Hành động phàn nàn trong tiếng Việt và tiếng Nhật

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The reason for choosing the topic

Although it is considered a young discipline compared to other language disciplines, in the past few decades, speech acts in general and complaint speech acts in particular have developed strongly Scientists have pointed out that human emotions and attitudes are not entirely invisible as we might think We can understand the specific content of emotional states through the general cultural model expressed through language

The act of complaining is an action that threatens the face of the communication participant, and in reality, the use of this action is quite common in daily communication in various environments, among different communication subjects Therefore, in the world as well as in Vietnam, there are a series of studies from the perspective of pragmatics in each language to comparative studies between languages In studies on the act of complaining, most studies focus on analyzing the characteristics of the act of complaining and the factors influencing communication strategies when performing the act of complaining based on cultural and social features of each country However, there has been no work comparing and contrasting to find similarities and differences in the thinking and culture of Vietnam and Japan or studying specifically and systematically about the linguistic features of the act of complaining in Vietnamese and Japanese That is the reason why we chose the topic "The act of complaining in Vietnamese and Japanese" for our thesis.

Research purposes and tasks

Research purposes

The purpose of the thesis is to point out the characteristics of the act of complaining in Vietnamese and Japanese in order to find similarities and differences in the way of expressing complaints in Vietnamese and Japanese, aiming to interpret this issue from the cultural aspects From there, propose some solutions in the use of the act of complaining in general and foreign language teaching in particular.

Research tasks

- Overview of all research works related to the thesis and build a theoretical basis system for the thesis;

- Establishing the concept of complaining acts, illocutionary signs and illocutionary expressions of complaining acts;

- Investigate the characteristics and communication strategies when implementing complaint actions in Vietnamese and Japanese;

- Comparison between the act of complaining in Vietnamese and Japanese;

- Summarize the research results and draw conclusions.

Object, scope of research and survey data

Object and scope of the study

- The research object of the thesis is the act of complaining in Vietnameseand Japanese In which, the main subjects are the actions of complaining and the contents of the complaining utterances in each language.

Survey materials

In this study, the thesis's corpus is taken from narrative works of Vietnam and Japan The corpus we surveyed is mainly the language of dialogue between characters, with the writer recreating the conversations and always placing them in specific communication situations

The thesis surveys a total of 1728 linguistic expressions containing the act of complaining in both Japanese and Vietnamese for research The data and examples used for statistics, analysis and description are taken from the corpus system which are linguistic expressions drawn from Vietnamese and Japanese short stories In Vietnamese, we choose Collection of short stories by Vu Trong Phung, Nam Cao and Ma Van

Khang, in Japanese, we choose Collection of short stories by authors Naoki Hyakuta and Natsume Soseki as the corpus for statistical analysis of the act of complaining.

Research Method

To clarify the action of complaining in Vietnamese and Japanese, the thesis uses two main research methods which are discourse analysis method, descriptive method, and comparative method In addition, the thesis also uses the statistical - classification method to gather data containing the action of complaining in Vietnamese and Japanese.

Scientific contributions of the thesis

In terms of theory

- Specify and expand some issues of complaining act theory in pragmatics

- Provide linguistics with some evidence to clarify the role of complaining in actual communication.

In terms of practice

- Promote the development of pragmatic research of two languages of different types but also promote the development of research on the two cultures of Vietnam and Japan

- Contribute to the development of research, teaching, and translation of Japanese for Vietnamese and Vietnamese for Japanese

- Making teaching materials and literature and researching pragmatics and sociolinguistics at university and postgraduate training and research institutions.

Layout of the thesis

In addition to the Introduction and Conclusion, References and Appendices, the thesis includes 4 chapters:

Chapter 1: Overview of research situation and theoretical basis

Chapter 2: The act of complaining in Vietnamese

Chapter 3: The act of complaining in Japanese

Chapter 4: Compare the act of complaining in Vietnamese and Japanese

OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH ISSUES AND THEORETICAL BASIS

Overview of research issues

1.1.1.1 Studies abroad on speech acts

Austin (1962) was the first person to build the Theory of Speech Acts and he identified three levels of acts within the speech act itself In other words, behind a specific speech are three acts within one act: locutionary act, illocutionary act and perlocutionary act Austin's speech act theory opened up a new field of research, focusing on exploring the meaning of language and how it is used in communicative activities [97]

Developing from Austin's perspective, Searle (1969) believes that when we speak, we are expressing speech acts such as: commenting, ordering, asking, promising The author also argues that these linguistic acts are expressed due to compatibility with certain rules for the use of linguistic elements [117]

Austin and Searle's research on speech act theory has inspired many other researchers to further develop and enhance this theory Researchers such as O Ducrot (1972) [112], Brown and Levinson (1987) [101], Wierzbicka (1987) [95], Thomas (1995) [120], Yule (1996) [123] have continued continues to offer new perspectives on speech act theory, helping this theory become one of the most basic theories in the field of pragmatics

1.1.1.2 Domestic studies on speech acts

In Vietnam, speech act theory began to be introduced in the late 1980s and quickly became a topic of interest for academics Among them are Do Huu Chau [6], [7], Nguyen Duc Dan [11], Nguyen Thien Giap [28], Cao Xuan Hao [34], Do Thi Kim Lien [56], Le Dong [20], Nguyen Van Khang [53], Nguyen Van Hiep [43], Do Viet Hung [48] and Vu Thi Thanh Huong [49] From that overall picture, it can be clearly seen that speech act theory has been deeply engraved and is becoming more and more solid in certain areas

Speech act theory has opened up many applied research directions in many different fields In Vietnam, research on speech acts focuses mainly on theses, dissertations and scientific papers Vietnamese speech acts have been studied diversely and are often studied in 6 groups: Research on speech verb groups, Research on speech acts, Research on speech acts in speech events, Research on speech acts in dialogue pairs or response pairs, Research on speech acts in literary works and Researching speech acts with comparison to another language These studies are listed in Table 1.1 (Please see full text 11)

