On the Japanese CommercialTransaction Frame : How Culture-SpecificInformation Fits into a Semantic Frame

Ueda Masanobujournal orpublication title

Tsukuba English Studies

volume 27page range 145-154year 2009-03-06URL http://hdl.handle.net/2241/102442

145

OntheJapameseCommercialTransactionFrame

Ho7CultureSpecicImrmtionFitsimtoaSemantieFrame

MasanobuUeda

lImtrodufion

ThegeneralscenarioorglVlngandreceivlngisamedinJapaneseintemlSOf WhatrelationshipisibrmedbetweenaglVerandareceiverandomwhosevantage

POinttheactofgivingorreceiviris describedTts complexityismadeclearby

COmParlngJapaneseverbsofgivingandreceivlngWithf11glishonesLookingonly

atverbsoigivingwithrespecttotherelationshipbetwcenaglVerandarecIPlentr

instanceWewi1lseethatJapanesehasatleastthreedirentverbsthatcorrespondto

thelIishverbgive

1aZyonga muSukonihonO yatta

JohnNMsonDAT bookACC glVePAST

oll11gaVeabooktohisson

b7yonga tOmOdatinihonO ageta

JohnNOMiendDAT bookACC gVePAST

Johngaveabooktohisiend

CZvonga SenSeini honO SaSlageta

JohnNMtcacherDATbookACC glVePAST

Johngaveabooktohisteacher

ThechoiccdcpendsonwhoishigherinstatusThereclplentOfthcbookdescribed

inaisseenasinfriortoJbhnwhilethatinCisregardedassuperiortothegiver

Theverbugerliinbisneutralinthisrespectandisusedasacommongiveverbin PreSendayJapanese

The commercialtransaction ameOn Which my discussion centersis a

SubtyPeOftheglVlngreceivlngameWecanexpectthatverbsinvoIvedinthis amewillshowasimilarencodingpattemtothatwehaveJuStObservedThechief

Oectiveofthispaperistodemonstratethatatleastoneoftheverbsofcommercial transactionsdoesshowsuchapattern

ln section2Iwi11discuss somepeCuliarities ofthe commercialtransaction

ameinJapaneseThoughtheJapanese transaction fme has almost the same

StruCtureaStheEnglishonethereareaftwmarkeddifrtrencesThenrstimportant

POlntisthe fblk conceptofserviceThisis rough1y denedasan entiqT Or aCt

OffbredbyaserviceproviderSuChasashopassistantfbrsatisfyingcustomersnOtaS

COmPenSation fbr the money paid by customersEven moreimportantis that Japaneseconnectspolitenesswiththehighandlowrelationshipbetweenthebuyer

ggvoJ7J5J

146

roIc and the se11er roleMostimportantlyIwi11discussin section3how this

ameSemanticknowledgeisappliedtotheuseofanoecthonoricexpressionin theoVerbSurufbrmSpeciflcal1yShibatani1994observesthattheverbkauLbuy

isincompatiblewiththisconstructionandusesthisfactasevidencefbrhisassumption

thattheverbisatwoPlacepredicatcTwillargueagalnSthisideaandshowthatitis

becausethepragmaticconstraintrequiredbytheobjecthonorincconstruCtionisnot

COmPatiblewiththepragmaticftatureofthesuectentityOftheverbthattheverb andtheconstruCtioncannotbeunined

2CommercialTransactio1Frame

The commercialtransaction ftameillustratedin2was broughtinto the SPOtlight by Fi11more1977f7edemonstrateshowthe fTameisstruCturedandin

Whatwayweusethisknowledgetodescribecommercialevents

2

gOOds

money buyer

HedealswithEnglishnounsandverbsassociatedwiththisfmeincludingb2qand

SelThediffbrencebetweenbuvandsel11iesinomwhichperSpeCtiveaneventof

transactionis describedTheverb buvdescribesitomthebuyerspointofview

WhilesellstruCtureSitomthesellerlspolntOfview

TheJapanesecounterpartskaLandurubuyandse11arethesameinthis

respectHowevera Simplequestion arisesDoesthis mean thatthe cornmercial

transactionameinJapanese has exactly the sameinternalstruCture aS thatin EnglishGiventhebasicpremiseortheFrameSemanticapproachtolanguagethata

amerepresentspartofourstruCturedbackgroundknowledgeofexperiencebeliefk

andorpracticesCfFi11moreandAtkins1992thewayofstruCturingaamemay

difrfromlanguage tolanguageThusthereis a possibilitythat theJapanese

COmmerCialtransactionfiamemaydifrindetailfromtheEnglishoneTnthenext SeCtionwi11detailthestructureoftheJapanesetransactionftame

