From: ntetsuya@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Nishimura)
Newsgroups: sci.lang.japan
Subject: Re: nihongo no shaberu gaijin
Date: 14 Aug 92 21:45:26 GMT
Organization: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO  80523

In article <1992Aug14.174307.4754@island.COM> fester@island.COM (Mike Fester) writes:

[stuff deleted]
>
>BTW, at work, you very seldom use "moshi-moshi". The phone is usually answered
>with "Hai (optional)! (Company name) de gozaimasu!" The caller usually responds
>with "(Caller's company name) no (caller's name) ('n optional) desu kedo. 
>Itsumo o sewa ni narimasu." Or something like that.
>
>And "moshi-moshi" is not necessarily the first thing you say when you call 
>someone (though it's not incorrect) at a place other than the office.
> 
>
	This is right.  I RE-considered when I use and hear "moshi-moshi" on 
	the phone when I took a course called "Discourse Analysis" in the Fall
	semester of 1991.  I also talked about this with my Japanese friends
	and we concluded;

	1) 	usually in initiation move (linguistic terminology!) on the 
		phone, we don't use moshi-moshi.  (both caller and receiver)

			caller	:  riiiiinnnnngg, riiiinnnnngg
			receiver:  hai, (your last name) desu/de gozaimasu (ga)
			caller	:  a, (last name) to moushi masu ga ...(going on

	2)	a girl living alone may use moshi-moshi or hai in order not to
		identify herself until she does who she is talking to on the 
		phone.

	3)	a caller may use moshi-moshi as his first answer when he 
		realizes the voice he has heard over the phone is NOT the one
		he expected.

			caller	:  (calling a boy friend living alone)          			receiver:  Hai, XX desu (in girl's voice!!)
			caller	:  arett?  moshi-moshi?  XX kun no otaku ja
				   nakatta desu ka?
			receiver:  a ****(friend's first name) ne, chotto
				   matte kudasai ne 
			caller	:  hai (heww, sounds like his sister...did he 
					have...?)

		also a caller may use moshi-moshi when he calles a friend he 
		hasn't called for a long time and identifies the friend's voice
		immediately.

			caller	:  riiiinnnggg (well, folks, someone famous said					this is actuall the very first role in 
					a conversation over the phone!)
			receiver:  hai, XX desu
			caller	:  mooshi-moooshi, o-hisashiburi.
			receiver:  ooooooo,  omae kaaaa....

	4)	when one of the paticipants holds the line during the call and 
		when he comes back and picks up the phone and may say moshi-mosh		or
		when he picks up the receiver and finds there seems to be no one		at the other end of the line while the line is still connected.

			man 1	:  a, doomo o-matase shimashita
			man 2	:  .....(silence)...
			man 1	:  moshi-moshi?
			man 2	:  ......
			man 1	:  moshi-moooooshi, XX saaan?
			man 2	:  moshi-moshi? a, gomeNnasai...

	Well, we had other cases like when you can't hear the partner well, when	you want to make sure the partner is actually there after your long 
	monologue without any aizuchi from him.



>Final note on "moshi-moshi"; it is frequently used to get someone's attention.
>If someone dropped something at (eg) a train station and you wanted to alert 
>them to the fact, a sharp, semi-loud "moshi-moshi" will cause several people
>to turn in your direction.
>
	Yes, that's right.
>
>Mike

				Tetsuya Nishimura
Newsgroups: sci.lang.japan