1.1.2.1 Studies abroad on complaining behavior

The act of complaining is studied quite a lot by many scholars around the world Over the past quarter of a century, there have been many methods and approaches to the language in many directions According to the studies of Murphy & Neu (1996) [111], Trosborg (1995) [121] and Olshtain & Weinbach (1985) [114], communication strategies when making complaints include two types: direct complaints and indirect complaints The findings of these researchers provided the foundation for the theory of complaint action Besides, the strategies used when making complaints and the level of complaints were also developed by many later researchers such as the research of the author group Hajikano, Tetsuo Kumatoridani and Hiroko Fujimori (1996) [117], Guo Hekiran (2007) [132], Park Seung Won (2000) [128], Lee Sun Hee (2006) [131], DongHua Cui (2008) [133], Woo Saming (2017) [134], Prokopeva Mariia (2020) [135]

1.1.2.2 Domestic studies on complaining behavior

In Vietnam, there are many research projects related to the act of complaining and speech acts in the same group as complaints such as complaining, criticizing, cursing, blaming by authors such as Lai Thi Minh Duc (2001) [22], Dang Thi Mai Hong (2001) [46], Nguyen Thu Hanh (2004) [36], Vu Minh An (2003) [1], Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen (2006) [93], Phan Thi Viet Anh ( 2009) [3], Le Thi Thuy Ha (2012) [30], Pham Van Hanh, Hoang Thi Hue (2014) [38], Nguyen Thu Hanh (2022) [37], Do Thi Thanh Huyen (2023) [49].

Basis for argument

1.2.1.1 Speech acts and classification of speech acts

The founder of speech act theory was the British philosopher J.L Austin with his research work "How to do things with words" The person who developed this theory is philosopher J.Searle with his work “Speech Acts” Based on the speech act theory that J.L.Austin and Searle built, since the 70s of the twentieth century, in Vietnam there have been more and more Vietnamese linguists doing in-depth research in the field of pragmatics Learn the concept of "speech acts" (also known as “hành vi ngôn ngữ”, “hành động ngôn từ”) Generally, researchers all agree that each spoken action has a specific purpose, has an effect on the listener, and can be adjusted during use The purpose of each spoken action is to convey a specific message to the listener and aims towards a certain goal The effectiveness of the spoken action depends on the power of the transmitted message and affects different receivers In addition, rules and systems also play an important role in the use of a language, they help ensure accuracy and consistency in the use of language within that language community

According to J.L Austin, behind a specific speech there are always three acts within one act, which are: the locutionary act, the illocutionery act, and the perlocutionary act In these three types of speech acts, the meaning of speech verbs is expressed in illocutionary acts Thus, when making an utterance, the speaker performs three types of speech acts of which, illocutionary acts are ones that create rich nuances of communication and many pragmatic linguists are interested in In this thesis, we only focus on surveying and analyzing the illocutionary acts

In reality, speech acts are very diverse and there are significant differences from one language to another Many authors have distinguished illocutionary acts based on different criteria

Austin (1962) divided speech acts into the following five categories: verdictives, exercitives, commissives, expositives, behabitive Austin's categories are basically lexical classifications of English performative verbs and the act of complaining is would fall under the behabitive act

Following this direction of classifying performative verbs, Wierzbicka (1987) used semantic aspect to interpret 270 English speech acts verbs and group them into 37 groups According to Wierzbicka's classification of illocutionary act, the act of complaining is in the same group as the acts of scolding, criticizing and complaining

However, when classifying the above categories, Searle believes that previous studies did not set certain criteria leading to classification results that sometimes overlap Starting from Austin's limitations, Searle proposed 12 criteria, including 4 basic criteria to classify speech acts In fact, Searle points out the 4 most basic criteria for classifying speech acts and Searle classified them into 5 categories: representative, directive, commissive, expressive and declarative According to Searle's classification of speech acts, the act of complaining belongs to the group of expressive acts

Based on the classification criteria and results of classifying speech acts of the above researchers, in this thesis, we will use some of Searle's classification criteria to identify complaining acts and acts in the same group as: scolding, criticizing, complaining, whining typically with the following criteria: (1) the purpose of the words, (3) the speaker's psychological state when performing the act, (4) the force expressed by the illocutionary point, (5) the social distance or position between the speaker and the listener, (6) the way the utterance is made with acts related to the interests of the speaker or listener, (8) propositional content, (9) method performed, (11) act with performative verbs

1.2.1.2 Performative utterances, performative expressions and performative verbs a) Performative utterances

Performative utterances are utterances that clearly use performative verbs used to perform acts We can only identify a speech act from a certain utterance when we know the context in which the utterance takes place Thus, the speech act is the functional intention of each utterance b) Explicit and primary performative expressions

Acts performed in language are collectively called speech acts As stated above, there are performative expressions that have performative verbs and there are performative expressions that do not have performative verbs On the basis of performative verbs and a number of other signs called effective means of illocutionary force, researchers have introduced the concept of explicit performative expressions and primitive performative expressions:

- Explicit performative expressions : are performative expressions that have a performative verb

- Primary or implicit performative expressions : are expressions that have illocutionary force which is known from the context but do not have a performative verb

Any speech act has a corresponding performative expression, but only speech acts that have a corresponding performative verb have an explicit performative expression However, in some cases there are no characteristic signs of speech act, so it is easy to be confused in distinguishing which act is the primary performative expression Therefore, to determine which level of primary performative expression, it is necessary to base on the following criteria:

- The ability to repeat or supplement such statements;

- Responding to the listener (Sp2) c) Performative Verbs

Verbs indicating speech acts in general and performative verbs in particular are particularly important elements for participating in performative expressions and are verbs that express and name speech acts Among speech-act verbs, there are special verbs, which are verbs that can be performed in a performative function, that is, performed in an illocutionary function These verbs are called performative verbs (động từ ngôn hành, động từ ngữ vi)

Performative verbs when saying them or writing them the speaker performs the action themselves with a performative expression, that is, we have performed the act and that act is to do things with words Austin believes that performative verbs are only used in a performative function (with illocutionary effect) when in an utterance it is used in the first person (speaker - Sp1) in the present tense (present utterance), voice, mood and indicative