2oeJqCeJC

Although everyone will probably agree that the basic structure of the

COmmerCialtransactionframeis almostthe same betweenJapanese and EnglishlI

WOuldliketopolntOutthattherearesomeobviousdifrencesbetweenthemOne OfthemisassociatedwiththeconceptofserviceTheorglnalconceptinEnglishis Characterized as compensation fbr the money paid by the customerWhile this

147

concept has taken rootin theJapanese business communitythelk concept of

serviceinJapanesetakesonadifftrentcharacteristiclItcanbeobservedintheuse

orthewordsaabisuservicealoanwordomEnglishServicelinJapanesecanbe

deflnedasbeingprovidedfeofchargeincontrasttotheorlglnalnotionofservicein

EnglishTtisoffbredrthepurposeofsatisfyingcustomers2 Thelinguisticdatain

3mirrorthisfbature

3aAshopkeeperreftrringtoacomplimentarygsays

kore saabisune

this serviceis

Thisisafreegift

bAcustomerasksfbradiscount

takai kara Sukosisaabisusiteyo

expensivebecausea1ittle service do

1tstooexpensivebringtheprlCedownalittlemore

Thcservicerefrs tothe complimentary gin3aand adiscountin3bIn

traditionalJapanese business practiceShops and companies try to satisfytheir

customersbvaddingvaluetotheircommoditiessothattheyseemtobeworthmore

thanthemoneypaidbytheirbuyersWiththeresultthatthesellercanearnagOOd

reputationAddedvaluelikethisiscalledserviceThismodelisi11ustratedin4

4

gOOdsservice k

money

Thereis another way ofgivlngserviceto buyersFor the purpose of

satisingbuyersShopsandcompaniestreatthempolitelyJTheirpolitebehavior andrespect fbrtheircustomers canberenectedinlanguageItisworthwhileto

mentionthatsomeexpressionsrevealthatbuyersarePlacedatahigherstatusFor exampleWhenastoreclerkmakesoutareceipttoacustomerlheorshernaywriteon

itthewordueup1nSteadofthecustomersnametOreftrtothecustomerAnother

exampleisokaiageaneXPreSSionrefbrringtotheactofbuylngItisfbrmedom

threemorphemes0thebeautincationprenxkaianOminalizationoftheverbbuy

andageWhichliterallymeanstoraiseAnimportantpointtostresshereisthatthe

thirdmorphemeindicatestheupwarddirectionThissuggeststhatanoectbought byacustomergurativelymovesuptothecustomerThesetwofactsshowthatthe

customerisfigurativelyplacedatahigherpositionaSillustratedin5

148

5

IdonotintendthatthebuyerisalwayslocatedatahigherpositionThebuyer maybeviewedasbeinghigherinstatuswhenitisaddressedbyfbrexamplethe

VOCativehonorcobakusamaWhichmorphologicallyconsistsofthreepartS0a

beautincationprebakucustomergueStVisitorandSamaanhonorificThe

ChoiceofwordsfbrthebuyerishoweveractedbysornePragmaticfactorssuchas

thepresenceofthebuyeratthespeakersutterancetheinterpersonalrelationbetween

thesellerandthebuyerandsofbrth Thebuyermaybereftrredtosimplyaskaite

buyerorbakuguestVisitorifitisdescribedonlywithregardtotheroleitplaysin

atransactionevent

6akonomisenO kyakllnwa wakaizyosega OOi

thisshopPOSSguestDATITOP youngwomenNOMmany Thisshophasmanyyoungfbmalecustomers

bkonnanitakaitOkaitega tukanai

SOeXpenSive buyerNOM buynot

LItissoexpensivethatnoonewontbuyit

Inthiscasethebuyerisnotelevatedtoahigherstatus

TbsurnupinthissectionwehaveseentwocharaCteristicftaturesFirstthe

COnCePtOfserviceinJapaneseisdifftrentfromthatinEnglishanditisregardedas

theextravaluetheselleraddstotheirgoodsSecondthebuyerisplacedatahigher

StatuSWhenitisservedwithpolitely

Insection3WeWillseehowthisameSemanticknowledgeaboutcommercial

transactionsisusedwithrefrencetoaJapaneSeOqeCthonorincexpressioninthe oVerbSurufbrm

