Is It Polite to Hiss?: Nonverbal Sound Objects as Markers of (Im)politeness in Korean
This paper explores the politeness-related functions of an ingressive hissing-like sound that occurs frequently in Korean and which is typically transcribed as ssup. This nonverbal sound is produced by drawing air alongside the tongue or between the teeth and may appear either before the production...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Communication |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2022.854066/full |
| _version_ | 1818270984031961088 |
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| author | Lucien Brown Hyunji Kim Bodo Winter |
| author_facet | Lucien Brown Hyunji Kim Bodo Winter |
| author_sort | Lucien Brown |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper explores the politeness-related functions of an ingressive hissing-like sound that occurs frequently in Korean and which is typically transcribed as ssup. This nonverbal sound is produced by drawing air alongside the tongue or between the teeth and may appear either before the production of a turn, or during turn production. Previous studies have shown that Korean speakers produce more frequent hisses when addressing status superiors. This suggests a politeness-related function, particularly given the importance of marking social distance toward elders and superiors in Korean culture. In the current paper, we explore the pragmatic functions of these hisses in three distinct datasets (oral discourse completion task, dyad recordings, drama interactions). Our analysis shows that hisses perform four types of social actions: displaying delicacy, activity shift, word search, and conveying skepticism. Hisses occur at interactional or relational trouble spots to delay the progression of talk, while allowing the speaker to initiate or maintain their turn. They co-occur with other verbal and multimodal markers of hesitation. We thus see the underlying core meaning of hisses as being related to difficulty, uncertainty and hesitation, and the conveyance of reluctance to perform the problematic talk. The increased frequency of hisses and multimodal hesitation in interactions with status superiors shows us that speakers are trying to show more care and effort when interacting in situations where social distance exists. These results contribute toward our understanding of politeness as a multimodal and holistic phenomenon that is expressed across multiple verbal and nonverbal dimensions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T21:18:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f1d242eb7b4b409589fd2addf471c3ca |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-900X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T21:18:57Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Communication |
| spelling | doaj.art-f1d242eb7b4b409589fd2addf471c3ca2022-12-22T00:11:40ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Communication2297-900X2022-05-01710.3389/fcomm.2022.854066854066Is It Polite to Hiss?: Nonverbal Sound Objects as Markers of (Im)politeness in KoreanLucien Brown0Hyunji Kim1Bodo Winter2School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaDepartment of East Asian Languages and Literatures, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United StatesDepartment of English Language and Linguistics, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United KingdomThis paper explores the politeness-related functions of an ingressive hissing-like sound that occurs frequently in Korean and which is typically transcribed as ssup. This nonverbal sound is produced by drawing air alongside the tongue or between the teeth and may appear either before the production of a turn, or during turn production. Previous studies have shown that Korean speakers produce more frequent hisses when addressing status superiors. This suggests a politeness-related function, particularly given the importance of marking social distance toward elders and superiors in Korean culture. In the current paper, we explore the pragmatic functions of these hisses in three distinct datasets (oral discourse completion task, dyad recordings, drama interactions). Our analysis shows that hisses perform four types of social actions: displaying delicacy, activity shift, word search, and conveying skepticism. Hisses occur at interactional or relational trouble spots to delay the progression of talk, while allowing the speaker to initiate or maintain their turn. They co-occur with other verbal and multimodal markers of hesitation. We thus see the underlying core meaning of hisses as being related to difficulty, uncertainty and hesitation, and the conveyance of reluctance to perform the problematic talk. The increased frequency of hisses and multimodal hesitation in interactions with status superiors shows us that speakers are trying to show more care and effort when interacting in situations where social distance exists. These results contribute toward our understanding of politeness as a multimodal and holistic phenomenon that is expressed across multiple verbal and nonverbal dimensions.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2022.854066/fullpolitenessnonverbal speech soundsmultimodalitybreath intakesfillershesitation |
| spellingShingle | Lucien Brown Hyunji Kim Bodo Winter Is It Polite to Hiss?: Nonverbal Sound Objects as Markers of (Im)politeness in Korean Frontiers in Communication politeness nonverbal speech sounds multimodality breath intakes fillers hesitation |
| title | Is It Polite to Hiss?: Nonverbal Sound Objects as Markers of (Im)politeness in Korean |
| title_full | Is It Polite to Hiss?: Nonverbal Sound Objects as Markers of (Im)politeness in Korean |
| title_fullStr | Is It Polite to Hiss?: Nonverbal Sound Objects as Markers of (Im)politeness in Korean |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is It Polite to Hiss?: Nonverbal Sound Objects as Markers of (Im)politeness in Korean |
| title_short | Is It Polite to Hiss?: Nonverbal Sound Objects as Markers of (Im)politeness in Korean |
| title_sort | is it polite to hiss nonverbal sound objects as markers of im politeness in korean |
| topic | politeness nonverbal speech sounds multimodality breath intakes fillers hesitation |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2022.854066/full |
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