Politeness of the Minang Community in the Tourism Object Area in Dealing with Japanese Tourists with Aizuchi Culture

AIJOSH | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License Vol. 3 No. 2 (2021) Andalas International Journal of Socio-Humanities ISSN: 2715-601X (Online) Available at: http://aijosh.lppm.unand.ac.id/index.php/aijosh/index DOI: https://doi.org/10.25077/aijosh.v3i2.22 Article Politeness of the Minang Community in the Tourism Object Area in Dealing with Japanese Tourists with Aizuchi Culture Adrianis* & Dhiant Asri Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Andalas, Indonesia Article Information Abstract Received : October 14, 2021 The study focuses on politeness of merchants and managers in the Minang tourism area in the use of aizuchi towards Japanese tourists in Padang city. Politeness in terms of the language used by Minang merchants in tourism areas can be seen in the daily lives of those who use the Kato Nan Ampek culture. The ampek kato are kato malereng, kato mandaki, kato manurun, and kato mandata. Based on the five characteristics proposed by Mynard, there are only three characteristics, namely expressing confirmation, showing concern, and surprise. These characteristics indicate a cultural attitude that uses Kato Nan Ampek, namely kato mandaki and kato mandata. Politeness that is done to Japanese people who have aizuchi culture, namely the response to the interlocutor varies depending on the place. In general, merchants and tourism object managers are very polite in order to attract tourists to their business. Because of the limitations in mastering the Japanese language, the characteristic forms shown by the merchants are only in the form of confirmation by using the words はい (hai), はい、そうで す (hai sou desu), and the form of one's attention in the form of そうで すね (sou desune), expressing doubts by using the phrase わかりませ ん (wakarimasen). Meanwhile, the politeness given by merchants and tourism managers is based on the functions put forward by Horiguchi, namely stating that the interlocutor is listening, understanding the conversation, agreeing, and expressing feelings. Revised : December 23, 2021 Accepted : December 28, 2021 Published : January 20, 2021 Keywords politeness; Minang community; aizuchi; tourism object *Correspondence INTRODUCTION Life in society has various rules, for the sake of creating harmony in life and depending on the culture of the community. The culture of a society in a certain place is not the same as the culture of a society in other places. Even though the purpose of the culture is the same, perhaps the way of implementation is not the same. These cultures will be different from each other, especially in different countries. The culture will be different even though the purpose of the culture is the same. We also need to study these cultural differences between countries in order to get to know the country. For example, Japanese culture's firm use of aizuchi when talking to the interlocutor. If we know other people's culture, we will easily socialize with that person, especially if we know that person's language. Language is a communication tool in conveying ideas and thoughts. The language used by humans in the world also varies. For example, English, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, etc. Every language has specific rules in terms of writing procedures, structure, letters, etc. The spoken language used to communicate between humans also has specific rules. For example, 97 AIJOSH | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License Vol. 3 No. 2 (2021) we must pay attention to ethics and etiquette when speaking. The etiquette of speaking, for example, the manners of speaking. Politeness in speaking will show the speaker's personality and culture. For example, speaking in Japanese will show Japanese culture. Speaking in Minang language will show the Minang culture. Japanese and Minang cultures in communicating are very concerned about politeness. Politeness in communicating in Japanese is known as aizuchi. Aizuchi is an expression conveyed by the interlocutor to respond to the information given by the speaker when the speaker is using their right to speak (Misri) (Kubota, 2001). If Aizuchi is used by the people in which Japanese is not their mother tongue, it will show the difference in use (Siswinayu, 2012; Sutedi, 2009). However, the differences can still be understood by Japanese people. We can see this in the use of the Japanese language and the style/expression of the people in the tourism area in the city of Padang towards Japanese tourists. People around the tourism area like merchants and owners of tourist facilities. The language used by people in the tourism area will describe how polite the users are. Politeness used by merchants and owners of tourist facilities will determine the progress of the tourist attraction. The politeness can be seen from the way of speaking and acting or the movements of the speaker. Politeness can be said as a sincere desire to do good to others (Thomas, 1995; Sumarsono and Partana, 2007; Oktavianus 2008: 98). The politeness that a person does is not only from words but can also be seen from the actions taken by someone. These two things are obvious in communication in all languages of the world. This politeness is closely related to the culture of the community. For example, politeness in Minang language, where the community has a high culture of politeness both in language and action. Politeness in terms of language will be seen from the speaker's utterances spoken and actions or movements. In the third edition of the KBBI (1990), politeness is gentleness and kindness (demeanor, behavior). Another opinion is described in (http://muslich.m.blogspot.com) that politeness or ethics are procedures, customs, or habits that apply in the society. Politeness in a society is not the same as depending on the community, but it is dependent on the user's community because this politeness is a rule of behavior that is determined and mutually agreed upon by a community. Politeness is the value that a person shows to others. The politeness of each community is not the same, depending on the community and where the politeness is applied (Chaer and Agustina. 2010). The culture of the community also influences politeness. For example, the politeness of merchants in tourism areas will be different from those of merchants in traditional markets. This is because in the tourism area, many merchants know a little about various kinds of foreign languages and foreign cultures. It is all done by merchants in tourism areas in order to maintain their culture and attract tourists so that many come to the tourist attraction area. We can see this politeness in the tourism area in Padang city. The politeness that a person does is not only from words, but can also be seen from the actions taken by someone. These two things are very visible in communication in all languages of the world. This politeness is (...truncated)