3ApplicationofFrameqSemanticKnowledgeaboutCommercialTransactions Mychiefconcerninthissectionistoconsiderwhyitisdifncultfbrtheverbkau

buytooccurintheoecthonorificfbrrnaSeXemPlinedinsentence7

7BokuWa SenSeini sinbun0 0kaiSita

TOP teacherDATnewspaperACC ObuySURUPAST Iboughttheteacheranewspaper

Befbre demonstrating why the sentencein7is horribleIwouldlike to reftrto

Shibatani1994He adduces the factin7as evidence thatthe verb kauis a

149

twoPlacepredicateanddoesnotaccommodateagoalNPIwillrevealthatthereis

alOtherrcasonfbrwhichthesentencein7soundsawkwardClaimingthatitdoesnot

SuPPOrtShibatanisideathatkaudoesnotcontributeaGoalrole

jJbOrrOCg

Befbre reviewlng Shibatanis polntSWe Willbrienylook at what the

OVerbSuruCOnStruCtionisThisfbmlisusedtoexpressthespeakerspolitenessby

downgradingthestatusoftherefbrentofthesuectwiththeresultthatthehonored

personOrthetargetofhonorincationbecomesrelativelyhigherinstatus5 Thke

SentenCe8fbrinstance

8WaLaslga SenSeini sonokoto0 0hanasiSita

NOM teacherrATthatmatteACC OtellSURUPAST

ltoldtheteacherthatmatter

TheleacherasthetargetofhonoriLicationinShibatanis1994wordstriggersthe

Ohiccthonorincationproccss1Thespeakerlowersherownstatustoshowpoliteness

totheteacher

jmeqrKaul0SunlCoC

Shibatani1994dealswithbenefhctive construCtionsinJapaneseandKorean

although Koreanisoutsidemyscopeanddiscusseshowthebenefhctiveauxiliary VerbqteyaruinJapaneseaswellasitscounterpartinKoreanisunedwithamain vcrbOneofhisclaimsisthattheauxiliaryverbcan contributeanimarkcdgoal

nominalThishappenswhenthemainverbisatwoPlacepredicateAccordingto

Shibatani199446theverbkaEbuyhasavalenceoftwoanditneedsthehelpof

theauxiliaryverbeyarutoaddagoalNP

91rooga flanakoni honO katteyatta

NOM HanakoDIlbookACC buyglVePAST

rrbrooboughtabookfbrHanako

In9the main verb kau and the auxiliary verb qteyaru are unined to fbrm the

COmPlexpredicatekatleyaruThetwoverbssharetheAgentrolerinstantiatedasthe suectNP7hroogaTheThemeroleinstantiatedasthedirectobjectNPhon0is

contributedbythemainverbwhiletheGoalroleSyntaCtica11ycodedastheindirect

ObjectNPnakoniisassociatedwiththeauxiliaryverb

Shibatanigives the sentencein7reproduced as10hereaS eVidenceto

SuPPOrtthetwoPlacednessofkau

10BokuWaSenSeinisinbun00kaiSita

Iboughttheteacheranewspaper

150

Heexplainstheoddnessofthissentencebysaylngthattheverbkaubuyldoesnot accommodateagoalNPandtherefbrefailstotrlggertheoecthonorificationprocess

