Second culture post (110)

[Carson Watlington]

Second Cultural Post: Formality and Informality in Target LanguageIn Korean, there is a system of honorifics and a system of verb paradigms (speech levels) used to indicate the level of respect directed towards the audience or receiver. ‘Honorifics’ are titles usually attached to the end of someone’s name and shows a level of respect. We have very few honorific titles in English, but one English equivalent to an honorific title would be ‘Mr.’ Compared to English, Korean has a variety of titles which span a wide spectrum of respect levels. Besides the endings added to names, there are honorifics nouns as well. An English example would be informal ‘gramps’ vs more formal ‘grandfather.’ These titles and nouns also indicate the level of familiarity between the speaker and the audience, and this degree of familiarity contributes the differentiation between formal and informal speech.In addition to honorifics, the is a hierarchy of formal and informal verb endings. These verb diagrams affect how you address yourself, how you refer to another person, and what ending is attached to the root of the verb. In total, there are 7 levels of speech called Hasoseo-che, Hasipsio-che, Haeyo-che, Hao-che, Hage-che, Haera-che, and Hae-che. These 7 sections can be grouped into high, middle, and lower levels of formality with the top used to address an important official, and the bottom used for intimate relationships (close friends and family). Hashipsio-che, the lowest of the highest tier, is formal polite and is commonly used with someone you’ve just met. This style will gradually fade out into another lower for of speech as the people become closer and more familiar with each other.