Do Huu Chau said: "The conditions for using performative acts are the conditions that a performative act must meet so that it can take place appropriately in the context of its utterance" [7, p 111]

Austin referred to these as "felicic conditions" If these conditions are met, verbal actions can succeed and be effective

However, in order for each verbal action to be successful, it requires a set of conditions, which Searle calls usage conditions or satisfaction conditions According to him, there are four types of conditions for the use of verbal actions:

1.2.1.4 Direct and indirect language actions

According to Geogre Yule's concept, "As long as there is a direct relationship between a structure and a function, we have a direct speech act As long as there is an indirect relationship between a structure and a function, we have an indirect speech act (indirect speech act)" [123; p.110]

Do Huu Chau said the action in direct speech is "authentic language behaviors, that is, behaviors that are performed correctly with the conditions of use, right with the aims of them" [7; p.145]

COMPLAINT SPEECH ACTS IN VIETNAMESE

Investigating the complaint action in Vietnamese through speech act signals

2.1.1 Formal signs of the complaint action in Vietnamese

In the complaint action in Vietnamese, common structures are one of the important signs that help identify this action Through studying 375 common structures, we find that the common structures of identifying this action are quite diverse and the frequency of these structures is summarized in the following table:

Table 2.1 Statistics table of common structures identifying the complaint action in Vietnamese Order Common structures to identify complaining acts in Vietnamese Frequency Rate (%)

4 (NDPN) + pronoun/noun + address form + (NDPN) 11 2,9

In addition, in writing, the use of exclamation points (!) in utterances is also one of the important signs to help identify utterances of complaint According to Nguyen Nhu Y, "punctuation marks (!) are often placed at the end of exclamation sentences, to express the writer's feelings and emotions When reading, you must pause at the exclamation mark and can raise or lower your voice depending on the situation" [91; p.76] This is no exception to complaints in Vietnamese

Out of 915 utterances of complaints, the thesis counted 180 exclamation points We believe that the combination of interjections and exclamation marks is an important sign to help identify Vietnamese complaints And the use of interjections and exclamation marks plays an important role in emphasizing and expressing the speaker's psychology and emotions This combination often appears in utterances that reflect the speaker's dissatisfaction and discomfort about a certain issue

In addition to the structural types, we have presented above, the act of complaining can also be identified through specialized words, situational contexts and through other acts that indirectly perform the act of complaining We present in sections 2.1.3.2 and 2.2

The principle for the thesis to consider common phrases in complaining utterances is to place them in a communication context and consider whether the form of the utterance affects the meaning of those words

In Vietnamese, when there are no specialized words that act as characteristic signs (also known as performative verbs), the use of common words contributes to greatly increasing the effectiveness of complaints and it is also one of the performative signs that helps listeners identify the act of complaining Based on statistics of common words that help identify complaining acts, we find that performative signs often appear in complaint content as shown in the following chart:

Chart 2.1 Statistical chart of popular phrases to identify complaints in Vietnamese

In addition to the performative signs mentioned above, speakers also often use intonation when making complaints Without intonation and voice expressiveness, communication will be less effective Raising, lowering, and prolonging the voice also contribute to helping the speaker's emotional nuances be expressed more clearly The act of complaining is an act of expressing human emotions, so intonation plays an indispensable role However, in this thesis, because there are not enough conditions, we temporarily skip the in-depth investigation of the performative act of complaining through this illocutionary sign

Modal verbs of state Modal verbs of state attribute Sentence-final particles Idioms Interjections

2.1.2 Communication factors of the complaint action in Vietnamese

2.1.2.1 The subject of complaint in Vietnamese

Like other acts, the act of complaining is also influenced by the circumstances of the complaint, the subject of the complaint, the content, the complaints, and the purpose of the complaint As we presented in chapter 1, the act of complaining is an act that the speaker performs to express the speaker's spontaneous and subjective feelings and emotions Therefore, people only complain when things and events have a negative impact on them, making them unable to control and have to express their emotions And these things and events have been listed in the thesis in the following table:

Table 2.2 Statistical table of subjects complaining in Vietnamese

The things and events complained about belong to Sp1 69 7,1

The things and events complained about belong to Sp2 658 68,0

The things and events complained about belong to a third person 196 20,3

The things and events complained about belong to the external environment 44 4,6

2.1.2.2 The Purpose, Benefits and Interaction between Sp1 and Sp2 when Complaining in Vietnamese

In this thesis, we have summarized the purpose of complaining in Vietnamese as follows:

Table 2.3 Table of Purpose of Complaining in Vietnamese Order The purpose of complaining Number Percentage (%)

Looking at the results of the table above, it can be seen that, complaints with the purpose of criticism account for the highest proportion (32.7%), followed by grievances (28.5%), grumbles (23.2%), moans (10.5%) and scoldings (5.1%)

In addition, the direction of the benefits of the complaint action is also affected by the attitude of Sp1 (sincerity condition) and the relationship between Sp1 and Sp2 Specifically, as the following table:

Table 2.4 Statistics table of the benefits of complaining in Vietnamese

The benefits of complaining The purpose of complaining

Scoldings Proportion Grievances Grumbles Moans

(For detailed data, please see Appendix 3)

Depending on the relationship between Sp1 and Sp2 when performing the act of complaining, the communicative roles of Sp1 and Sp2 in each purpose also vary In general, when carrying out the act of complaining, the role of Sp1 is usually higher or equal to Sp2 (specifically in the cases of complaining for the purpose of complaining, criticizing, complaining, lamenting), there are also a few cases, the role of Sp1 may be lower than Sp2 The results of the target in the words of the act of complaining in Vietnamese vary due to the different strengths when performing this action, specifically as follows:

(For detailed data, please see Appendix 4)

Figure 2.2 Statistical chart of the relationship between Sp1 and Sp2 when performing the action of complaining in Vietnamese

GRUMBLES PROPORTION GRIEVANCES MOANS SCOLDINGS

Sp1Sp2

Based on the survey data collected, the Vietnamese complaint content is listed in the following table:

