Japanese Grammar of Mind and Language (19) Analysis of Japanese Sentences (10) Analyzing Japanese in Business Writing (3) "I am Taro Yamada from the Sales Department of Yamada Trading."
(Continued from above)
I am Taro Yamada from the Sales Department of Yamada Trading.
Cognition = Proposition: None
Objective Modality (Judgment/Attitude): None
Interpersonal Modality (Communication): "I am Taro Yamada from the Sales Department of Yamada Trading" (Ritual greeting)
First, assuming this is an email, if we consider the overall picture, the information that the sender of this email is Taro Yamada from the Sales Department of Yamada Trading should naturally have been presented before this body text.
Therefore, there is no point in going out of one's way to present this information again here.
If one dares to do so, wouldn't it be normal to think that there is a function other than presenting it as propositional content?
I believe that is the function of a "ritual greeting" in the communicative domain.
In this way, I believe that by daring to state one's name and affiliation again following "I hope this finds your company thriving," one is attempting to make the ritual greeting even more courteous.
On the other hand, if one judges that the writer's mental movement is to linguistically present the proposition (cognition/thought) that "I am Taro Yamada from the Sales Department of Yamada Trading," the analysis in that case would be as follows.
Cognition = Proposition: That I am Taro Yamada from the Sales Department of Yamada Trading
Objective Modality (Judgment/Attitude): (I) "am" (assertion regarding the proposition)
Interpersonal Modality (Communication): "de gozaimasu" (polite)
The question of which one was actually in Taro Yamada's mind is meaningless. It is probably "both."
Like this
In the "Mind and Language" model, we basically do not frame questions as "A or B." This is because it is not logical, and in many cases, it does not lead to the creation of new value.
(Of course, we do frame questions as "A or not A.")
The basic stance in the "Mind and Language" model is not "A or B," but "A and B."
In this case, I consider the linguistic expression "I am Taro Yamada from the Sales Department of Yamada Trading" to be both a propositional expression and a modal expression.
Furthermore, in the English-speaking world (including global English), there is no cultural aspect of expressing interpersonal modality this thoroughly. Therefore, basically, one would not express this "I am Taro Yamada from the Sales Department of Yamada Trading" in English.
(To be continued tomorrow)
☆☆☆
☆☆☆
At "Kotosakiku | Yukio Naruse's English-Japanese Writing and Translation Classroom," many other contents regarding Japan and the Japanese people, English, Japanese, translation, and more are uploaded. The total number exceeds 1,000.
I have set up several magazines, so please check them out.