Korean Native Speakers’ Perception of and Responses to Interrogative Greetings

Okamura, Kana

Abstract

This research examines (1) if native speakers of Korean perceive phrases such as “어디 가 (Where are you going)?” and “밥 먹었어 (Have you eaten)?” as questions or as greetings, and (2) how speakers respond to these phrases. Various expressions are used as greetings in Korean, but interrogative greetings in particular are considered to be widely favored because they express personal interest in the interlocutor. Previous studies claim that because the phrases function more as greetings than questions, it is enough to respond with a general answer rather than an honest or detailed answer. To verify this claim, a questionnaire was distributed to 144 native Korean speakers in their 20s. The degree of intimacy between the speakers and the circumstances of the interaction were used to investigate the perception of and responses to interrogative greetings. The statistical analysis of the questionnaire results found that while the phrases do function as greetings, they still retain their interrogative function, and as such, many native speakers give honest answers such as “응, 먹었어 (Yes, I ate).” Additionally, interlocutor intimacy and situation did indeed influence how the phrases are perceived and answered.

의문형 인사 표현에 대한 한국어 모어 화자의 인식 및 응답 양상 연구

오카무라 카나

도쿄대학/일본학술진흥회

초록

Vol. 40 No. 4 (2022.12)

Journal Abbreviation j. Korea Saf. Manag. Sci.
Frequency Published four times annually in March, June, September, and December
Doi Prefix 10.14353/sjk.
Year of Launching 1993
Publisher The Sociolinguistic Society of Korea

Indexed/Tracked/Covered By