The Pragmatic functions of bikago in Japanese honorific speech
Evidence from the drama Asa ga Kita
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33633/lite.v22i1.15077Keywords:
bikago , honorifics, keigo, politeness, pragmaticsAbstract
This study investigates bikago, a type of keigo or honorific form in Japanese, as represented in the historical drama Asa ga Kita. The primary aim is to analyze the use of bikago in relation to the five communicative elements proposed by Kabaya: interpersonal relationships (ningen kankei), place (ba), feelings (kimochi), content (nakami), and delivery form (katachi). Drama Asa ga Kita narrates the story of a tomboyish young woman who enter the male dominated business world during a time of significant social change in Meiji period. This study employs a descriptive qualitative approach, applying thematic analysis to selected dialogues. The findings reveal that bikago frequently appears in contexts with ba levels of 0 or +1, exerting particular influence on the nakami element of communication. Moreover, while some words retain their meaning without bikago, others require the prefixes o- or go- to be meaningful and appropriately interpreted. The results further demonstrate that these prefixes function not only morphologically but also pragmatically, serving as strategies to mark politeness, convey emotion, and construct social identity. Datas from the drama illustrate how bikago is strategically employed across different interpersonal relationships, settings, and communicative purposes, thereby reflecting the cultural expectations of the Meiji period. Theoretically, this study contributes to Japanese pragmatics by situating bikago within broader discussions of identity, gender, and social status. Practically, the findings highlight the importance of incorporating bikago into Japanese language pedagogy to enhance learners’ pragmatic competence and cultural awareness.References
Arfianty, R., Mubshirah, D., & Pujiono, Mhd. (2023). Japanese women language politeness in communication interview: Sociolinguistic study. Eralingua: Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Asing dan Sastra, 7(2), 473. https://doi.org/10.26858/eralingua.v7i2.47890
Arfianty, R., & Mulyadi. (2024). Representation uchi and soto concept in Japanese social deixis. Journal Kiryoku, 1(8), 1. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.14710/kiryoku.v8i1.1-11
Bahiyah, K., Adnyani, K. E. K., & Suartini, N. N. (2021). Analisis penggunaan bikago dalam anime Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes. Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Jepang, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.23887/jpbj.v7i1.31781
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2023). Toward good practice in thematic analysis: Avoiding common problems and be(com)ing a knowing researcher. In International Journal of Transgender Health (Vol. 24, Issue 1, pp. 1–6). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2022.2129597
Davis, C. (2020). Pragmatic constraints on subject-oriented honorifics in Yaeyaman and Japanese *. In Proceedings of SALT (Vol. 30). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3765/salt.v30i0.4840
Derible, A. (2024). Gender- and Age-related Constraints in Japanese Politeness Marking: A Statistical Analysis of the Tokyo Story Characters’ Usage of Keigo. International Linguistics Research, 7(2), p13. https://doi.org/10.30560/ilr.v7n2p13
Elden, C. (2023). Jocular self-deprecation in Japanese initial interactions. Journal of Pragmatics, 218, 45–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PRAGMA.2023.10.003
Fithriyana, D., & Hamidah, I. (2020). Makna Budaya pada Bikago yang Mengandung Prefiks O-dan Go- Dalam Bahasa Jepang (Kajian Linguistik Antropologi). J-Litera: Jurnal Kajian Bahasa, Sastra, dan Budaya Jepang, 2(1), 46–55. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.20884/ 1.jlitera.2020.2.1.2120
Fukushima, S., & Sifianou, M. (2017). Conceptualizing politeness in Japanese and Greek. Intercultural Pragmatics, 14(4), 525–555. https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2017-0024
Kabaya, H., Kim Dong Kyu, & Takagi, M. (2009). Keigo Hyougen Handbook. Taishukan Bookstore.
Kádár, D. Z., House, J., Todo, K., & Xiao, T. (2024). Revisiting the binary view of honorifics in politeness research. Journal of Politeness Research, 20(2), 533–562. https://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2023-0035
Kartika, D., & Jumanto, J. (2024). Refusal politeness within anime: How the Japanese youngsters learn to refuse. International Journal of Society, Culture and Language, 12(1), 427–440. https://doi.org/10.22034/ijscl.2024.2020706.3353
Kusumarini, I. (2022). Pemarkah kesantunan linguistik tuturan bahasa Jepang staf hotel di Bali . LACULTOUR: International Journal of Language and Cultural Tourism, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.52352/10.52352/lacultour.v1i1.737
Maruki, Y. (2022). Keigo to use and to be used: Reevaluation of keigo learning in Japanese language classes. Journal of Japanese Language Education and Linguistics, 6(2), 142–153. https://doi.org/10.18196/jjlel.v6i2.14874
Mulyadi, M., Suhandano, S., & Aris, M. (2022). The use of bikago beautified style in usage instructions of food, beverage, and pharmaceutical products. IZUMI, 11(2), 143–153. https://doi.org/10.14710/izumi.11.2.143-153
Nomoto, H. (2023). Honorific titles are D. Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America, 8(1), 5523. https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v8i1.5523
Nurjaleka, L. (2021). Backchannel as a listener’s consideration behavior: Politeness strategy of Japanese native speakers in interaction. Journal of Language and Literature, 21(2), 281–293. https://doi.org/10.24071/joll.v21i2.3056
Obana, & Yasuko. (2021). Japanese Politeness. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429299469
Okamoto, S., & Morimoto, M. (2023). Gender norms and styling in Japanese conversation: A multilevel analysis. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 27(1), 42–65. https://doi.org/ 10.1111/josl.12569
Rahayu, E. T., & Hartati. (2024). The shift in the use of keigo by migrant care workers on TikTok social media. Studies in Media and Communication, 12(3), 310–324. https://doi.org/10.11114/smc.v12i3.6975
Sherwood, S., Shaw, J. A., Kawahara, S., Mailhammer, R., & Antoniou, M. (2023). Variation, gender and perception: the social meaning of Japanese linguistic variables. Linguistics. https://doi.org/10.1515/ling-2022-0149
Takeuchi, J. D. B. (2023). Language ideologies and L2 speaker legitimacy: Native speaker bias in Japan. In Language Ideologies and L2 Speaker Legitimacy: Native Speaker Bias in Japan. Channel View Publications. https://doi.org/10.21832/TAKEUC4648
Yamada, A. (2019). The syntax, semantics and pragmatics of Japanese addressee-honorific markers [Georgetown University]. https://repository.digital.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/1057316
Yoga Prahesti, N., & Supriatnaningsih, R. (2020). Analisis penggunaan keigo dalam drama di Musim Gugur Kounodori Season 1. CHI’E: Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Jepang, 8(1). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.15294/chie.v8i1.36924
Yuniarsih, Sudjianto, & Fausiyyah, F. (2022). Use of Keigo in Japanese for Business. Chi’e Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Jepang, 10(1). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.15294/chie.v10i1.55751
Downloads
Additional Files
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Elisa Carolina Marion, Angelina Jane Setiawati
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors of LITE: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, dan Budaya must agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) before and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
