When grammaticality is intentionally violated: Inanimate honorification as a politeness strategy

• Published in: Journal of pragmatics Vol. 232; pp. 167 - 181
• Main Authors: Kwon, Nayoung, Lee, Yeonseob
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.10.2024
• Subjects: Inanimate honorification; Intersubjectivity; Korean; Politeness; si; Subject honorific suffix; Korean; Subject honorific suffix; Intersubjectivity; Inanimate honorification; Politeness; si
• ISSN: 0378-2166
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pragma.2024.08.012

This paper examines the use of honorification for inanimate subjects in Korean, a linguistic phenomenon that, although traditionally ungrammatical, has been increasingly used in recent years. Despite negative perceptions and deliberate national campaigns to discourage it, its continued use requires...