Aizuchi
Aizuchi ( Japanese 相 槌 , literally roughly: "Alternating hammer blows ") is the Japanese term for frequent objections by the interlocutor during a conversation or a lecture . Aizuchi should show the speaker that his counterpart is constantly active and involved in the discussion.
Business negotiations between non-Japanese and Japanese in particular can suffer from misinterpreted aizuchi . Non-native speakers often consider the objections to be in agreement with what has been said, while the Japanese only use them to express that they have understood the suggestions and will think about them.
Conversely, it is important for a non-native speaker to also use Aizuchi frequently , as a Japanese speaker might otherwise assume that the listener did not understand him or that he would not follow the discussion attentively.
Common aizuchi are:
- "Hai", "ee" or "un" ("yes" in different politeness levels),
- "Sō desu ne" ("I think that's how it is"),
- "Hontō" or "hontō ni" ("actually"),
- Nod.
Aizuchi can also be so-called "echo questions", which consist of a noun and the question particle "desu ka". When Speaker A has asked a question, Speaker B can repeat the key noun followed by “desu ka” to confirm that he understood what was said while pondering the answer.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Entry for Aizuchi in Wadoku , accessed on August 11, 2016 at 11:20 am