Table 2.4 Statistical table of commonly complained issues in Vietnamese

2 Complaints about the social sector 96 10,5

Communication strategies when complaining in Vietnamese

2.2.1 Use of Indirect Complaint Language Actions in Vietnamese

Based on the analysis of 915 utterances containing complaining acts according to the steps above and based on the classification of performantive acts into Searle's categories/groups, which are directive, expressive, representative and commisive, we record the number and frequency of use of other acts that indirectly perform complaint acts as follows:

Table 2.5 Statistical table of frequency of using indirect complaining acts in Vietnamese

In the corpus examined by the thesis, there are 235 utterances in the directive group, 276 utterances in the expressive group, 247 utterances in the representative group, 42 utterances in the commissive group with the purpose of indirectly expressing complaining act This helps the speaker's complaining acts to be expressed very richly and diversely in different contexts Because the effect of each indirect speech act performing the act of complaining has different advantages and disadvantages Therefore, when performing this act, the speaker needs to base on the context, communication object and communication content to choose the appropriate act, helping to mitigate the level of negativity and reduce conflicts of interest, compensate for face, maintain politeness and relationship between speaker and listener

2.2.2 Use extended elements in Vietnamese

As presented in chapter 1, in other speech acts, IFIDs are only a part of the performative expression; it must go along with the propositional content to express the illocutionary point of the act to become a performative expression, while in the act of complaining, IFIDs themselves are carrying a propositional function, and looking at this sign we can understand the emotional state that the complainer is experiencing

In order for the speaker's feelings and emotions to be expressed more clearly, the illocutionry force of the complaining act becomes more definite, the performative act of complaining is not only in the form of a primary performative act but the speaker often add an expansion element to form a performative utterance of complaint

According to Duong Tuyet Hanh [34], acts that do not participate in the descriptive content or propositional content but only have the function of creating relationships and maintaining dialogue should not be counted as move structures It is the expansion act of move, and move usually corresponds to a performative utterance, so the expansion act of move also does not belong to the structure of performative utterance and is temporarily called an open element of performative utterance

Although complaining is an act of spontaneous expression of ongoing emotions and seems to be for the speaker himself rather than for the person he is talking to, however, the speaker still hopes for the listener to share with him about that emotion, the expansion factors will usually fall into the following elements:

(1) The expansion element belongs to the addressing element

The addressing element in a complaint utterance has the function of attracting the listener's attention, preparing for the communication of the complaint content This component is assumed by proper nouns or addressing words Although appearing in the complaining utterance, directed at the listener who is the object of the complaint, the addressing component does not participate in the propositional content of the utterance but only has the property of attracting the listener's attention and maintain interpersonal relationships

(2) The expansion element belongs to the politeness

We realize that in the complaint utterance there are also some other extended components such as words, phrases or components The act of complaining can affect the opponent's face, so in this thesis, we only focus on considering the extended components influenced by politeness factors These components can be elements of welcoming, honoring, compensating face

Thus, to maintain politeness, reduce the negative level of complaining acts, minimize face threats to the listener, and strengthen the relationship between speaker and listener, the speaker can use the act of complaining in ways such as: using structural types, popular words, indirectly through other acts to perform the act of complaining or adding elements of extended components to become the illocutionary force of the act of complaining

In Chapter 2, we conducted an analysis of the characteristics of the act of complaining as well as statistics of communication strategies when performing the act of complaining in Vietnamese In which, the formal signs that function to express the moderate force of the act of complaining in Vietnamese that the thesis focuses on exploiting are common structures and common words In addition, when researching the contents of the act of complaining in Vietnamese, the thesis analyzed signs related to communication factors when performing the act of complaining, directly serving the research are the object of complaint and commonly complained issues Based on the contents analyzed above, the thesis has presented communication strategies when performing the act of complaining in Vietnamese, which are the use of indirect complaints and the use of expansion factors.

COMPLAINT SPEECH ACTS IN JAPANESE

Investigating the complaint action in Japanese through speech act signals

3.1.1 Formal signs of the complaint action in Vietnamese

When studying the act of complaining, we rely on common structures to identify the act of complaining in Japanese appearing in the statistical corpus system In 274 utterances containing common structures that help identify the act of complaining in Japanese, the frequency of appearance of these structures is listed in the following table 3.1:

Table 3.1 Statistical table of common results identifying complaints in Japanese

Order Common structures to identify complaining acts in Japanese Frequency Rate (%)

2 NDPN + のに／くせに 44 17,3

3 NDPN + もんか／ものか／もんだ／ものだ 135 53,1

4 NDPN + んだ／のだ 20 7,9

In addition to the above structures, in Japanese, when speakers want to reveal their emotions but are afraid of affecting the other person's face, they often do not finish the sentence and "leave their utterances unfinished" Leaving sentences like this is often called using suspended sentences (捨てゼリフ) In writing, leaving sentences unfinished is indicated by " " or "ーー" Out of 848 Japanese complaining statements, the thesis counted 55 complaining utterances using suspended sentences We believe that sentence omission is an important sign to help identify complaining utterances and it plays an important role in revealing the speaker's attitudes and emotions It can be seen that using bad sentences in communication is also considered one of the characteristics of Japanese cultural life

Similar to Vietnamese, the act of complaining in Japanese when there is no act verb will use common phrases to help clarify the complaining utterances such as particles, demonstratives and colloquial words The level of use of common groups of words to help identify complaints is statistically shown in the chart below:

Chart 3.1 Statistical chart of common phrases identifying complaining acts in Japanese

3.3% The final particle (終助詞)

Relative particles (係助詞) Dative particle (格助詞) Connecting particle (接続助詞) Directive particle (指示語) Colloquialism

(否定的な意味を表す言葉)

3.1.2 Communication factors of the complaint action in Vietnamese

3.1.2.1 The subject of complaint in Japanese

Similar to Vietnamese, the subjects receiving complaints in Japanese appearing in the thesis's survey corpus also include 4 subjects and the characteristics of each subject are presented in the table below:

