日本語メール文に見られる伝聞表現 - 相手からの情報を前提情報とする場合－

Abstract

This study examines hearsay expressions quoting information obtained from the other party in e-mail with the objective of inquiry, comparing their usage between native Japanese speakers and non-native Japanese learners. It was found that non-native Japanese learners used hearsay expressions less frequently compared to native Japanese speakers. The reasons for this could be the difficulty of using hearsay expressions for non-natives and a difference between the two in how information is perceived. While native Japanese speakers use ‘toiukotoda’ to show that the information was obtained from the other party, some non-native learners have the tendency to consider information from the other party as pre-obtained information, using expressions such as ‘sitteiru’ or ‘wakaru’, without using hearsay expressions. It may also be possible that they were not taught sufficiently about the usage of ‘toiukotoda’. This study focuses on ‘toiukotoda’ when used to reconfirm information obtained from the other party, and not ‘toiukotoda’ used to mediate information from a third party. It is our hope that these findings may be used to guide learners of the Japanese language in the appropriate usage of ‘toiukotoda’.