KJCKorea
Journal Central

This paper presents a longitudinal comparison based on the same questions utilized in Ozaki (2008), who investigated and analyzed differences in gratitude-related behavior between Japan and Korea. This study aimed to assess whether the differences observed between the two countries approximately 20 years ago remain relevant today. The findings indicate that as of 2023, gratitude behavior in Japan and Korea is similar in that expressing thanks to anyone who fulfills a request is common regardless of the request’s significance. The differences observed between Japan and Korea in 2003 have mostly disappeared, likely due to the increased proportion of Koreans who express gratitude to friends and family, a number that has reached levels similar to those in Japan in 2023 compared to 2003. This shift may reflect attitudinal changes toward family and friends, as well as changes in interpersonal behavior and perceptions of nonverbal communication. For example, factors such as changes in family and close relationships due to declining birth rates and the COVID-19 pandemic, shifts in child-rearing practices and home education, the evolving importance of linguistic socialization regarding the use of expressions such as “thank you,” and increased exposure to foreign cultures might have influenced this behavior. However, this study’s findings are based on a limited number of scenarios, and caution should be exercised when generalizing these results. Since the study focused on trends over time and replicated a survey conducted 20 years ago, some scenarios, such as “sending a letter” and “buying a book,” may no longer be relevant to the modern context. Therefore, further research incorporating new scenarios via survey items that can more clearly highlight the current differences between Japan and Korea is needed. We would like to address these issues in our future research.

Based on case particle essential meaning theory, this paper discusses the difference between カラ and ヲ, which denote the commencement of space, from a new perspective of the essential justification of the カラ and ヲ cases. This research identifies the root cause of the difference between them. As functional words, case particles have grammatical meaning with nouns (phrases) and predicates; in other words, case particles have abstracted conceptual essential meaning that is independent of contexts and transcendental. This essential meaning is carried through each syntactic context. The カラ case has the essential meaning of “commencement- continuation movement.” It indicates the commencement of space and conveys a strong image of the continuation of movement of a vector from the starting point to the end point. By contrast, the case particle ヲ has the essential meaning of “influence on the subject.” This essential meaning acts on the syntactic context of the commencement of space. Therefore, this study concludes that if we focus on the meaning of the starting point カラ, which denotes the commencement of space, the ヲ case stresses a certain action in the space. That is the fundamental difference between the two cases, and the fundamental reason why the カラ and ヲ cases convey differing linguistic awareness and nuance is derived from their different essential meanings.

This study comprehensively examines the types of Japanese translationese appearing in Japanese-to-Korean translations to analyze its patterns and characteristics. This study primarily aimed to propose solutions for overcoming the problems related to Japanese translationese in Japanese-to-Korean translations. The study’s key findings and contributions are as follows: 1. The specific strategies for overcoming Japanese translationese proposed in this paper will contribute to the production of high-quality Japanese-to-Korean translations that meet readers’ readability standards. 2. This study’s results are expected to aid in normalizing Korean vocabulary and style, which Japanese translationese has distorted. 3. This study supports the understanding and acceptance of Japanese literature and culture, and suggests an appropriate direction for the development of Korean literature and culture, including translation culture. This study is based on the analysis of three Japanese-to-Korean translated novels and three Japanese-to-Korean translated essays from the 2000s. The study acknowledges limitations in the number of works and examples examined as well as in failing to identify and analyze the patterns and characteristics of Japanese translationese problems separately for the novels and essay genres. Addressing these limitations remains a task for future research.