Table 3.2 Statistical table of subjects complaining in Japanese

The things and events complained about belong to Sp1 20 2,4

The things and events complained about belong to Sp2 356 43,8

The things and events complained about belong to a third person 307 37,7

The things and events complained about belong to the external environment 131 16,2

3.1.2.2 The Purpose, Benefits and Interaction between Sp1 and Sp2 when complaining in Japanese

Similar to Vietnamese, the object receiving the complaint action in Japanese appears in the survey corpus of the thesis also includes 4 objects and the characteristics of each object are presented by us in the table below:

Table 3.3 Table of Purpose of Complaining in Japanese Order The purpose of complaining Number Percentage (%)

Looking at the results of the table above, it can be seen that, complaining with the purpose of criticizing has the highest proportion (32.7%), followed by grievances (24.8%), grumbles (20.3%), moans (18.3%) and scoldings (3.8%)

As we mentioned, the relationship between Sp1 and Sp2 and the sincerity condition when performing the action of complaining by Sp1 has affected the benefits of Sp1 and Sp2 The beneficial results of the action of complaining in Japanese are represented by us in the following table:

Table 3.4 Statistics table of the benefits of complaining in Japanese

The benefits of complaining The purpose of complaining

Scoldings Proportion Grievances Grumbles Moans

(For detailed data, please see Appendix 5) Looking at the results of the table above, it can be seen that the benefits of the action complaining in Japanese towards Sp1 with the purpose of grievances, grumbles and moans all account for 100% Thus, complaining in these cases aims to help Sp1 express their emotional states, so the benefits will belong to Sp1

On the contrary, when complaining aims to scoldings, proportion is Sp1 directing Sp2 to realize that what they are doing is not right, help Sp2 avoid repeating X, so the benefits of action in these cases will belong to Sp2

(For detailed data, please see Appendix 6)

Figure 32 Statistical chart of the relationship between Sp1 and Sp2 when performing the action of complaining in Vietnamese

Looking at the results of chart 3.2, it can be seen that most of Sp1=Sp2 occupies the largest proportion (arranged in descending order are complaints for the purpose of moans account for 96%, grievances accounts for 89.1%, grumbles accounts for 84.8%, proportion accounts for 53.8% and scoldings accounts for 3.2% In addition, Sp1>Sp2 then complaints for the purpose of scoldinsg and proportion take up a very large number, especially scoldings, accounting for 96.8% Thus, the semantic characteristics and beneficial orientation of the action of complaining in Japanese also has some influence on the communicative role between Sp1 and Sp2

Based on the survey data, the content of Japanese complaints is listed in the following table:

Table 3.5 Statistical table of commonly complained issues in Japanese

2 Complaints about the social sector 36 36

Communication strategies when complaining in Japanese

3.2.1 Use of Indirect Complaint Language Actions in Japanese

According to the survey results, we analyzed 869 utterances containing complaining acts according to the steps above and conducted a classification based on the classification of performative acts belonging to Searle's categories/groups into 4 The indirect action group performs the complaining act, which are: the directive group, the expressive group, the representative group and the commissive group We summarize the statistical results and frequency of use in the following table:

Table 3.6 Statistical table of frequency of using indirect complaining acts in Japanese

GRUMBLES PROPORTION GRIEVANCES MOANS SCOLDINGS

Sp1Sp2

The act of complaining is an act that is very spontaneous and subjective on the part of the speaker and threatens the opponent's face Therefore, in communication, this act is often done indirectly through many different acts In the corpus we surveyed, there are 158 utterances in the control group, 283 utterances in the expressive group, 350 utterances in the representative group, 10 utterances in the commissive group with the purpose of indirectly expressing act of complaint in Japanese This helps the speaker's complaining acts to be expressed very richly and diversely in different contexts

3.2.2 Use extended elements in Japanese

Similar to Vietnamese, to make the speaker's feelings and emotions more clearly expressed, the effect of the action complaining becomes more definitive, and at the same time, it can receive the listener's empathy about that emotion, the speaker can add expansion elements to form the speech act complaining and these elements can belong to the following components:

(1) The expansion element belongs to the addressing element

In the complaint statement, the calling element is used to attract the listener's attention and prepare for the transmission of the complaint content This component is often used to call, direct the conversant's attention to the content of the statement, creating a bond between the complainant and the listener Therefore, this component does not participate in the sentence content in the complaint statement in Japanese

(2) The expansion element belongs to the politeness

For a face-conscious country like Japan, complaining is considered a sensitive action and needs to be performed wisely and delicately to avoid damaging the honor and face of oneself and others Typically, when performing this action, Japanese people will use elements such as barriers, honoring face, compensation and propose appropriate solutions to minimize negative impacts on relationships with others, thoroughly solve problems, and avoid unwanted consequences

In addition, if viewed from a polite perspective, the "sweeten" strategy by using compensatory elements such as an apology 失礼ながら [shitsurei nagara] (sorry but ) in complaining statements helps to reduce the severity of criticism, complaining about someone, making the content of the speaker's complaint softer and gentler

In Chapter 3 of the thesis, we conducted an analysis of the characteristics of the action of complaining as well as developing criteria to identify the action of complaining in Japanese through two signs of form and the communicative factors of the action (Detailed data of the criteria to identify the action of complaining in

Japanese are summarized in Appendices 5 and 6) In this, the thesis focuses on exploiting two formal signs, which are common structures and common phrases that function to express the middle force of the action of complaining From these mentioned signs, it helps to recognize the characteristics of the action of complaining in Japanese Through the establishment of 4 groups of indirect actions performing the action of complaining, they are: the control group, the expression group, the reproduction group and the commitment group based on

848 utterances containing indirect complaining actions, the thesis analyzed the communication strategies often used when implementing the action of complaining in Japanese, which is using indirect complaining actions and using expanding elements.