P50EventhoughtheauxiliaryverbteSaSiageruthehonorificfbrmoffeyaru

isaddedtoittheacceptabilitydoesnotchange

11BokuWa SenSeini sinbun0 0kaiSite saslageta

TOP teacherDATnewspaper ObuySURU givePAST

Thisisunacceptablefbrthesamereasonasthecaseof10The goalNIIwhich

Shibataniassumestobeprovidedbytheauxiliaryverbisnotassociatedwiththemain

VerbsthematicameIthencefhilstocausetheobjecthonorincationprocessfbr themainverb

j2eJgqrKau

A questionarises as to the valency ofthe verb kau1have fbund on the

Intemet some datain which theverb takes a goalNP withoutthe auxiliarY Verb

Somearecitedin12WherethetargetStruCtureSareunderlined

12aDoobututatiqtotappurihureattabokuWakokohuzisafhripaakude

giisanniomivagerokaukotonisita

AfterplaylngalotwithanimalsIdecidedtobuyMrMagagiat

FqiiSafhriPark

httprblogjtbCOjpmodelplansetsuyakuarchive20060707353aspx

bFodomoWrlyuuWaanZennOtamega78

Itisfbrtheirsafttythat78ofparentsboughttheirkidscellphones

httpwwwitmediacojpnewsarticles071222newsOO3html

CMusukoaWataSinitokeiOkautoiuepISOOdogaumarenaimono

darooka

Iwishmysonwouldbuymeawatch httpsmashmediajplog200807001677htmi

This set of data shakes Shibatanis assumption that the verb kau does not

accommodateagoalNPRatheritshouldbeconcludedthattheverbcancontribute

a Goalrole6Ifthis conclusionis rightShibatanils argument about the

incompatibilityoftheverbwiththeoecthonorincconstruCtionisnolorlgerValid

IfaGoalroleisassociatedwiththeverbtheincompatibilitycannotbeattributedto

thelackofaGoalroleintheverbsthematicstruCtureWemustthenconsiderwhy

SentenCeS10and11arenotacceptable

j2gcofJwCoCJ

OurameSemanticknowledge abouttheJapaneSe COmmerCialtransaction

15l

ame orsthekey to explainingwhy theverbkaucannotoccurwiththeoect honorincconstruCtionRememberthatthestatusofthebuyerrolecanbeelevatedin thatameaSWehaveseeninsection21Thishappenswhenthebuyeristreated

With politenessSince the clerkis verylikelv to serve the customer politelyln l

normalcircumstancesthereis a good chance ofutterlng honorinc expressions

including the oVerbSuru fbrmin transaction eventsIfthe clerk describes the

buyerspurchasinggoodswiththeoecthonorificconstructionhowevertheuttered

SentenCeWOuldholdaninconsistencybetweenthewaythebuyershouldbetreatedand

thewaytheclerkhasactua11ytreatedthebuyerTheoecthonorificconstruCtion

requlreSthesubiectNPtobeidentedasthepersonviewedasbeinglowerthanthe targetofhonorincationThispropeisincompatiblewiththebuyershigherstatus

