Suppletion and politeness in English, Japanese and Korean: A Morphological Analysis

Abstract

This study investigates the suppletion process in English, Japanese and Korean language, from the comparative morphological aspect. Suppletion is the replacement of a lexical form with any other unrelated form within the same grammatical category. In English, it is commonly present in forms like go/went, be/was, where grammar such as tense and its comparison changes the lexical form. In Japanese and Korean languages, on the other hand, suppletion is influenced by social hierarchy and politeness. Honorific forms in Japanese such as taberu/ meshiagaru and in Korean meokada/deusida show that lexical change can also occur due to respect and social relations, rather than merely the grammatical structure. The study uses a qualitative comparative model and the data is collected from linguistics books and journal articles. Suppletive forms are selected from Korean and Japanese languages to check similarities and differences in their morphological characteristics. The analysis highlights that English language mainly executes grammatical suppletion, whereas Japanese and Korean languages practice suppletion through honorifics in social domains. This research lays stress on politeness as a conditioned suppletion, which is considered an important morphological element, because it works systematically within linguistics structures and social hierarchies. The research contributes to the broader understanding of morphology by highlighting the link between language, grammar and socio-cultural context.