COMPARISON OF COMPLAINT ACTIONS IN VIETNAMESE AND JAPANESE

Comparing complaint actions in Vietnamese and Japanese

4.1.1 Comparison of the signs of the act of complaining in Vietnamese and Japanese

4.1.1.1 Formal signs of the act of complaining in Vietnamese and Japanese

In Chapters 2 and 3, the thesis presented the formal signs of complaining action in Vietnamese and Japanese For convenience of comparison and tracking, we compare the signs of identifying this action in the two languages according to the following diagram

Figure 4.1 Comparison chart of signs identifying complaining behavior in Vietnamese and Japanese

Vietnamese and Japanese are two languages with different ways of expression Japanese belongs to the agglutinative language category, while Vietnamese is analytic In Japanese, all grammatical and pragmatic meanings can be expressed by auxiliary words Meanwhile, in Vietnamese, grammatical and pragmatic meanings are mainly expressed by word order and function words This is specifically summarized by us in the table below:

Table 4.1 Comparison table of signs identifying complaining actions in Vietnamese and Japanese

Model verbs: phải, nên, cần… The final particle (終助詞): さ[sa], さあ[saa],

ぜ[ze], ぞ[zo] … Model verbs of state attribute: đừng, lại, đành, suýt… Relative particle (係助詞): さえ[sae] , でも

[demo], ほど[hodo], も[mo]

Modal verbs of state Modal verbs of state attribute

The final particle (終助詞) Relative particles (係助詞)

Dative particle ( 格助詞 ) Connecting particle ( 接続助詞 )

Directive particle ( 指示語 ) Colloquialism

( 否定的な意味を表す言葉 )

Sentence – final particles: à, ạ, nhé… Dative particle (格 助 詞): よ り[yori],ま で

[made], なんで[nante]

Idioms: lại còn, rách việc, chứ sao… Connecting particle (接 続 助 詞): も の の

Interjections: chết mất, gớm nhỉ, ôi, hừ, ôi trời… Directive particle (指示語): こんな[konna]こ

Colloquialism (否定的な意味を表す言葉): 馬

鹿[baka] 、 箆 棒 め [beraboume] 、 卑 怯 [hikyou]

S2 + Vm + (NDPN) NDPN + のに／くせに

(NDPN) NDPN + もんか／ものか／もんだ／ものだ

(NDPN) + pronoun/noun + address form

+ (NDPN) NDPN + んだ／のだ

Interogative words + NDPN Interrogative words + NDPN

4.1.1.2 Communication factors of the complaint action in Vietnamese and Japanese a) The object of complaint in Vietnamese and Japanese

When studying the subject of complaints in Vietnamese and Japanese, we found the following similarities:

In both Vietnamese and Japanese, normal things or events are not complained about It is only when emotions and feelings reach an uncontrollable threshold that this action is taken And the subjects of complaint in both languages include 4 subjects: the thing, the complained event belongs to the person performing the complaint action (Sp1), the person receiving the complaint action (Sp2), the third party and the outside situation

Table 4.2 Comparison table of complaint objects in Vietnamese and Japanese

The things and events complained about belong to Sp1 7,1% 2,4%

The things and events complained about belong to Sp2 68,0% 43,8%

The things and events complained about belong to a third person 20,3% 37,7%

The things and events complained about belong to the external environment 4,6% 16,2%

Total 100% 100% b) The purpose, benefits, and causal relationships between Sp1 and Sp2 when performing the act of complaining in Vietnamese and Japanese

When studying the purpose of the act of complaining in Vietnamese and Japanese, we found the following similarities:

Figure 4.2 Comparative chart of complaint action targets in Vietnamese and Japanese

Looking at the results of the above chart, it can be seen that in both languages, the targets of complaint actions are criticism, complaint, grumble, lament and scold It can be seen that among these 5 targets, if the strength in expressing negative attitudes from high to low (scold, criticism, complaint, grumble, lament) is considered, scolding has the highest negative connotation Therefore, when wanting to point out X that Sp2 is not right and adjust X, Sp1 will tend to choose the target as criticism to reduce the effect of the complaint action, reducing the threat to the other's face Thus, whether it is Vietnamese or Japanese, the negative connotations from strong to light have also affected the target of Sp1 when performing this action

In addition, in essence, complaining is not just simply expressing the dissatisfactions and emotions of Sp1, but also aims to point out what Sp2 has done, directing Sp2 to improve X Therefore, the target of the complaint action is criticism occupies a larger proportion compared to the purpose of simply expressing dissatisfaction such as complaint, grumble, lament

As we mentioned, the relationship between Sp1 and Sp2 and the sincerity conditions when performing the complaint action of Sp1 affected the benefits of Sp1 and Sp2 The beneficial results of the complaint action in Vietnamese and Japanese are described by us in the following chart:

Figure 4.3 Chart comparing the benefits of complaining in Vietnamese and Japanese

Looking at the results of the above chart, it can be seen that the benefits of complaining in Vietnamese and Japanese, aiming at Sp1 for the purpose of complaining, grieving, and lamenting, all account for 100% Thus, complaints in these cases are all intended to help Sp1 express their emotional states, so the benefits will belong to Sp1 Conversely, when complaining with the purpose of scolding, complaining is Sp1 directing Sp2 to realize what they are doing is wrong, helping Sp2 avoid repeating X, so the benefits of action in these cases will belong to Sp2

However, in Vietnamese, when carrying out the act of complaining with the purpose of grieving, in addition to Sp1 complaining to express dissatisfaction, Sp1 also pleads for Sp2 to perform X' as desired Therefore, the benefits of complaining in Vietnamese will lean towards Sp2 and account for 2.4%

With the benefits of actions as above, depending on the relationship between Sp1 and Sp2 when carrying out the act of complaining, the communicative roles of Sp1 and Sp2 in each purpose also vary The causal relationship between Sp1 and Sp2 when carrying out the act of complaining in Vietnamese and Japanese is represented by us in the following chart:

Chart 4.4 Comparative chart of the interpersonal relationship between Sp1 and Sp2 when performing the action of complaining in Vietnamese and Japanese

Generally, when performing the action of complaining in both languages, Sp1 is often above or equal to Sp2 (specifically for the purposes of grumbling, criticizing, complaining, lamenting), there are also a few cases where Sp1 may be inferior to Sp2 However, when complaining with the purpose of scolding, Sp1 often uses harsh words to scold, complain about Sp2, hence the role of Sp1 will always be equal to or higher than Sp2 c) Issues often complained about in Vietnamese and Japanese

