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Nodding in Japanese ? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| JanKG Tetraglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 5767 days ago 245 posts - 280 votes  Speaks: Dutch*, English, German, French Studies: Italian, Finnish | Message 1 of 20 04 July 2009 at 10:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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While travelling in the brussels metro I happened to be sitting across some Japanese ladies. It suddenly struck me that nodding seems to belong to their non-verbal signs - or do they belong to the language itself ? It seemed to me that about any sentence they said was followed by some kind of 'social nodding', very brief though.
is that observation correct ? What is the logic or the reason for that ? Would it be a mistake not to odd while speaking to or listening to someone speaking Japanese ? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Keith Diglot Moderator JapanRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6777 days ago 526 posts - 536 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 20 05 July 2009 at 9:37am | IP Logged | ||
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The Japanese speaking style is often looking for agreement or acknowledgment, so a nod is part of the confirmation.
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| zerothinking Senior Member Australia Joined 6372 days ago 528 posts - 772 votes Speaks: English* | Message 3 of 20 05 July 2009 at 11:09am | IP Logged | ||
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And the constant 'hai...hai...hai...hai' as someone is speaking.
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| Linguistics Diglot Groupie Finland Joined 5628 days ago 59 posts - 62 votes Speaks: Mandarin*, English Studies: German, Finnish | Message 4 of 20 05 July 2009 at 2:17pm | IP Logged | ||
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It's a lot easier to pronounce Japanese words with nods too.
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| JanKG Tetraglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 5767 days ago 245 posts - 280 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German, French Studies: Italian, Finnish | Message 5 of 20 05 July 2009 at 3:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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Beg your pardon: is it easier to pronounce words while nodding??? Why is that ?
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| Sennin Senior Member Bulgaria Joined 6034 days ago 1457 posts - 1759 votes 5 sounds | Message 6 of 20 05 July 2009 at 3:26pm | IP Logged | ||
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I don't know about nodding in particular but I find that Japanese people really need frequent affirmation in order to keep the conversation going. If you don't do this and just keep silent, they'll take it you disagree in some way. Edited by Sennin on 05 July 2009 at 3:26pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| JanKG Tetraglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 5767 days ago 245 posts - 280 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German, French Studies: Italian, Finnish | Message 7 of 20 05 July 2009 at 3:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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I agree with you, it struck me as well. But it seemed to me that it was more than just a matter of agreeing; someone ending a little story seemed to nod as well. So I think agreement is only one part of the story.
By the way, Ling. ;-), is it the case in Mandarin as well ? I don't think so (Chinese seems often more 'agressive', stronger, spoken at a higher and more varied pitch ???). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Linguistics Diglot Groupie Finland Joined 5628 days ago 59 posts - 62 votes Speaks: Mandarin*, English Studies: German, Finnish | Message 8 of 20 05 July 2009 at 3:46pm | IP Logged | ||
I studied Japanese as a minor in college for only one year, so I can't give you really professional explanations on this, but as far as I can recall, most of their tones are going down except in questions. Most importantly, they utter the sound from the back of the throat. Thirdly, unlike English, each syllable is a character, after which they tend to pause a bit. So, imagine that you have to say one sentence where your tone needs to go downwards and then pause for 0.1 second every other word. It's hard not to nod. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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