But I'm not sure the existence of this specific feature in the language supports any particular generalizations about a "Japanese mindset." It doesn't, of cour

But I'm not sure the existence of this specific feature in the language supports any particular generalizations about a "Japanese mindset." It doesn't, of course! I thought about making that point explicitly, but eventually decided that the OP was obviously a big joke so I might as well go along with it. ;) One of the most fun things to do in linguistics class is to identify the supposedly-unique features of odd foreign languages and then find them in English. Using tone to convey meaning? I think you might be able to come up with some kind of example. Using clicks as phonemes? Tsk, tsk, tsk. And so on. And English has formal and informal modes. There's studies showing that, like, people speaking to each other informally, like, use all these, um, little interjections, for which they are sometimes mocked as inarticulate. But put them in a different social situation, and their speech tends to become more formal and those "likes" disappear. English has lost most of German's fancy gender and case-marking systems, but there are fascinating residues left over. I forget the detailed examples; hopefully I kept my notes from that class.