attitudes about time in Korean can be reflect on how people respect the elder. Like Sihan said, they usually have to wait and come earlier than elder to show respect. The attitudes of time in Korean is quite similar of that in China. My friend told me that 15 mins late can be understandable. However, in business world, money, efficiency and productivity come in. people are more conscious of being late.
In India, the term "Indian Standard Time" is most often used jokingly to describe the lackadaisical attitude about time in Indian culture. Generally, this viewpoint that "Be here at 1:00" really means "Be here between 1:00 and 2:00" applies to everyone, however, it can change from person to person based on hierarchical relationships or encroaching Western values. For instance, my professors in India were regularly 10-15 minutes late to our classes, and although students were usually just as late, it was seen as disrespectful to arrive later than the professor. The same idea holds with train schedules, store hours, class times - they might not be on time, but if you wait long enough, someone will show up. I actually really enjoyed this new value while I was in India because it taught me not to stress about being on time. Life would go on if you were a little late, and honestly, everyone else would be late too. Nevertheless, I saw in young people a more Western obsession with punctuality and efficiency not engrained in older Indians.
I'm not sure of any foolproof examples of this attitude toward time in the language. However, I do know that there is not a word for "minute" in Hindi, perhaps because people don't feel the need to get more specific than the quarter-hour. Now, the english word "minute" is widely used in Hindi, maybe because the Western lifestyle brought with it an attitude about time that required the word. Another interesting facet about time in Hindi is that speakers use the same word, "kal" for both tomorrow and yesterday, deciphering the distinction from its context.
Decades ago, Korean had a poor reputation for their time attitude since they are often late for meeting, work or appointments. More often than not, they just make appointment based on a rough time period, such us tomorrow evening, instead of a specific time slot like tomorrow at 7pm. Therefore, it’s unavoidable that some people have to wait for others. There is even a word called “Korean time” which describes how Korean are lack of the consciousness to be prompt. Also, Korean usually have to wait for the elders. For instance, if the elders are late for a dinner, others should wait until they come. Korean are often looked like they are in a rush. It seems that they are always trying to chasing something. People look hurried and impatient on the streets, which causes a lack of traffic regulations. For the recent years, however, Korean are becoming more punctual. The ability of managing time and distributing time is more and more focused in Korean society. Especially in business world, people begin to pay more attention to be on time.
Korean culture is one that is definitely polychronic. There is emphasis on time; however, it is largely based on the other party. One example of this includes how Koreans are allowed to be up to 30 minutes late before it is considered rude. With this being said, during a professional meeting, the other party of course does not want to be late in fear of offending the other party. Besides this, they are also very relationship-based. Almost all business is conducted through relationships. Thus, there is a huge focus on forming relationships and keeping them in the long-run.
Is any of this reflected in the language?
I think the reason why Korean is so formal is because of this. Koreans are very conscious when it comes to offending others, so there is a clear relationship focus.