THE USE OF KEIGO AS A REPRESENTATION OF JAPANESE LINGUISTIC POLITENESS PRINCIPLES IN CHECK-IN SERVICE INTERACTIONS AT AIRPORTS

Abstrak

Keigo is a Japanese honorific language system that plays a crucial role in reflecting politeness, respect, and professionalism in public service interactions. This study aims to describe the types of keigo, the functions of keigo usage based on the Conversation Analysis (CA) approach, and the strategies of keigo usage in check-in service interactions at ANA Airlines, Haneda International Airport. This study employed a qualitative descriptive approach. The data consisted of utterances containing keigo in conversations between airline staff and passengers during the check-in process, collected through participant observation using direct audio recording. Data analysis was conducted through transcription, translation, classification, and Conversation Analysis procedures. The findings revealed 330 occurrences of keigo comprising sonkeigo, kenjougo, and teineigo, with teineigo being the most dominant type. The functions of keigo encompass seven sequential functions, namely opening, pre-sequence, request-response, instruction, information-giving, confirmation, and closing. Furthermore, 45 data related to keigo usage strategies were identified, covering conventional politeness (wakimae), strategic politeness (volition), and formal form strategies. It is concluded that keigo functions not only as a marker of linguistic politeness but also as a communication strategy that supports the effectiveness of professional service interactions.