in the transaction eventFor this reasonthe verb cannot enterinto the object

honorincconstruCtion

Ttis noteworthy that a synonym fbr kaukoopyuu suruCOnnicts withthe

oVerbSuruCOnStruCtion

13senseini honO gOkonyuuSuru

teacherDr bookACC OPurChaseSURU

11buytheteacherabook

Thissuggeststhatthecompatibilityofaverbwiththeobjecthonorificconstructionis

notdeterminedonthebasisoftheindividuallexicalpropertybutthatweexploitour

arneSemantic knowledge about commercialtransactions to use the construCtion

PrOperly

Thereisfurther evidence to support my argumentThe buyer rolein the

transactionameisr10ttheonlyentltyWhosestatusiselevatedbytheserviceprovider

Usersofpublictransportationandhotelguestsalsoreceiveserviceandtheirstatus

mayberaisedVbrbsrefrringtoactsonthepartOftheservicereCeivlngentities

SuCh asukuhaku surustaylng at a hotelland00a Suru taking public

transportationareunabletoenterintotheoVerbSurufbrmObserve

14asenseiga SyOyuunaSatteiru ryOkannigoSyukuhakuSuru

teacherNOM ownPOLITE hotelLOC OStaySURU

r11stayatthehotelownedbytheteacher

bsensega untennaSaru basunigoZyOOSyaSuru

teacherNOM drivePOLITEbusLOCOgetOnSURU

T1getonthebustheteacherisgolngtOdrive

7tisworthwhiletonotethattheconventionalpracticeincommercialeventsmay

be overriddenby otherpragmatic fhctorsTheverbkauintheoVerbSurufbrmis

awkwardundernormalcircumstancesaSWehaveseenIntheexamplein15cited

152

fromtheshortnovelKbshinOnakawrittenbyYbkomitsuRiichiin1969howeverthe

verboccursintheobjecthonorificconstruCtion7

15An00umaWaWatakusigakokonObokuzyoodeokaiSite sasiagemasita

IboughtthathorseatthisranchfbrtheEmperorofJan

Inthis storyJohanaHungarianinterpreterwhowas nuentinJapaneseCOnducted

KqjiaJapanesevisitorarOundBudapestHungaryHeutteredthesentencein15

WhenheandKqiiweretalkingaboutahorsenamedShirayukiOWnedbytheEmperor

OfJapanSincetheEmperoristheheadofstateeVeryOneShouldbepolitetohim

This factoroverridestheverbkauspragmaticfbatureHencetheverbiscoerced

intothe oect honoriBc construCtionTherefbrethe sentencein15becomes

ftasible

4ConclSion

This paper has discussed denning characteristics oftheJapanese transaction

ameanddemonstratedhowtheknowledgeaboutthefmeisappliedSPeCca11yO

thecaseoftheverbkauintheoecthonorincfbrm

Insection2WehaveseenthatwhatiscalledserviceinJapaneseisadirent

COnCePtomtheEnglishorlglnalThemainpurposeofofftringserviceinJapanis

tosatisfycustomersincludingbuyerseeofchargeOnewayofdoingsoistotreat

them politelyAccordinglyhonorc expressions are often used to show respect

toward themAsthetransactionamea SubqTPe Ofthe generalgivingreceiving

ameisstruCtureduponwhatrelationshipexistsbetweenthese11erandthebuyer

VerbsinvoIvedinthisameencodepragmaticfbatureslikewhoisconsideredtobe higherinstatusThesuectentityoftheverbkaubuyiethebuyerroleCanbe

elevatedtoahigherpositionwhenheorsheisservedwithpoliteness

7nsection3Ihavearguedthatsuchknowledgeisthekeytounderstandingwhy

theverb kaubuycannotenterintotheoecthonorificconstruCtionThesuect

refrentoftheverbislikelytobeviewedashigherwhiletheconstruCtionrequlreSthe

SuectreftrenttobeloweredThisconflictleadstotheoddnessoftheverbinthe

oVerbSurufbrm

NOTES

Anearlierversionofthispaperwasreadatthe4thlnternationalConftrenceonConstruCtion

Grammarheld onSeptemberl2006attheUniverslty OfTokyoJapanT am deepIyindebtedto

YokoHasegawaCharlesJFillmoreKyokoOharaandYoshikoMatsumotoIalsowishtothank

anonymousreviewersfbrcarefu11yreadingtheentiremanuscrlPt

153

IlthoughLhewordsaabisILWaSborrowed0nEnglishJapanesehadprcviouslyhadsome

expressionswithasimilarsenscAnexampleis0enspecialtreatmcnthospltalityAnother

Canbeseeninthephrasest77POyLVithemottoofmerchantsoITltheOomiareaintheEdoperiod

TtscentralideaisthattransactionsshouldbecarriedoutfbrthebenemorbuyersreSultinginbeneflts

tothWhoIcsociey

ThewordsuubisIinJapaneseisextendedintwowaysOnesenseisdeveopedtomean

ceorchargeasilustratedbyaphraselikesaubisuungVWhichmeansunpaidovertimework

Theothermeanlngtosatissomeonehasemergedastheresultoftheattenuationofthetypeofthe

entltyWhoenJOySIservice

iakyuuzitukuraio100Sanpnisaabisusitekureyo

Literally10ryourfhtherserviceonaholiday

b kazokusaabisu

Litera1yfhmilyservice

7nthescexamplesSaLluisprovidedwithi11afhmiIylnahefhlheraskshischildrentosati

himbypayingthoughtlltattentionLohimSucharequestofhisisdescribedasserviceTheb

expressioisusedbyhardworkerswhousua11yspendlittletimewiththeirfhmes1timpliesthat

thev manage to spend time with theirmiticsIn additionin companiesserviceis sometimes

glVentOOnesbosstoflatterhimher

3hastentoaddLhatTdonotmcanthatshopsandeompaniesinEnglishSPeakingcountries

arenotcourleoustothcircustomersRatherthepolnttOnOticehereisthattheJapaneselanguage

COnneCtSPOlitcnesstothehighandowrelationshipbctweenbuyersandsellers

17tisimportanttonotcthatcventhosewhoreceivepublicservicesuchastransportand

administrativcservicesmaybecalledbythisterm

borrowthctermtargctofhonorcationomMatsumoto1997

6ApplyingthreeteststbridentiingthesyntacticstatusofthenimarkedgoalNPconcerned

in this paperPreSentedin Sadakaneand Koizumi1995Ihave fbund that thcNPdoes nothave

SyntaCtic faturcs as observed with NPs marked by thenicasebut ratherit behaveslike

POStPOSitionalphrasesThisresultprobahlysuggeststhattheGoalroleinthethematicameothe

verbkauisanextrathematicelementT willleavethismatterto1tureWOrk

7lowethisfhdingtotheAorozaBunkoprqjeCtathttpwwwaozoragrjp

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DepartmentofEnglish

FukuokaJogakuinUniversityJuniorCollege

emaiImuedafhkLt50aCjp