According to the survey results on the issues often complained about in Vietnamese and Japanese, complaints about the private sector in both languages are more than in the social sector

Table 4.3 Table comparing the issues often complained about in Vietnamese and Japanese

2 Complaints about the social sector 10,5% 4,4%

Sp1Sp2

GRUMBLES PROPORTION GRIEVANCES MOANS SCOLDINGS

Sp1Sp2

4.1.2 Compare communication strategies when carrying out complaint actions in Vietnamese and Japanese

4.1.2.1 Use of indirect complaint speech acts in Vietnamese and Japanese

Figure 4.5 Comparison of indirect complaint actions in Vietnamese and Japanese

The results of Figure 4.5 show that the frequency of use of the group of indirect complaint actions in Vietnamese is: Expression > Control > Reproduction > Commitment and in Japanese it is: Reproduction > Expression > Control > Commitment

In Vietnamese, complaint actions are carried out in various ways and are carried out through 16 actions, belonging to the control action group (including 06 actions ask, request, remind, advise, suggest, call), the expression action group (including 04 actions exclaim, satire, blame, fault), the reproduction action group (including 04 actions narrate, confirm, comment, assume) and the commitment action group (including 02 actions warn, commit)

Similarly, in Japanese, the action of complaint is also performed indirectly through 14 actions belonging to 4 groups: the control action group (including 05 actions ask, request, remind, advise, suggest), the expression action group (including 04 actions exclaim, satire, blame, fault), the reproduction action group (including 04 actions narrate, confirm, comment, assume) and the commitment action group (including 01 action warn)

4.1.2.2 Use of extensions in Vietnamese and Japanese

Extensions in both languages belong to the calling component and serve the function of attracting the listener's attention, preparing for the communication of the complaint content The calling elements, although appearing in the complaint utterance and targeting the complained object, do not participate in the content of the clause in the utterance but only have the property of attracting the listener's attention and maintaining personal relationships

Some issues about the culture of Vietnamese and Japanese people through the act of complaining

4.2.1 Relationship between language and culture

Culture and language have an extremely intimate and inseparable relationship Language is not merely a means of transporting culture but also an indispensable part in conveying and preserving cultural values In other words, language is the embodiment of culture and at the same time, culture is the inspiration and material for language More importantly, culture and language cannot exist alone but always exist in a certain social context, where they play an important role in shaping and developing society Broadly speaking, our cultural scholars when discussing the relationship between language and culture primarily put forth the following argument: Language is a fundamental and important component of culture, influencing many other cultural components, and is a tool that has a strong impact on the development of culture When studying language, one cannot ignore the cultural aspect

4.2.2 Cultural Characteristics in Vietnamese Communication Through the Act of Complaining

4.2.2.1 Cultural characteristics in Vietnamese communication

- Vietnam has a very rich and diverse system of speech etiquette, with very specific characteristics such as affection, politeness and suitability for social relationships

- Vietnamese culture is a blend of many different cultural values, from national traditions to religious values and international values In particular, behavioral culture is considered an important part of Vietnamese culture and they always behave affectionately and respect others

- Besides, community cohesion is the most important feature in the Vietnamese behavioral symbol because it governs the psychology of Vietnamese people

- In communication and behavior, the characteristic of Vietnam is the emotional behavior, reflecting wet rice culture and community in the village

4.2.2.2 Some cultural communication features of Vietnamese people through complaining actions

Based on all approaches and analyzes, based on surveyed linguistic data, we present the features of complaining action in Vietnamese as follows:

- In a community-oriented country like Vietnam, the act of complaining is not only about expressing emotions but also towards seeking empathy from the listener In addition, through the act of complaining, the speaker can also make demands, suggestions, sarcasm and wants the listener to respond or adjust their behavior

- The most notable feature of Vietnamese people's character is the importance of relationships and because of this importance, they often have respect Therefore, when complaining, Vietnamese people often use indirect methods

- Vietnamese is a language rich in expressiveness Therefore, when implementing the action of complaining, Vietnamese people often tend to use many indirect complaining actions through actions in the expression group

- To ensure politeness in communication, Vietnamese people often use many means of expressing their states to create a comfortable, pleasant communication environment among the conversation participants

- In Vietnamese, the appellative not only simply has the function of identifying or calling, but it has become the main focus to express politeness

4.2.3 Cultural Characteristics in Japanese Communication Through the Act of Complaining

4.2.3.1 Cultural characteristics in Japanese communication

- The Japanese have a quite strict system of social rules Even if it is only on the surface of language, this rule also requires communicators to behave within the allowable scope of society, therefore in Japanese society, politeness and means of communication must all adhere to its specific rules

- Japan is a hierarchical society that emphasizes community and is an interactive society rather than an individualistic society Therefore, politeness is considered an indispensable part of Japanese culture, helping to maintain harmony in the community and benefiting everyone

- Japan is a society with a unique culture that puts the interlocutor's feelings and attitudes first In communication, they always pay attention and care about the conversation partner's mood, from positive emotions such as satisfaction and joy to negative emotions such as anger and discomfort That's why, even if they complain or blame, they always try to use clever words and not speak directly to avoid offending the other person In this way, they show respect and ethics in communication while creating a healthy and productive dialogue environment

- In Japanese people's communication, they often prefer to use indirect methods, saying "遠まわし" (roundabouts) instead of directly to show respect and compromise with the interlocutor on certain problems In addition, the indirect method also helps Japanese people convey messages more skillfully, especially in cases where it is necessary to say something difficult to hear or accept, or to easily solve problems that arise during the process of exchanging opinions and making more appropriate suggestions

4.2.3.2 Some cultural communication features of Japanese people through complaining actions

Based on the survey results and classification, we present the features of the action of complaining in Japanese as follows:

- The consciousness of Japanese respect has also become a mandatory criterion in language actions, therefore, the use of indirect complaint language in Japanese is also affected by this social rule to express the perception of the relationship between the speaker and the listener

- Japanese is a polysyllabic adhesive language, all grammatical, pragmatic meanings are expressed very detailedly by using helping words These auxiliary words specialize in expressing distinct grammatical, pragmatic meanings to avoid challenging, confronting the interlocutor when speaking words of reproach or complaint Thanks to this, the Japanese can express their thoughts, emotions in a polite, subtle manner without hurting the listener;

- As a society that is also influenced by Confucianism, the Japanese have a sense of community appreciation, wanting to keep the peace, avoiding unnecessary arguments Therefore, the Japanese tend to use indirectness when performing complaint actions;

- Politeness is one of the indispensable factors in Japanese culture, helping to maintain harmony in the community and bring benefits to everyone Therefore, in communication behavior, the Japanese often use indirect methods, indirect speech (遠まわし).

