현대중국어 공손표현의 변천 양상 연구

Abstract

This study aims to examine the transitions of polite expressions in Chinese language since the time of ‘the May Fourth Movement’, which is regarded as the starting point of modern Chinese language, from a diachronic perspective. In order to study the polite expressions in modern Chinese language, this study classified the period for the modern Chinese language into the modern period (from the time of the May Fourth Movement to 1949) and the contemporary period (from 1949 to the present), compared and summarized the manners of polite expressions in Chinese language by period, and analyzed the differences and characteristics. The transitions of the polite expressions by period were analyzed. This study focused on identifying the differences in their usage patterns by period to analyze the literary works in the modern period and the contemporary period. The polite expressions in the contemporary period are used to raise the dignity of an educated person and improve human relations, unlike the past when there was a class society. So, today‘s polite expressions in Chinese language are mostly composed of expressions for social greetings, formal expressions for saving face, and expressions for courteous refusal, except for honorific vocabularies such as ‘nin (您)’ and ‘qing (请) and wei (位)’. These expressions are collectively referred to as ‘politeness formulas (客套语)’. Although the use of honorific or and humble language has been considerably reduced, ‘politeness formulas (客套语)’ have changed only in content and form, and they are still being actively used.