Some solutions and proposals of the thesis

4.3.1 Solutions in Using the Act of Complaining

In the content that we have presented, the thesis not only refers to the criteria that help identify the act of complaining in Vietnamese and Japanese, but also delves into the analysis of the characteristics of the act of complaining in each language From there, we propose some solutions when implementing the act of complaining in communication as follows:

- Use mood elements in Vietnamese and use auxiliary words corresponding to different functions in Japanese;

- Use pronouns to express politeness in Vietnamese and the extending elements of the calling, welcoming, and face-saving component in both languages;

- Use indirect complaining to maintain face, reduce negative tones when performing the act of complaining, helping to maintain a good relationship between the speaker and the listener

4.3.2 Solutions in Foreign Language Teaching

(1) Enhance learners' language competence: This is important and necessary, requiring an understanding of the principles, conventions, and habits of each language This ensures that the language is used reasonably and effectively in the language community

(2) Enhance learners' sociolinguistic competence: Enhancing the sociolinguistic competence of learners helps learners grasp knowledge and skills to use the language appropriately in various aspects of society This includes understanding the relationships between communication participants, such as superior - subordinate, intimate - casual, insider - outsider, to choose the appropriate expression

(3) Enhance learners' application competence: To enhance learners' application competence, focus should be given to several important aspects such as: discursive competence - the ability to express opinions, communicative function competence - the ability to use language to exchange information, and receptive competence according to interaction and transmission schemes between individuals - the ability to understand and interact with others through language

In Chapter 4, the thesis compares the act of complaining in Vietnamese and Japanese through various aspects: linguistic signs, communication factors, and communication strategies Additionally, the thesis presents some issues regarding the communication culture of Vietnamese and Japanese people through the act of complaining From the similarities in cultural characteristics, it can be seen that both Vietnamese and Japanese people do not favor direct expressions This can be explained by differences in history and educational traditions To communicate more effectively in daily life, especially when making complaints, speakers need to grasp the essence of language, including linguistic competence (a psychological category) and applied linguistics (a social category) Understanding these two factors will help speakers not only express their opinions clearly but also avoid unnecessary misunderstandings Therefore, the thesis proposes some general solutions for using the act of complaining and suggests some content to enhance more effective foreign language teaching methods These solutions not only focus on providing linguistic knowledge but also help learners better understand related cultural aspects

With the research topic on the speech act of complaining in Vietnamese and Japanese, the thesis has applied the theory of speech acts and the theory of politeness to research and produce summarizing results as follows:

1 The concept of the complaint action is determined by the thesis based on semantic and pragmatic aspects It has classified the goals of the complaint action according to a decreasing scale of negativity: scolding, criticizing, complaining, moaning, and lamenting The boundaries of these speech goals still overlap each other Therefore, based on the satisfaction level of these features, the thesis proceeds to compare the similarities and differences of each speech goal

2 In terms of speech act signals, the action of complaining does not have a verb and is identified through specialized words Specifically, in Vietnamese, the commonly used specialized words are modal adverbs, emotive adverbs, sentence ending modality particles, mood adverbs, and exclamatives For agglutinative languages like Japanese, all grammatical and pragmatic meanings are expressed in detail using

Japanese particles Particles such as sentence ending particles (終助詞), linking particles (係助詞), case markers (格助詞), conjunction particles (接続助詞), deictic words (指示語), words with negative meaning (否定的な意味を表す言葉) are commonly used in complaints in Japanese

3 The thesis has also proposed a set of criteria for identifying indirect complaint actions, and has established the basis for identifying indirect complaints Based on the analysis of 800 statements containing indirect complaints in Vietnamese and 802 statements containing indirect complaints in Japanese, the thesis classifies indirect complaint actions which can be executed through the group’s directive, expressive, commissive and representative

4 In the thesis, we only mention the most typical examples, so the actual survey data is much larger than the data cited in the thesis Moreover, the emergence of the action calling out belonging to the group Directive and the action commitment belonging to the group Commissive only in Vietnamese has been explained by us based on the differences in cultural and linguistic features between Vietnam and Japan

5 During the description and establishment process, the thesis noticed that the language usage habits of Vietnamese people are clearly expressed in the many emotive elements in speech, especially when performing the action of complaining To ensure politeness in communication, Vietnamese people often use many linguistic devices to create a comfortable and pleasant communication environment among conversation participants Additionally, choosing and using appropriate forms of address can be considered one of the most effective ways to express politeness in communication, showing respect and concern for the other person, thereby creating a more comfortable and pleasant communication atmosphere

Conversely, for a society with a distinctive culture that prioritizes the feelings and attitudes of the interlocutor like Japan, the use of particles corresponding to different functions is very important The thesis notes that when performing the action of complaining, Japanese people tend to avoid confrontation, so particles corresponding to different functions are used diversely, helping them to express their thoughts and emotions politely, discreetly, and without causing harm to the listener

Due to the constraints of a thesis framework and the allowed time conditions, we have only stopped at the research results on the topic as presented but have not been able to investigate how speakers use intonation when complaining in communication In addition, due to the limitations of the research scope, we have not been able to analyze the response statements to the action of complaining to determine the chance of accepting or refusing to perform action X by the listener.